Mind Snares

With a tagline of “Grab a final chance at true happiness”, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect of Mind Snares: Alices Journey. Seemed a bit too deep for a tablet game. Then I read the description on the G5 Games’s website:

Overcome your biggest fears in this heart-pounding adventure! Alice Dahl is bogged down in her day-to-day routine, stuck in a dead-end office job but unable to leave due to personal fears. One day, while rushing to a client meeting in the rain, her car careens out of control and crashes. When Alice awakens, she finds herself in a hospital … or so she thinks. Help Alice defeat her inner demons, escape the mysterious place that lies between life and death and find her way back home in this incredible hidden object puzzle adventure! Conquer a mysterious Shadow and help Alice capture the opportunity, perhaps her last, to achieve a happy life.

Yeah. Sounds intense. I play casual games for mindless escape. I don’t want someone’s happiness to be my responsibility. But sometimes you do need something more involved then moving objects around to create a match. So I decided to help Alice out.

The opening scenes immediately draw you into the story, but I have to tell you, as a horror movie wimp, the ominous music and laughter almost made me go back to Farm Heroes Saga. There are three levels of play: Casual, Advanced and Expert. In the Casual level, the Hint and Skip buttons recharge quickly, Active Zones are more obvious and available actions are indicated on the map. Hidden Object Puzzles (HOP)’s sparkle and there’s no penalty while completing them. Advanced and Expert levels aren’t as helpful.

There are 80 levels to master, 21 mini-games to play and 5 dream worlds to explore. There are 17 achievements to earn and plenty of characters to meet. You can choose to have interactive help our not. Graphically, the levels and scenes are amazingly detailed. The music does immerse you into a dark, suspenseful adventure and the storyline is entrancing once you’ve accepted the responsibility of helping Alice.

Now available for download on your iPad and iPhone.

3.5 stars out of