Dark Parables: Rise of the Snow Queen
Game Review

Blue Tea Games -- the developers of the first two Dark Parables games and other great hidden object adventure games such as the Enlightenus series -- has produced another fantastic game in Dark Parables: Rise of the Snow Queen. It is a fragmented object game like the other Dark Parables games, and features an amazing story accompanied by mesmerizing art and animation.

Rise of the Snow Queen transports us to the world of fairy tales, this time focusing on the titular Snow Queen from Hans Christian Andersen's tale (although bits of other fairy tales also make an appearance). The story begins with all the children from a mountain village going missing. You are called in to investigate, and hear from superstitious locals that the children were most likely abducted by the powerful Snow Queen. As you journey into the Snow Queen's kingdom, you find that she has a monstrous Mountain Beast helping her. You must match wits with the pair in order to rescue all the children!

The gameplay is very similar to your typical hidden object adventure game. You travel around the Snow Kingdom, trying to find a way to reach the Snow Queen's castle and rescue the kidnapped children. Along the way, you will encounter lots of obstacles that you have to overcome. There are doors that require keys or insignias, and mechanisms that need a missing piece in order to work. You will encounter most of these items lying around, cleverly hidden in each location. Some of them will only be visible once you zoom closer in to an area of interest.

However, there are plenty of items that require a bit of assembling. This is what makes the game a fragmented object game rather than a hidden object game. In these scenes, instead of having to search for a laundry list of items, you need to find various parts of an item in order to put it together. Examples include assembling a crested shield or a bejeweled chalice. (I guess the game assumes you brought some glue with you to stick all the items together...)

There are also a number of puzzles to keep you busy. These aren't too challenging, and are mostly pattern-matching puzzles and variations of the pipe/maze style puzzles. There are also a few "morphing" items scattered throughout the game, that will give you slight benefits if you find them. These are items that randomly transform into something else (usually while you're not looking). You will need a keen eye and lots of patience trying to spot the usually-inconspicuous objects.

However, the game isn't outstanding just because of the main gameplay. It is all the extras and the little things that transform it into a real gem. One of the bigger things is the story, and this story is really good. The game designers took bits from various fairy tales and fables, and managed to combine them into a very engaging mystery thriller.

One of the little things is the ability for you to read more about each of the fables touched on in the game. You will find various "fable" items throughout the game, each relating to a different character or tale. Once you find a complete item set, you can read the background of the character, just like reading an actual fairy tale.

The beautiful art and animation also really help bring the story to life. Like an increasing number of hidden object games, Snow Queen includes lots of gorgeous cutscenes and animation, to the extent that some parts of the game look like they belong in a Disney animated feature film. The voice acting isn't shabby either. Other bits that aren't immediately noticeable but do improve the game experience include a very useful map function, an intuitive interface design, and an overall high level of quality.

Dark Parables: Rise of the Snow Queen is a really good game, and you will definitely enjoy it. You will like it even more if you liked the previous Dark Parables games or other fairy tale-based games such as the Drawn series. You can get the basic version of the PC game, or you can get the Collector's Edition which includes exclusive extras such as bonus gameplay, strategy guides and more. Or get the basic version or Collector's Edition of the Mac game.

Check out the other games in this series!

Related PC Games at Big Fish Games:

Dark Parables: Rise of the Snow Queen Collector's Edition

Dark Parables: The Exiled Prince

Drawn: Trail of Shadows

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