Dark Arcana: The Carnival

One of the better hidden-object games from Artifex Mundi. Bought this in a bundle back in 2024 and only just got around to playing it. I originally picked it because it had better reviews than most of the others, and I'm glad I did. The story was actually interesting enough that I wanted to follow it, and thankfully there were no annoying morphing collectibles that are ridiculously easy to miss. I managed to finish it without a guide, which is always a bonus. I also really liked having the animal companion that can help you out and interact with things. I think they did something similar in Clockwork Tales: Of Glass and Ink, which I'd also recommend. The animation is a bit uncanny valley, but it's an older game so I'll let that slide. Overall, it feels like more effort went into this one than some of the later titles. Definitely worth a play if you enjoy hidden-object games.

I would consider this a hidden gem for a short game where you have to use a little bit of critical thinking. The story has you hooked and it's a short play. Zero performance issues and a small game for bonus points.

While trying to put my bias aside, this was one of my first horror / mystery / suspense "adult" HOGs back in the days of using the ye ol WildTangent service when it was still using those purple coins to play games, and I enjoyed it as a kid. So learning about the port here to Steam made me curious if I was blinded by the sheer eeriness of the game or it was just as good as my rose colored mirror shards remember it being. And I have to say its a bit of both. The games story is complex, the themes went over my head as a kid but coming back with an adult mind it was mind blowing that I picked this game to play back then compared to the million other HOGs on the service along with replaying a few other nostalgic picks I wish had steam releases (bring back Twisted Tales: Broken Tune I beg of you) and the twist is a true gut punch. I love how the story was told and while the cinematics are a bit outdated with some laughable 3D models, it was still impactful compared to other games I've played in the HOG genre past and present. But also the monkeys paw of that a lot of the good dialogue is the flavor text the MC says when looking at things. The Art is really pretty to look at, while a…

This was a staple of my childhood, along with other games by Artifex Mundi, lmao i grew up playing hidden object games like this but still today they are so good, the story is good and the environment and game art is so high quality. I only wish that the new kids of today grew up playing this. Absolute peak. This was one of my favourites too. I would replay it just because. Might have to do another run of all of them again like I did when I was younger! highly reccomend if you're a parent letting your kid play this game. it was very entertaining for me as a child so who knows?

excellent

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