Department 42: The Mystery of the Nine

Another hide and seek puzzle adventure game made by Frogwares! I really enjoy those kind of games from those developers, therefore I can recommend it again to you all. Except for achievement-hunters, because there's not a single one available here. You are working as an agent for a mysterious department, which is trying to solve supernatural cases. Werewolves, golems, Voodoo magic, ghosts, curses, etc. Reminded me kinda of The X-Files, so maybe fans of that show could find a liking to this game as well? It can be really hard and tricky to find the hidden objects here and not all of the riddles here are easy, but if that doesn't scare you away, then just go for it! In emergency cases there's always the skip-puzzle function on the top screen... Oh yes, forgot to mention something that's important for myself: the unlocked puzzles you are able to play again in the start menu, therefore it got replay-value.

Department 42: The Mystery of the Nine is a hidden-object adventure developed and published by Frogwares that combines paranormal investigation with classic point-and-click mechanics. The game places players in the role of Alice Wright, an agent of the secretive Department 42, an organization tasked with containing supernatural threats and recovering dangerous artifacts. When nine powerful relics vanish following a suspicious fire at Grimstone Mansion, Alice is dispatched to retrieve them before their dark influence spreads further. This premise provides a structured, episodic framework for the adventure, giving each chapter a clear objective while gradually unfolding a broader mystery. The core gameplay revolves around richly illustrated hidden-object scenes. Players explore a variety of locations, from eerie mansions to cryptic laboratories, scanning detailed environments for specific items listed on-screen. Unlike simpler hidden-object titles that rely purely on static item lists, Department 42 integrates inventory mechanics into its design. Certain objects collected in search scenes are stored and later used to solve environmental puzzles or unlock new pathways. This adds a la…

Another good Frogwares seek and search puzzle game.

Inferior to other HO games, the hit box for HOs are too small. Sometimes I found it but failed clicking it. Very Frustrating

Extremely difficult to the eyes hidden object game. Some objects are literally invisible ! The game can pass when heavily discounted and if you really love hidden object games, so you would like to give this one also a try. The graphics could be better and sharper as well. The other puzzles could be challenging and sometimes because they are not explained well so it is not clear what is the goal. When the game becomes a chore it stops being enjoyable. So if the makers wish to continue selling it at its full price it needs to be substantially remastered as there is a solid story and interesting puzzles.

This is a challenging review to write. The game is old and the presentation here seems to lack some modernization you might expect. I think this makes the game appear worse than it would have been when it released. It's absolutely playable, but can also be challenging is odd ways. First of all, the story. I didn't have an issue with it. The game is essentially multiple small "cases" to recover a certain artifact. I liked how the different cases were broken up and had a lot of variety to them, even if they were each pretty small. I understand that many of these games are lower budget, and usually this is just fine if not charming, but the game lacked animated cutscenes for the most part and often would use a screen with a portrait and text to move you from one case to the next. There is I think an intro cutscene and one at the game's end, but not really anywhere else that I remember. Each case has a short intro with text that displays over images, and the text fades in and out so you can miss it if you're not paying attention. But these parts aren't even narrated, so there's not a lot of dialog or voice acting either, also unlike many other of these kinds of games I play. The …