Gamertell

Welcome to a week where the hidden object genre is king. That’s right, out of this week’s nine new casual game releases, five fall into the hidden object genre. Hope you feel like searching for stuff.

This week also marks the debut of the first 2009 Halloween theme casual games. Fishdom: Spooky Splash is a Halloween-y themed Match-3 puzzle with a bonus screensaver based on the aquarium you create and The Jolly Gang’s Spooky Adventure is an adventure game where you investigate the appearance of a ghost.

There was sadly only one Mac release this week as well, Tale of Tales’ Fatale. This PC and Mac game is really more a piece of interactive art work.

This week’s best bets are: Fatale (PC, Mac), Fishdom: Spooky Splash (PC) and Cake Mania Main Street (PC).

Fatale
Genre: Adventure
Availability: Tale of Tales
Retail Price: $7
Platform: Windows XP and Vista and Mac OSX with Intel
Premise: It’s more of a virtual art piece than a game. It’s based on Oscar Wilde’s stage play “Salome” and the woman Salome from the Bible. She’s the woman who asked King Herod for the head of John the Baptist. This adventure allows the player to explore what happened after.
Demo Available:

Becky Brogan: The Mystery of Meane Manor
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Big Fish Games, PlayFirst, Gamehouse, RealArcade, Harmonic Flow
Retail Price: $19.95
Platform: Windows Vista and XP
Premise: Becky must uncover the secrets of a family by exploring the Meane Manor.
Demo Available: Yes

Fishdom: Spooky Splash
Genre: Puzzle (Match 3)
Availability: Playrix Games, PlayFirst, GameHouse, RealArcade, Harmonic Flow, Reflexive Arcade
Retail Price: $19.95
Platform: Windows NT, 2000, XP and Vista
Premise: Create an aquarium with a spooky, haunted house theme. You can also use your aquarium as a screensaver.
Note: It is on sale for $9.98 until November 1, 2009 at the official Playrix Games site.
Demo Available: Yes

The Jolly Gang’s Spooky Adventure
Genre: Adventure
Availability: Big Fish Games
Retail Price: $6.99
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: Help Moxxie and her friends investigate a story for a tabloid concerning the appearance of a ghost in a psychic’s apartment.
Demo Available: Yes

Route 66
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Big Fish Games
Retail Price: $6.99
Platform: Windows Vista and XP
Premise: Travel down Route 66, exploring famous tourist spots.
Demo Available: Yes

Alabama Smith in the Quest of Fate
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Alawar Entertainment
Retail Price: $9.95
Platform: Windows
Premise: Alabama Smith is going to try his hand at time traveling again. This time he’s going to use the Amulet of Time to go back in time to ancient Peru to hunt for Crystals of Fortune.
Demo Available: Yes

Cake Mania Main Street
Genre: Strategy (Time Management)
Availability: Big Fish Games, PlayFirst, GameHouse, Harmonic Flow, Reflexive Arcade, RealArcade
Retail Price: $19.95
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: Jill has discovered her hometown has become a ghost town. She’s decided to make a difference by going home again to bring the town back to life by baking. She’ll also have to step in and help her neighbors run their shops as well.
Demo Available: Yes

Elementals: The Magic Key
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object) and Strategy
Availability: Playrix Games
Retail Price: $19.95
Platform: Windows XP, Vista and 7
Premise: Sibelius has kidnapped Albert’s sister. The only way to possibly save her and defeat Sibelius is to restore power to the Key of Eiron. Albert will have to travel throughout his magical world, fighting magic board battles and hunting for hidden objects.
Demo Available: Yes

Gardenscapes
Genre: Simulation (Time Management) and Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Playrix Games
Retail Price: $19.95
Platform: Windows NT, 2000, XP and Vista
Premise: You’ve been given the chance to refurbish and develop a dilapidated garden and enter the “Best Garden” contest. You create and maintain a garden, search a mansion for hidden objects and even use your garden as a screensaver for your computer.
Demo Available: Yes

Editor’s Note: Due to so many casual games sites offering game plans or preferred member prices, which can cause a game to have multiple price-points, the games’ average retail prices is mentioned in Casual Friday.

Site [Big Fish Games] Site [PlayFirst] Site [GameHouse] Site [eGames] Site [Alawar Games] Site [Amazon] Site [Reflexive Arcade] Site [Harmonic Flow]