I've recently played through Crystals of Time, which was my first hidden object game experience. Overall, I liked it, but I did not enjoy the shallow story and its fairly minimalistic realization that much. Fairy Tale Mysteries: The Puppet Thief exceeds the aforementioned game in these aspects, making it an ideal choice for the lovers of hidden object games (even though by reading other reviews, it seems there are better ones out there).

According to the story we've been asked to investigate the mysterious disappearances of local children of the fictional town of Arbourshire, by none others than the Grimm brothers (the famous German authors and collectors of folk tales). Apparently an evil sorcerer, called the Puppet Thief is kidnapping the children and uses them as puppets.

The premise seems exciting and spooky enough, but after having finished the game many unanswered quetions remain. Why did the sorcerer did this? Why did he need the souls of children? What happened to the other children (we get to release only one), especially to the daughter of the Silver Magician for example? It seems it's been put together in a hurry and feels rushed, even though it successfully manages to keep up the scary atmosphere all the way till the end.

I liked the relatively frequent cutscenes (usually after achieving something important) that added a lot to the interactiveness and also strengthened the adventure factor of the game. Speaking of interactiveness, I don't know how ordinary it is in hidden object games, but there were some unusual occurrences (the mob setting the wagon ablaze while we are in a shop) that created some new sources from which we were able to acquire items needed for progress. Unfortunately these events were scarce. Item and inventory management isn't overcomplicated, so be warned: it is still far from the complexity and depth of a classic adventure game.

The hidden object scenes are nicely done, it's not too hard to find any of the required items (with the exception of one towards the end). The problem here was also present in Crystals of Time: you'll have to backtrack and reuse the exact same hidden object scene a second or third time to find something. So if you play on expert difficulty and get stuck, make sure to check back on previously visited hidden object scenes. The minigames were enjoyable and often tricky to solve, wish there were more of these.

I realize this game was originally designed for tablets and smart phones, so the graphic design should be judged accordingly. The game has nice, stylish graphics with moderate effects (sparks and lightning), but the quality of the cutscenes isn't that great overall since they are basically still images with dynamic elements zooming in and out.
The music is conventionally good, with mysterious tunes along with sound effects that are perfectly good for these kinds of games, creating the necessary mysterious atmosphere.

The game also contains a bonus chapter (that's why it's marked as collector's edition), the Bella Island Adventure which is a pretty good additional adventure and is the continuation of the main game, where the player has to discover a mysterious island and free a young witch who has also been cursed by the Puppet Thief. It prolongs the 4-5 hours long playthrough of the main story with another hour.

Fairy Tale Mysteries: The Puppet Thief is a solid, well made hidden object game which I would recommend to anyone who likes or wishes to try this genre despite its plotholes and minor faults.

PROS
+ not so hard hidden object challenges with very good minigames
+ stylish graphics, relatively many cutscenes
+ good atmosphere

CONS
- flaws in the story, despite the possibilites
- too few minigames

RATING
6.5/10

(thanks to Nuno, from who I've won this game in a giveaway)

I've recently played through Crystals of Time, which was my first hidden object game experience. Overall, I liked it, but I did not enjoy the shallow story and its fairly minimalistic realization that much. Fairy Tale Mysteries: The Puppet Thief exceeds the aforementioned game in these aspects, making it an ideal choice for the lovers of hidden object games (even though by reading other reviews, it seems there are better ones out there). According to the story we've been asked to investigate the mysterious disappearances of local children of the fictional town of Arbourshire, by none others than the Grimm brothers (the famous German authors and collectors of folk tales). Apparently an evil sorcerer, called the Puppet Thief is kidnapping the children and uses them as puppets. The premise seems exciting and spooky enough, but after having finished the game many unanswered quetions remain. Why did the sorcerer did this? Why did he need the souls of children? What happened to the other children (we get to release only one), especially to the daughter of the Silver Magician for example? It seems it's been put together in a hurry and feels rushed, even though it successfully manages to keep up the scary atmosphere all the way till the end. I liked the relatively frequent cutscenes (usually after achieving something important) that added a lot to the interactiveness and also strengthened the adventure factor of the game. Speaking of interactiveness, I don't know how ordinary it is in hidden object games, but there were some unusual occurrences (the mob setting the wagon ablaze while we are in a shop) that created some new sources from which we were able to acquire items needed for progress. Unfortunately these events were scarce. Item and inventory management isn't overcomplicated, so be warned: it is still far from the complexity and depth of a classic adventure game. The hidden object scenes are nicely done, it's not too hard to find any of the required items (with the exception of one towards the end). The problem here was also present in Crystals of Time: you'll have to backtrack and reuse the exact same hidden object scene a second or third time to find something. So if you play on expert difficulty and get stuck, make sure to check back on previously visited hidden object scenes. The minigames were enjoyable and often tricky to solve, wish there were more of these. I realize this game was originally designed for tablets and smart phones, so the graphic design should be judged accordingly. The game has nice, stylish graphics with moderate effects (sparks and lightning), but the quality of the cutscenes isn't that great overall since they are basically still images with dynamic elements zooming in and out. The music is conventionally good, with mysterious tunes along with sound effects that are perfectly good for these kinds of games, creating the necessary mysterious atmosphere. The game also contains a bonus chapter (that's why it's marked as collector's edition), the Bella Island Adventure which is a pretty good additional adventure and is the continuation of the main game, where the player has to discover a mysterious island and free a young witch who has also been cursed by the Puppet Thief. It prolongs the 4-5 hours long playthrough of the main story with another hour. Fairy Tale Mysteries: The Puppet Thief is a solid, well made hidden object game which I would recommend to anyone who likes or wishes to try this genre despite its plotholes and minor faults. PROS + not so hard hidden object challenges with very good minigames + stylish graphics, relatively many cutscenes + good atmosphere CONS - flaws in the story, despite the possibilites - too few minigames RATING 6.5/10 (thanks to Nuno, from who I've won this game in a giveaway)