Alicia Quatermain: Secrets of the Lost Treasures is basically 12 Labours of Hercules dressed up in different clothing, and I'm completely fine with that. JetDogs has the time management formula down to perfection, and as long as the tuning remains tight yet forgiving while allowing for flexible strategies and featuring top notch presentation, I will always gobble these games up as fast as they can make them.

Once again, you're tasked with completing a set of goals in order to proceed to the next level. While the goals vary, the general concept is the same; collect resources and perform specific tasks before the timer expires. Efficiently managing your workers is at the heart of the gameplay, although it's by no means necessary if you want to play more casually (and there are 3 different difficulty modes to fit a variety of players' tastes), but doing so adds strategic depth to what is in essence a very simple game. The more effort you put into challenging yourself, the more reward you'll get for it.

There are a couple mechanics that are unique to this series. Bandits will leave timed bombs on paths which need to be defused before they blow leaving a gaping hole in their wake which takes quite a bit of resources to repair. Not being prepared for these can mean the difference between snagging 2 and 3 stars. You can also repair and upgrade buildings that give a steady income of resources without the need to gather. Juggling these buildings with how quickly you can gather your own resources from replenishable nodes adds flexibility to the gameplay, and I'm always for more strategic options in these games.

The presentation is great with simple yet pleasing cartoon graphics, quality acting by Alica's VA, and another great soundtrack. There are also story snippets in the beginning of each level which give a short description of what's going on. Sometimes a bit of dialogue is exchanged between Alicia and her workers or the enemies too, which makes the characters feel a bit more dynamic. The only complaint I have is a few typos here and there, and a handful of story snippets that don't completely fit into the description window and cut off part of the last sentence. I didn't find this to be a deal breaker as the gameplay more than makes up for it, but others may be more annoyed by it than myself.

If you're a fan of time/resource management games, there's no reason not to buy this game. The value for your money is phenomenal, even at full price. I certainly hope further entries in Alicia Quatermain's series makes it over to Steam. These titles would make excellent additions to my time management game library.

I recently received this game for free from a curator connect offer in my group 100% Achievements Events group. This time management game by Jetdogs Studios and Whalebox features a female adventurer Alicia Quatermain on an adventure through different parts of the world to search for her missing father and find her grandfather's missing treasure. As Alicia Quatermain gathers her helpers (workers), friends and later her father (unique characters) to help her in her quest to gather resources, clear obstacles and fulfill objectives across 50 levels, she would soon cross paths with an antagonist known simply as Boss and her henchmen.

The plot is written as a parody to a popular Western media franchise with elements of humour and slapstick comedy. Having played the first five titles of Jetdogs Studios's time management games 12 Labours of Hercules I to V, it retains the formula and charm of the series as a casual time management game by giving players, achievement hunters and game completionists the option to play each level at any difficulty without forcing the player to replay too many levels at the hardest difficulty just to beat the developer record (there is only 1 achievement for beating developer record at a specific level this time).

In addition, to encourage players to try every level, the game also has 5 optional mini-jigsaw puzzle levels and 5 bonus unlockable levels where the player control Boss and her henchmen instead in Boss's perspective, as well as unlocks which clean up and add additional items in Alicia's office when each level is cleared at 3 stars at normal difficulty or higher.

Getting all achievements will require approximately 5 hours while going for true completion by completing all levels at 3 stars and unlocking all items at Alicia's office will require another couple of hours. Overall, this game doesn't deviate too much from the usual mechanics in Jetdogs Studios's earlier time management games where each level is more or less similar by searching for a jigsaw puzzle piece somewhere on the map, gathering resources, upgrading buildings, clearing obstacles, using special abilities and fulfilling the objectives in each level. Recommended for those who like a short casual time management game featuring an entirely different cast of characters in a modern setting with nice map and terrain variety every 11 levels with easy achievement requirements.

This is along the same vein as the 12 Labours of Hercules series, and I enjoyed it very much. It was fairly easy to get 100% Achievements, something that is not that easy in the 12 Labours series anymore with the addition of having to beat the Dev's records in every level!

It was quirky, and the art style was nice. There were some interesting mistakes in the level descriptions since it looks like english was not their native language. For example, in two or three levels the description of the level was cut off abruptly. There were also typos here and there, but it didn't detract from my experience.

I also loved the animations that Alicia and her friends make when they complete each level. They sort of do a dance to the music. I liked it!:hercules_is_happy:

All in all, I highly recommend this game. If you like time-management games, you can't go wrong with this one!

Alicia Quartermain is a balanced, fast-paced, and fun time management game, but one that falls in the easy category even for a casual genre.

Alicia Quartermain: Secrets of the Lost will surely feel familiar for many, since it not only uses the standard time management game mechanics of ordering around some workers to gather resources for glorified road works or building construction, but it is also largely reminiscent of the 12 Labours of Hercules series.

One of the core aspects of this game is its fast pace: the stages are small and crowded, so it is easy to clear them out, even with our 2-3 workers, with next to no downtime. Additionally, stockpile is very limited and production buildings are either automatic or replenish in seconds, so the game emphasises constant action instead of strategic resource management. Since this means we never really run out of anything, there are no parts on any stage we cannot solve by simply waiting a few seconds.

Despite this speed, the game is still easy on any difficulty. There are plenty of levels (50+5) to entertain us for a good while, but do not expect to spend more than a few hours getting the perfect 3-star score on each.

Better than the 12 labours of hercules series
The 12 labour of hercules series now require 20 levels you beat developer record (one of them requires all 50)
This is more fun
I won't buy another 12 labours of hercules game

If you liked the 12 Labours of Hercules, you'll like this. It's the same game but with a new character & story.

Published by Jet Dogs, known in this genre for their 12 Labours of Hercules series, but developed by a different company and it shows. The interface lacks all of the refinements Jet Dogs has developed over their games (it's difficult to tell which levels you've played; regenerating resources aren't marked and blend into the background; you can't un-queue resources; etc.) and the English localization obviously wasn't beta tested given how many times the storyline text gets cut off mid-sentence. Not unplayable, but if you're used to Jet Dogs other offerings, you'll be disappointed. Hopefully Whalebox's next offerings will be more polished.

Entertaining. A time management game in the likes of the Hercules franchise but with a female hero with a somewhat Indiana Jones theme. It might be also a little bit easier than the before mentioned franchise. Good graphics and good music.

No bugs or crashes. Works fine on Win 7.

Very casual. It's pretty cheap and includes easy to get achievements. You might have fun too with this, so I recommend it for relaxed gameplay and also if you like funny cartoonish stuff.

-Quick Review-
Alicia Quartermain is a fairly simple and straightforward puzzle resource management game where you get story bits inbetween about 20 puzzles.

-Detailed breakdown review-
Story: Alicia Quartermain is an Indiana Jones Wanna be (who am I to judge? I wanna be like Indiana Jones too.) One fateful day while mourning her father's deeaaatth...Disappearance, a stranger walks up and gives her a note which sends her off in search of her father and treasure because she buys her clothes from the same place as Indiana Jones.

Gameplay: The bulk of your time will be spent playing relatively simple puzzle games which seem to be optimized for a cell phone. I've been describing a lot of games I've been playing as "looks like it was designed for a cell phone" because the buttons are remarkably larger then necessary, and to me that means it was designed for people who need accessibility assistance, or it was designed for a mobile system.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1412709645

You click to assign tasks, certain NPC's need to be saved to clear specific road blocks, and to clear some obstacles specific resources are needed... like gold to bribe a villager to chase off a alligator.
Each level goes like so: You load into the level, quickly look around to see where the regenerated resources are located, then look down and up the path to see if there are any obstacles requiring a specific resource to clear. Then you start the game and rapid click to clear out the road and then finish the objective in time to get 3 stars.

Does that sound compelling? If yes, then you should totally check out Alicia Quartermain: Secrets of the Lost Treasures! No really, it's a solid game if you're looking to play a relaxing casual laid back game. This'll only interest certain types of people, I would imagine this would be a great hit with your children if you have any. But I'm very fond of feeling Zen, and that's exactly what happened when I played through the game.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1410939198

Conclusion: Alicia Quartermain is far too easy to be challenging for most people, but has clearly had a lot of heart put into it, seems very thematically designed, I would have played this as a kid; but that's not to say I didn't enjoy it now.

If this review has piqued your interest you can get a bit more of an idea how Alicia Quartermain plays like by checking out my video at the bottom of this review. But regardless, thank you for reading, hopefully this review was of some use to you!

Unscripted Thoughts Video:
https://youtu.be/XOGWgcAjuQ0

Pros:
-A better looking version of 12 Labours Of Hercules.

Cons:
- Everything else.
- The levels are mostly linear, you can complete them with 2 or 3 workers
- The pace of the game is much slower.
- Resource highlights aren't available so you have no way of knowing which resources are collectible. You'll spend a lot of time mousing over various resources to see if they can be collected yet.
- Timed resources don't need to be collected. They automatically get added to your inventory which dumbs this game down considerably.

If you liked 12 Labours of Hercules then give this a try but don't expect much enjoyment.