Found: A Hidden Object Adventure vs Victoria
Found: A Hidden Object Adventure
Found: A Hidden Object Adventure is a free-to-play hidden object game (HOG) by Big Fish Games that you can play straight on your browser. The game is multidimensional, much like Mystery Manor or any of the other "hardcore" HOGs, as it offers missions where you banish creatures or barter with the locals for some extra energy in addition to the usual hidden object scenes. The story may be a bit cliche - you crash landed on a mysterious tropical island while travelling via plane - but things quickly took an intriguing turn once pirates, magic and a generous dose of mystery are added into the mix. There are, surprisingly, many interesting characters to meet as well - you would have thought the island would be deserted!Despite its old-school looks, Found: A Hidden Object Adventure is quite a find for any fan of the hidden object genre. If you're interested, be sure to give it a try!
Victoria
Victoria is a horror-themed match-3 adventure game that begins with a tragic story. The protagonist in this game, Victoria Miller, lost her husband and two children in an incident involving an aggressive poltergeist. Driven by her bitter need for revenge, she decided to pick up the ancient art of hunting supernatural beings and track the poltergeist across the United States in hopes of slaying it.At its core, Victoria is a pretty standard match-3 puzzle game where you’ll need to make matches of 3 or more in order to remove the items from the playing area. Most levels require you to clear away blue tiles by matching over them but sometimes, you may be asked to make specific matches in order to use the many weapons that will eventually be available to you against the supernatural creature you’ll be fighting. However, what allows this game to stand out from the usual match-3 games out there is the creepy atmosphere it provides and the occasional jump scares that's intended to give you a solid jolt from time to time.
Overall, when it comes to immersion, Victoria hits the nail on the head. However, despite the supernatural-fighting bits, the gameplay in this game can be rather simplistic, and after some time, rather mundane. That said, considering that true horror-themed match-3 games can be pretty rare, Victoria might just fit snugly into the gaming niche it is obviously designed for.