Less a point-and-click title, more just a point

Trends of all natures are generally cyclical — be it dress­es, suits, silly hair or, indeed, videogames. For this rea­son, the return to simple-by-necessity interfaces of­fered by Apple’s devices may well see the point-and-click undergo a renaissance. Not here mind you; The Secret Of Grisly Manor’s challenge proving relatively simplistic, and not altogether bound up in logic.

Help functions prove oddly absent — not exactly the most prom­ising of starts — as players are set loose around the titular house. With no additional character besides our gamer’s unseen eye, the only option is to wander about, encountering chess pieces mysteriously missing, butterfly-shaped holes into which, say, jewel encrusted butterflies can be slid, among other such stereotypes. Solutions to puzzles are therefore quite often simply solved by con­ducting thorough searches, rather than engaging the brain.

While some may view this as old-school charm, old-fashioned might be a more appropriate turn of phrase.

Rating 3 Star