Secret City: The Sunken Kingdom > iPad, iPhone, Android, Mac & PC Game

Overall rating

5 / 5

42 of 47 found this review helpful

SECRET CITY IS BACK WITH AN EXCITING ADVENTURE INTO THE MERFOLK REALM

PostedMarch 4, 2019

biscuitsmama

fromThis princess needs to be stopped!

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Skill Level:Expert

Fun Factor

5 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

5 / 5

Level of Challenge

4 / 5

Storyline

5 / 5

The Secret City is a magical place where mystical and powerful beings live hidden alongside the human race. Many years ago Tenebris, the princess of the Merfolk, killed her father to take over the Merfolk kingdom. The ambitious princess had her sights set on the Secret City as well since she wanted to become the supreme ruler of all mystical beings. Fortunately the revolt was stopped and after her generals were killed Tenebris and the Merfolk Kingdom disappeared. Now the petrified body of a renowned Dwarven explorer has washed up on the shoreline and your friend Sakir needs your help. Sakir believes that the death of Bolrekin Nibley is somehow related to the Merfolk Kingdom and it could mean bad news for the Secret City. Will you and Sakir be able to solve the case and find out what this means for the future of the Secret City.

I loved the first game in this new series “London Calling” that was released last year and since that time I’ve been waiting for the next game to appear and today my wait is over. I played the beta for the game a few months ago and I knew it would be a game that I would love. The Sunken Kingdom is everything I thought it would be and more. The only issue for me is that there are far more puzzles than HOP scenes in the game. The HOPS in the game are very well-crafted but they are outnumbered by puzzles. Even though I enjoy HOPS more than I do puzzles, the puzzles in this game are entertaining and fun to solve. Thankfully there are some puzzles that rely on using one’s brain rather than simply twist this and then twist that to solve.

Another critique of the game is the offering of a pseudo Custom game setting. If a developer is going to offer a Custom setting it implies that the gamer can choose to set the game up the way they want to play. In recent games the developer sets the lower end of the time settings for skipping puzzles or getting hints. Sometimes it might be 10 seconds or even 15 seconds but I believe that the gamer should be able to change that to fit their needs. I tend to be a bit impatient and when I want or need a hint I don’t want to hang around and wait. Please developers allow us to select that bottom range for ourselves. I realize it is a time-stretcher when we must wait to skip a puzzle but why even offer a Custom setting when we cannot set the hint and skip times?

Overall The Sunken Kingdom is an excellent game with a well laid out storyline. I love the premise of having a hidden city within London that only a few can see or find. Kudos to BFG and the developer for coming up with this interesting new idea. I have enjoyed playing the game well into the wee hours of the morning and find it to be one of the best games that I have played recently. It was refreshing to see a mystery game that didn’t have some evil monster hiding in a decrepit and dark haunted house. As always, I recommend that you try the demo to see if Secret City the Sunken Kingdom is a game that you will enjoy as much as me. Happy gaming! Show less

I recommend this game!

+37points

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Overall rating

5 / 5

24 of 39 found this review helpful

SECRET CITY THE SUNKEN KINGDOM

PostedMarch 3, 2019

mendillovictoria

fromJACKSONVILLE FLA 32222

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Skill Level:Expert

Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object, Match 3, Puzzle, Time Management

Fun Factor

5 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

5 / 5

Level of Challenge

5 / 5

Storyline

5 / 5

I LOVE THIS SERIES I HOPE IT NOT THE LAST ,I KNOW YOU LIKE THIS ONE GOOD LUCK

I recommend this game!

+9points

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Overall rating

5 / 5

1 of 1 found this review helpful

Great game

PostedDecember 6, 2020

cyndrap

fromMississippi

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Skill Level:Expert

Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object, Match 3

Fun Factor

5 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

5 / 5

Level of Challenge

5 / 5

Storyline

5 / 5

Really liked this game. Very good storyline, good graphics, smooth game play. An immediate buy for me.

I recommend this game!

+1point

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Overall rating

5 / 5

enjoyed

PostedMarch 8, 2022

dippy1961

fromwinchester hampshire

Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object

Fun Factor

5 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

5 / 5

Storyline

5 / 5

i loved this game very colourful and fun to play

I recommend this game!

0points

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Overall rating

4 / 5

9 of 12 found this review helpful

Fairly entertaining

PostedMarch 9, 2019

catmartie

fromManchester, UK

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Skill Level:Expert

Favorite Genre(s):Card & Board, Hidden Object, Mahjong, Match 3, Puzzle

Current Favorite:

Mystery of the Ancients: No Escape Collector's Edition

(64)

Fun Factor

4 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

5 / 5

Level of Challenge

4 / 5

Storyline

3 / 5

Having played the free trial, I liked the game enough to buy it on special offer, but not to use a precious full credit on. It's good but not brilliant; pleasant entertainment to spend time on after a few days of intensive personal business matters.
The story line is a bit flimsy but is a useful vehicle for finding and solving a succession of games and puzzles.
One thing that really jarred, and I was glad to get past that sequence, was the voice for the character "Nessie". Now Nessie is a Scottish mythical creature, so-called because it's believed to live in Loch Ness. In this game however the character has an extremely grating and unpleasant "Mockney" accent. Show less

I recommend this game!

+6points

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Overall rating

4 / 5

Fun hidden object game

PostedMay 1, 2023

kepc1

Fun Factor

5 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

3 / 5

Level of Challenge

4 / 5

Storyline

4 / 5

This game was fun to play, graphics are a little dated but not bad

I recommend this game!

0points

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Overall rating

3 / 5

45 of 50 found this review helpful

A BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED GAME, BUT...

PostedMarch 4, 2019

pennmom36

fromWow, that's a long game! ⛄

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Top Reviewer

Skill Level:Expert

Current Favorite:

Dark Dimensions: Wax Beauty Collector's Edition

(95)

Fun Factor

3 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

4 / 5

Level of Challenge

3 / 5

Storyline

3 / 5

Sakir has requested your investigative services once again in the Secret City, a city no other human knows exists. Bolrekin Nibley, the famous Dwarven explorer, has been murdered. His body has been completely petrified leading Sakir to believe that he may have stumbled upon some clues while searching for the lost Merfolk Kingdom that mysteriously vanished over 10 years ago!

Although this game ...Show more

Although this game is a rather easy game to play, and the storyline has been done a thousand times before, I did find it to be quite enjoyable. Domini never skimps on quantity, this is another long 7 Chapter game, (and an extremely long CE Bonus Chapter) In my opinion, it's just too long, and it tends to drag on and on with a repetitive scenario of always being just seconds too late to prevent the evil-doer's dastardly deeds, in every single chapter! I'd rather have a 3-4 Chapter game jam-packed with a solid storyline and features rather than a 7 Chapter game stretched out with fillers that do nothing to progress the story, they are just useless tasks that require a lot of back and forthing for no rhyme or reason. For instance, you find a crescent wrench towards the end of the first chapter, use it one time and discard it, only to need the same exact tool a few scenes later, therefore they needed to add another nook & cranny to investigate just to find the tool you should have hung onto in the first place. This tool discarding scenario occurred several times in every single scene of every chapter! Why can't we just keep standard tools in our purse or backpack? I would suspect that a real detective would carry some standard tools of the trade, at least a lockpick!

I really didn't like the new "Collectibles Tab" located on the right side of the screen. What was wrong with the 3 small icons on the inventory bar that twinkled when a particular collectible or morph was available in the current scene? If you didn't like the heads-up twinkling you could disable them and they'd be barely noticeable. Now you have to pull out the big and bulky side tab if you want to see if any of the icons are twinkling to alert you of their presence, I just think it takes away from the beauty of the scenery and is way less convenient. I'd rather see Domini adjust their over-the-top neon color palette and the lengthy chapters than do away with the collectibles circles on the inventory bar!

The Hidden Object Scenes are rather scarce in this Puzzle-Heavy HOPA game, but some of them were very creative. I'm not usually a fan of Keywords in Sentence finds and unfortunately, there are a lot of them used to progress the story's origins. One of my favorite Hidden Object Scenes was the second or third one offered in the first chapter and I wish they had used that type more often of finding a particular group of symbols on 2 pages full of symbols. I also really enjoyed the one in the second chapter where you place swatches correctly onto several different pictures. In the third chapter, there is a very creative Riddle Description HOS where you are tasked with finding the animal that matches the riddle clue. The Riddles themselves were really good, but I thought the animals themselves were creatively blended into the scenery. Towards the end of the game, there is a "spot the difference" HOP where you have to find 12 differences between the original and its mirror image, that was pretty fun as well. There is an alternate Match 3 Game available if you're not a fan of HO's. I've always wondered why they don't offer Hidden Object alternates instead of playing a Mini-Game if they offer a Match 3 game instead of HO's?

The Mini-Games are available in an Easy or Hard Difficulty Mode, and in the Custom Mode setting, you can choose to have each mini-game start out in either difficulty, but you can always opt for the opposite each time you play one. I've always wished there were small, step-by-step videos of the mini-games on the Strategy Guide where you could press on a play button to see a visual of how to solve the game, especially on some of the more complicated games, or games that have confusing written instructions. (tell me that's not an excellent idea!) Below are brief descriptions of some of the games you'll encounter throughout the game:

1-Connect dots with the specified number of connections.
2-Drag the feet to navigate the maze, collecting items to trade with the skeletons to overcome obstacles.
3-Swap and rotate tokens to restore the image.
4-Move hinged fragments into the highlighted slots to restore the image.
5-Position switches and select directional arrows to move coins into their matching slots at the bottom.
6-Use a magnifying glass to search for symbols in the order shown.
7-Move the arrow to each lock using rotation and arrow buttons.
8-Rotate 3 circles to place colored beads correctly on each circle.
9-Rotate stones so they are facing the right direction as shown on the clue.
10-Click on shields with matching identical symbols.
11-Navigate a train by selecting moves without landing on a hole.
12-Chose colors that won't allow 2 identical colors to touch each other.
13-Swap metal strips with gems so that when overlapped, all holes are filled with gems.

The Collector's Edition Bonus Chapter takes place shortly after the detective finishes up the case. The Merfolk Supreme Judge, Cassiopeia, invites you to join her during their new Election process which infuriates Hakkar who feels he is the rightful heir to the throne, and of course, chaos ensues. There are 8 Mini-Games and 5 Hidden Object Scenes within the Bonus Chapter and you will complete the collections with the Final Morphing Statuette, 2 final Missing Journal Page Entries, and the last 10 Hidden Starfish which allows you to complete your Aquarium Fish collection.

The Collector's Edition version has 11 Wallpapers, 10 Concept Art pictures, 5 Music Soundtracks, 21 Movie Video Cutscenes, 18 Achievements to earn, 18 re-playable Hidden Object Scenes, 19 re-playable Mini-Games, 13 Morphing Statues, 36 Collectible Starfish that allow you to buy 15 Aquarium Fish, 15 Journal Page Entries, 7 Main Chapters +Bonus Chapter and a built-in Strategy Guide Walkthrough, enjoy :)

SECRET CITY SERIES LIST
Title***Standard Edition Release Date***Average Rating

1-London Calling (May 27-2018) 3.6
2-The Sunken Kingdom (March 3-2019) n/a

by: Domini Games Show less

I recommend this game!

+40points

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Overall rating

3 / 5

3 of 3 found this review helpful

Kids would live it

PostedDecember 20, 2020

robotics1

fromcambridge, UK

Skill Level:Intermediate

Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object

I played it and it kept me amused for a while but all that witches and magick and purple zaps... it's all kids stuff to be honest.
Saving grace: the HOPs were plenty and good.

I don't recommend this game.

+3points

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Overall rating

2 / 5

3 of 3 found this review helpful

It's beyond me...

PostedDecember 6, 2020

roaming

fromTexas

Key Contributor
This "Key Contributor" plays, rates, and reviews a lot of games. We think you'll trust their thoughts and opinions about games.
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Skill Level:Expert

Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object

Fun Factor

1 / 5

... to explain the reviews positively gushing over this game. I found the story to be silly, the neon colors garish, and the acting wooden. I couldn't muster even an ounce of sympathy or desire to save the kingdom from whatever it was that it needed to be saved from. It's a wonder to me that they didn't all die from neon poisoning.

I don't recommend this game.

+3points

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