Mystery Case Files: The Countess > iPad, iPhone, Android, Mac & PC Game

Overall rating

5 / 5

79 of 83 found this review helpful

Why the bad reviews??

PostedJanuary 6, 2019

lynnminer

fromSeattle, WA

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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):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle

Fun Factor

5 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

5 / 5

Level of Challenge

5 / 5

Storyline

5 / 5

I am so glad I decided to buy this game despite some bad reviews. If you love puzzles like I do, try this game! It is loaded with puzzles, many that are different than the norm and also has the multi-level puzzles that are so fun. This is a long game so you definitely get your money's worth! It's one of the funnest games I've played and I have played hundreds. Give it a go!

I recommend this game!

+75points

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Overall rating

5 / 5

38 of 40 found this review helpful

A Puzzle Lover's Dream

PostedFebruary 2, 2019

Homeimps

fromPalm Desert, CA

Skill Level:Expert

Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Large File, Puzzle, Word

Fun Factor

5 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

5 / 5

Level of Challenge

5 / 5

Storyline

4 / 5

This was probably my favorite MCF game thus far, as I'm a great fan of puzzles and it has a ton of them. Not only are there a lot of puzzles, but they are truly original, not just the ones we have seen far too often that are sometimes put into games as filler. The graphics, as always, are great, as is all the audio.

I do wish people who either don't like puzzles or are less capable of figuring ...Show more

I do wish people who either don't like puzzles or are less capable of figuring out how to play them would refrain from giving games like this a poor rating; there are so many thousands of HOG's for people who prefer to just look for items in piles of stuff, it's a rare treat to occasionally find one like this that has a challenge as well, and I'd suggest to those nay-sayers that there are more than enough of the simple kind out there for them to play.

I'm going to buy Broken Hour next as the demo had me hooked, and am looking forward to seeing what the next MCF has in store now that they've set the bar higher for themselves. Show less

I recommend this game!

+36points

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Overall rating

5 / 5

22 of 23 found this review helpful

Fun game with great puzzles!

PostedJanuary 20, 2019

Tflo

fromUSA

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Fun Factor

5 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

5 / 5

Level of Challenge

5 / 5

Storyline

5 / 5

This game has everything I like. Challenging fun puzzles and plenty of them! I enjoy the haunted type theme and this fits the bill. The game is lengthy as well so I feel I got my monies worth! Mystery Case Files have always been my favorite!

I recommend this game!

+21points

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Overall rating

5 / 5

10 of 12 found this review helpful

Wish I'd Bought the CE!

PostedApril 1, 2019

Yanie1020

fromIowa, USA

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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):Adventure, Hidden Object, Large File, Marble Popper, Puzzle, Strategy

Fun Factor

5 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

5 / 5

Level of Challenge

5 / 5

Storyline

5 / 5

Wow, wow, and wow! Puzzles are my favorite part of the game, and this game has tons of them. I should have bought the CE. Everything was good. I almost never skip puzzles but I skipped two in this one after spending about 30 minutes on each one. One skip was because the instructions were terrible and I wasn't sure what to do. The other was a circular photo where you had to move the sections to complete a picture. It drove me nuts and I had to skip it because I was turning into a wreck! Great voiceovers, music wasn't annoying, and (most of all) puzzles galore. 10 stars! Show less

I recommend this game!

+8points

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Overall rating

5 / 5

6 of 6 found this review helpful

Enjoyable game with a good mix

PostedJuly 28, 2019

pussinboots64

fromUK

Skill Level:Expert

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

Fun Factor

5 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

5 / 5

Level of Challenge

4 / 5

Storyline

4 / 5

I really enjoyed this game as there was a good mix of hidden object & puzzle games. The puzzle games were hard but not unachievable like so many sometimes are. And there were not too many hidden object parts which are getting a bit boring now!

+6points

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Overall rating

5 / 5

9 of 11 found this review helpful

Great Game!!!!

PostedJune 22, 2019

rpggramma

fromMidwest, USA

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

Skill Level:Expert

Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Brain Teaser, Puzzle, Strategy

Fun Factor

5 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

5 / 5

Level of Challenge

5 / 5

Storyline

5 / 5

I LOVED EVERYTHING!!!!!!!
AND THE PUZZLES ARE TO DIE FOR!!!!!!!!!

I recommend this game!

+7points

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Overall rating

5 / 5

8 of 12 found this review helpful

Review of Finished Game

PostedJanuary 31, 2019

shagwendy

fromThe State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

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):Adventure, Hidden Object, Match 3, Puzzle, Time Management

Current Favorite:

Mystery Case Files: The Countess

(24)

Fun Factor

5 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

5 / 5

Level of Challenge

4 / 5

Storyline

5 / 5

I loved this game! It could have been a little harder, but it's the normal hardness for this game site. This game is almost all puzzles but they were pretty easy. Each scene has lots of things to do, lots to pick up and several puzzles, but only one HO scene. You didn't have to traipse all over the place, I hardly used the map or hint to transport, you were only using about 5 locations until you moved onto another part of the map. The story unfolded well, you didn't forget why you were doing what you were doing, and it even had a good plot twist towards the end. I was happy with the standard edition, there was so much to do I didn't even miss looking for collectables and the story ended well, so I didn't miss a bonus chapter. It usually takes me a while to finish a game because I get bored but with this game I wanted to keep playing. It was a fun game, a puzzle lover's dream. I highly recommed it. Show less

I recommend this game!

+4points

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Overall rating

4 / 5

82 of 92 found this review helpful

ONCE UPON A TIME...

PostedDecember 20, 2018

pennmom36

fromIt's no Ravenhearst, but I loved the puzzles ⛄

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Top Reviewer

Skill Level:Expert

Current Favorite:

Mystery Case Files®: Escape from Ravenhearst™ Collector's Edition

(896)

Fun Factor

4 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

4 / 5

Level of Challenge

4 / 5

Storyline

4 / 5

The biggest reason I love the MCF series is because of the type of mini-games they include. It's a hard thing to describe, but I love puzzles that you tinker with, such as setting gauges or set points, puzzles that require logic or some sort of complex thought process, without being frustrating. The kind of puzzles that have you thinking 5 steps ahead because you know what logical steps need to be taken to get from point A to point B. I don't like manual dexterity puzzles because it doesn't require much thought process at all, I loathe "clicking one may affect others" puzzles which never seem to have any rhyme or reason to them, and I hate fight scene puzzles (probably because my logic-craving brain isn't located in my fists?) I really enjoyed most of the games here, so I was completely satisfied with my purchase. (I chose the CE version because the collectibles and morphs alone were worth the price difference to me)

Master Detective, the Queen has granted her permission to allow you to investigate the disappearance of your dear friend Lady Codington. After reclaiming the family Estate against her father's wishes and warnings, not only has she mysteriously vanished, but the interior design team has vanished as well. It isn't long before the Master Detective comes face to face with evil itself, The Black Countess, the mirror alter-ego image of grandmother Gloria Codington!

As far as the CE bling, I must admit that Eipix has done a wonderful job with the Morphing Objects and Collectible Mirror Shards, and I'm not usually impressed by this particular developer. I found myself staring intently on several scenes (especially the bathroom scene) to spot the mirror shard. The Morphs changed at a slower pace than usual, and for once they didn't choose an obvious item to Morph, (cuz it's pretty hard to miss a baseball sitting in the middle of an upper-scale Manor right?) Most of the time I know which item will morph the second I enter a new scene because they always chose an object that looks out of place in the scene. Even the Mirror Shards were somewhat challenging because they located them in unusual areas of the scene. I liked the graphics much better this time because they made them a tad bit darker and slightly more detailed.

The Hidden Object Scenes were rather unimpressive and far and few between. They clearly poured all their effort into making this a puzzle adventure rather than a Hidden Object adventure, adding just enough scenes to qualify it as a HOPA. Most of the scenes are Interactive List finds or Keywords in Sentence finds but there are also Multiple finds and Silhouetted Shape finds. I found many of the scenes to be lacking clarity, therefore, some of the items were hard to find because you just couldn't make out what an object you were looking at actually was!

I hope you like Mini-Games because there are a ton of them and they are back to back most of the time. Although I found the instructions to be confusing at times, the puzzles themselves aren't that complicated. The Super Puzzles once again make an appearance as they always do in this infamous MCF series. If you're new to this series, Super Puzzles are multi-layered puzzles, but in my opinion, these weren't as interesting because they were just made up of several mini-games, not the usual Rube Goldberg style puzzles that this series is known for. Below are brief descriptions of some of the games you'll encounter before and after the demo:

1-Swap pie-shaped sections to create a path for the sword.
2-Select & rotate the correct key that matches each shape.
3-Select & drag tiles vertically or horizontally to match the central piece.
4-Drag left & right ribbons to match center symbols when combined.
5-Press directional arrows to move a beam of light through a maze.
6-Super Puzzle #1: Press books to receive the first clue.
7-Super Puzzle #2: Drag tiles until their symbols match the pattern.
8-Super Puzzle #3: Place the heart between the two lovers.
9-Super Puzzle #4: Rotate tiles to create a path.
10-Super Puzzle #5: Press directional arrows to cover entire grid with ink.
11-Super Puzzle #6: Rotate overlapping circular discs to create an image.
12-Super Puzzle #7: Drag books over numbered tokens to deduct numbers to 0.
13-Rotate dials to correctly point to the direction of the symbol.
14-Rotate petals to complete flower images.
15-Swap cubes to match the flowers in the correct order.
16-Click the moving figurine to guide it to the mirror.
17-Direct the beam of light to the end by adjusting mirrors.
18-Drag a line to flip all tokens to the Black Countess in 2 moves.
19-Push side tabs to match the numbers revealed on the book.
20-Drag a line to connect identical gems passing through all holes.
21-Place dominoes correctly according to the equations.
22-Choose 4 symbols that create the symbol shown when combined.

The Collector's Edition version has 8 Wallpapers, Concept Art pictures, 6 Movie Video Cutscenes, 7 Music Soundtracks, 12 Achievements to earn, 18 re-playable Hidden Object Scenes, 24 re-playable Mini-Games, 37 Morphing Objects, 37 Collectible Mirror Shards (Eipix Signs) 4 Main Chapters (average length) +Bonus Chapter and a built-in Strategy Guide, enjoy, just don't look in the mirror!

MYSTERY CASE FILES SERIES LIST
Title***Standard Edition Release Date***Average Rating

1-Huntsville SE only (November 14-2005) 3.6
2-Prime Suspects SE only (April 6-2006) 3.8
3-Ravenhearst SE only (December 15-2006) 3.6
4-Madame Fate SE only (November 7-2007) 4.0
5-Return to Ravenhearst SE only (November 26-2008) 4.2
6-Dire Grove (December 11-2009) 4.6
7-13th Skull (January 7-2011) 4.1
8-Escape From Ravenhearst (December 21-2011) 3.3
9-Shadow Lake (December 25-2012) 2.8
10-Fate's Carnival (December 20-2013) 4.1
11-Dire Grove, Sacred Grove (December 19-2014) 3.7
12-Key to Ravenhearst (December 9-2015) 3.9
13-Ravenhearst Unlocked (December 26-2015) 3.5
14-Broken Hour (December 23-2016) 3.2
15-The Black Veil (April 21-2017) 2.9
16-The Revenant's Hunt (January 19-2018) 3.5
17-Rewind (June 20-2018) 3.2
18-The Countess (December 19-2018) n/a

by: Eipix Entertainment

WHEW! THAT'S A LOTTA GAMES
PS: WE NEed more ink Show less

I recommend this game!

+72points

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Overall rating

4 / 5

18 of 19 found this review helpful

DESTROY THE MIRROR

PostedDecember 23, 2018

charlene_lane

fromWellington, New Zealand

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

Skill Level:Expert

Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Large File, Match 3

Current Favorite:

Mystery Case Files®: Escape from Ravenhearst™ Collector's Edition

(896)

Fun Factor

4 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

5 / 5

Level of Challenge

4 / 5

Storyline

4 / 5

REVIEW FROM COMPLETED GAME AND BONUS

Well fishies, if you love lots of hidden object and mini-games, then this will be perfect for you. Here you have to find Eleanor and then learn the story about Gloria and William Coddington. There are lots of twists and turns with the story and things are not what they seem. There is:

* Voiceovers (with dialogue);
* Easy, Medium, Hard and Custom modes;
* ...Show more

REVIEW FROM COMPLETED GAME AND BONUS

* Voiceovers (with dialogue);
* Easy, Medium, Hard and Custom modes;
* Interactive map;
* Journal.

The graphics are superb, with just the right amount of colour. This is one huge manor with lots of locations, so you won't be bored here. Sound is good and the music is orchestral and stunningly beautiful. I've always loved the MCF music and even the family know it well from me having it on loud over the years.

The hidden object games are mainly slightly interactive straightforward and there are a lot of them. These are easy to do because items are very clear to see.

Now, there are a lot of mini-games to play - some are easy and others take a lot more thinking and strategy. There are a couple of super mini-games, however these are not too hard to do. The first one took me about 20 minutes because I was a bit out of practice, but the second one only took about 5 minutes. There is something in there for everyone, even if you are not a fan of them. I loved them all because its the first game in ages that I had to think, rather than just click.

All up the game and bonus took me a good 9 hours or so - that's playing all the mini-games without skipping. Some did take me a while.

So, do you get the CE or SE? The CE has 37 morphs and 37 glass shards to find throughout game and bonus; 24 replayble mini-games and 24 replayable HOPs and 12 achievements (some with 3 circles). If you are thinking about just getting the SE I would reconsider because the bonus is integral to the main game and you won't get the full story of this disfunctional family.

Overall a totally immersible game with lots to do, incredible mini-games and an intense desire to find out what happened to this family.

Happy playing fishies. Its a long game, so please get comfortable. Show less

I recommend this game!

+17points

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Overall rating

4 / 5

14 of 14 found this review helpful

A good Game

PostedDecember 24, 2018

Martini483

fromSt Petersburg, FL

Skill Level:Intermediate

Fun Factor

4 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

5 / 5

Level of Challenge

4 / 5

Storyline

5 / 5

I am only critical of the puzzles. I am not sure if they are as hard as reported, or as I find them, or just the instructions are vague.

You need to test these to folks who did not design it. If I can't figure out what the heck I am supposed to do, I skip it and that is not good.

I recommend this game!

+14points

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