Developed by Dragon Altar Games, the title of Portals of the Unknown starts with Veronica working at the North Pole. She receives a distress call and she sets out to help. The game consists of a mixture of mini game puzzles, Hidden Objects scenes, evidence gathering, dialogue and linking cut-scenes. Any dialogue in this game is delivered solely in text format while cut-scenes contain a minimum of animation with overlaid windows to add focus to any activity.

The Painted Tower, as you might suspect, forms part of the Drawn series of Puzzle Adventure games.  As with the other offerings in this series, the game is based around a concept of magic paintings that can draw people into fantasy worlds.  In this case the game is built around a magical tower that is not acting as it should and a young girl, called Iris, who is currently trapped inside.

Take a smidgen of murder, add a flavour of mystery before sprinkling in some madness and the result could be a triple pack of Hidden Object Adventure game play.  Entitled Murder, Mystery & Madness, the three main ingredients of this package are Shades of Death - Royal Blood, developed by VOGAT Interactive, Time Mysteries - Inheritance, developed by Artifex Mundi, and Doors of the Mind - Inner Mysteries, developed by QB9.

Some, of a certain age, might have fond memories from their youth that involve sitting in a cinema wearing a pair of red and green glasses to watch a film in 3D.  Those same paper-framed glasses with their red and green eye pieces make a reappearance in this next Hidden Object Adventure game entitled Escape the Lost Kingdom.  Developed by GOGII, this game integrates you as a member of a typical family, made up of mother, father, daughter, son and troublesome pet.

Mountain Trap - The Manor of Memories is a Hidden Object Adventure game.  Developed by Color Brush Studio, this game casts you in the role of a person who sets out to help a friend who is in trouble and then spends more time and effort helping a phantom bride. When setting up this game you have the usual assortment of options.  Named profiles can be created to record the progress of different players.  Whatever name you give to the profile will be used for your in-game character.

Jigsaws have come a long way since the first commercial offerings were developed by the British cartographer and engraver John Spilsbay around 1760.  Consisting of a European map on hardwood which was cut out by a saw, the first jigsaws were meant for use as an educational tool to teach children about geography and the layout of different countries. While still being retained as an educational tool, the focus of jigsaw has developed in other ways with a computer base being just one of them.

Usually, when reviewing a product for use on a computer system, whether hardware or software, I tend to use my main desktop system as the base platform.  But sometimes this is not possible due to various circumstances.  A recent example of this situation was the arrival of the Curve Flex from Twelve South, a company that designs and manufactures Apple accessories.

With its rather mouthful of a title, "Stan's Magic Museum - Olympian Trouble" belongs to the Match 3 genre of games.  Developed by that hot bed of Match 3 offerings, e-Funsoft, this particular title could well have taken its inspiration from the Night of the Museum series of movies.  Your role in the game is that of Stan, a night guard at the museum where strange events occur as the bewitching hour takes over.

Developed by Sulus Games, The Tarot Card Mystery forms part of the Strange Cases™ series and belongs to the Hidden Object Adventure genre.  The game casts you in the role of Claire Ellery who is a FBI agent.  She tends to be assigned cases that are a little bit out-of-the-ordinary and this latest example certainly fits this category.  Claire has been assigned to investigate a triple kidnapping in a small unknown town.

Dark Dimensions is the brand name of a series of Hidden Object Adventure games.  I have been looking at a two-pack bundle of the first two titles in this series.  These offerings are the City of Fog and Wax Beauty with both titles being developed by Daily Magic Productions. Included with these two titles is a graphical front-end menu that can be used to install the games individually via Big Fish Games' loader.  The two titles feature a similar range of set-up options.

These titles making up this pack are The Return of Monte Cristo, developed by Turtle Games, Echoes of the Past - Royal House of Stone, developed by Orneon, and Hidden in Time  - Mirror Mirror, developed by Monkey Barrel Games.  The three Hidden Object titles can be installed individually from the supplied same front-end. A similar group of options, apart from a couple for instances, are available when setting up these titles.

Developed by Tap It Games, The Secret of Serpent Creek features an unique detective mode,  With this mode the player will need to uncover the presence of clues within a crime scene  which are then processed to reveal a trial of events.  In other words it is a situation where you have to look for hidden items without the help of a required list. Profiles can be created with this game so that different people can play the game and have their progress and achievements recorded.

Have you ever awoken from a deep sleep to discover yourself in a strange bedroom that you have not seen before or know how you managed to end up there?  This is the type of situation facing the central character of this next game of The Sleeping Palace from the Mystery Murders series.  Developed by Casual Arts, this game is currently available for downloading from the Big Fish Games website.

Recently I have been on a trip encompassing twenty wonders of the world and discovering numerous interesting facts, all without having to leave the comfort of my front room.  This feat has been achieved, courtesy of Point 8 Games who developed Adventure Trip - Amazing World 2, a Hidden Object game with some educational qualities. Allowing different people to play the game, named profiles can be created to record the progress of those taking up the challenge.

As part of the series, The Red Riding Hood Sisters is a Hidden Object Adventure game developed by Blue Tea Games.  I have been looking at the Collector's Edition version of this title.  As usual with Collector's Edition offering, this title comes with various bonus elements that sit alongside the main game which covers the conflict between the sisterhood and the forces of the Wolf Queen.

Developed by GamGo Games, The Serpent of Isis is a Hidden Object Adventure game that sets the challenges of recovering a missing masterpiece.  Taking up a central position in this game is the legendary Serpent of Isis which was discovered during an expedition led by Sir Henry Higgens to discover the tomb of the last Egyptian Pharaoh.

In the same way that throwing a pebble into a pool can cause an expanding ripple effect, so altering the past can produce waves that spread out and disturb the vary fabric of time as historic objects become displaced thus adding further disruption to the original ripple effect.  You are invited to find and restore these misplaced objects and, maybe, unearth the Flux Family's darkest secret.

In the company of Silverback Productions and GOGII, lets take a trip to a mysterious underwater world filled with Hidden Object scenes and puzzling challenges.  Here you will find yourself in the world of the Empress of the Deep where you are faced with the Darkest Secret as you attempt to thwart the plans of the Dark Empress.

"Sweet Tooth","Scruffs - Return of the Duke"There is trouble brewing in the Kingdom of Scruffold or so they tell me.  While the Scruffs family has ruled this Kingdom for many years without any problems due to their compassion and upholding the rights of others, an unforeseen event was about to upset the apple cart and bring into focus inheritance issues regarding the vacant Dukedom.

Developed by Grey Wizard Innovation, Deadly Puzzles: Toymaker pits you against a serial killer terrorising a quiet town by murdering women.  You are cast in the role of a female detective assigned to solve the case and bring to justice a killer who enjoys setting puzzles in the form of clues. Allowing different people to play the game, this title supports the use of profiles to record the progress of those tackling the case.

This next product bundles together the first two titles in the popular PuppetShow series developed by ERS Game Studio.  The two titles are PuppetShow - Mystery of Joyville and PuppetShow 2 - Souls of the Innocent.  Both titles can be installed individually from the same front-end menu. The same package of options is available when setting up each of these titles.  You can create profiles so that different players can play the game and have their individual progress recorded.

Some may remember that Paprikan introduced us to Montgomery Fox who had abandoned his scavenger lifestyle and was not putting his skills to more advantage use by working as a detective.  Fans of Montgomery may be wondering how he has spent his time since that initial outing.  My research reveals that, after spending time sunny himself in my back garden, he has been busy disturbing my sleep with his mating calls.

I have been looking at the Collector's Edition of this game developed by Alawar's Go! Studio.  Unlike other titles bearing the Collector's Edition branding, this offering takes a different approach to its bonus offerings.  Rather than a bonus chapter, you are given two bonus Hidden Object games of Mountain Crime and Natural Threat.  These games have their own setting options regarding the volume adjustment and full screen viewing.

There is a theory, supported by some, that the human evolutionary chain was somehow influenced by the presence of outside elements that were alien in concept.  Whether that influence included Ancient Astronauts is a mute point but this next game might swing the argument one way or the other.  As a member of the Unsolved Mystery Club, you can join the search for five fellow members who have gone missing when searching for evidence of whether Ancient Astronauts existed or not.

Cambridge Audio has over 50 years experience in the designing and production of audio products including the three piece speaker system that has been providing the audio output from my computer system for well over a decade now without any problems.  Recently the company has launched its new ear-bud product consisting of a pair of earbuds and a carry case.