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Whispered Secrets - Purrfect Horror is a Hidden Object Adventure game developed by Grandma.  I have been looking at the Collector's Edition of the title which comes with a number of bonus items.  While some of these bonus items, such as Jigsaw, Mini Games, Hidden Object scenes and two additional chapters, require progress to be made in the main game before access is granted, other elements are immediately accessible to the player.

The game casts you in the role of a private detective in a title that suggests a strong presences of cats.  You are hired to investigate the mysterious disappearance of an ancient Egyptian artefact, namely the Scythe of Apoph.  Your employer, Robert Shaw, a Professor of Egyptology, believes the Scythe has the ability to defeat evil.  Adding to your case problems is an influx of cats, some taking the form of ghostly apparitions, plus an increase in the number of people who have gone missing from the area.  Included among those who have gone missing is Jessica Creig who has a part to play later in the story.

The game is set in a rather downbeat area with plenty of opportunities to display scenes that could benefit from a definite clean up.  Arranged across the bottom of the various scenes are a collection of tools that are available to you.  Here you will find a Journal, recording important stages of the investigation and current task; a link to a Strategy Guide; Inventory which can be locked in positioned or left to disappear when not required; an infrared filter for use with certain scenes; Map and Hint features.

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You will also have access to a pop-out facility on the left side of the screen.  Either activated automatically or by a mouse click, this feature will inform you of the progress made in finding collectible and jigsaw pieces during game play plus the award of achievements gained.  The pop-out will shimmer to indicate when such items are available in the current scene.

As it moves around various scenes, the mouse cursor will provide useful assistance by changing shape when in the proximity of areas which need further investigation.  Indicators could appear to suggest examine, pick up, exit a scene or communicate with a game character.  In the case of the latter, you will be given the choice of different responses with your chosen reply affecting the flow of the story line.

You will also encounter outbreaks of sparkles which lead to a Hidden Object sequence.  Generally you will be asked to find a list of items in text format featuring two different colours so indicating which items might need some additional work before discovery.  With some scenes you might be asked to find a visual pattern forming part of a scene.  Sometimes silhouettes will be used to identify required items.

During any Hidden Object scene you will be given the opportunity to switch to Match 3 game play.  Rather than swapping tiles, this form of Match 3 involves the need to create groups of three and more groups of similarly coloured balls.  At any time you can switch between the two different types of game play.

You will also be faced by a number of mini game puzzles.  Often many of these puzzles will come with a choice of Easy or Hard versions of challenge but this does not always apply.  Generally I found that easier puzzles did not give you this choice of difficulty level.

From its rather confined start in search of a single Egyptian device within a closed environment, the game spreads out its field of operation.  Elements of Egyptian mythology, body switching, the ability to teleport and spending times as a cat are thrown into the mix.  From its original location of a run-down western district, the game takes you to Paris as you explore the catacombs of this capital city in your efforts to solve clues and rescue a daughter from a life of being a handmaiden of an Egyptian deity. 

From its rather slow start, the game does possess some addictive qualities.  I downloaded my copy of the title from Gamehouse.com where it is priced at $19.99.  It is also available from Big Fish Games priced at £15.44.  The game requires a 1.8 GHz processor with 1024MB of RAM and 835MB of hard disk space running Windows 7 and later.

Whispered Secrets - Purrfect Horror Collector's Edition | Big Fish Games

Whispered Secrets - Purrfect Horror Collector's Edition | GameHouse