The Secret of Grisly Manor – classic point and click puzzle adventure comes to Android
Your famous inventor grandfather has gone missing and the news of his disappearance is plastered all over the press. To your surprise you receive a letter from the old man asking you to come to his mansion as he has something “amazing to show you”. The game begins at front of the locked grand entrance of the mansion, rain pouring and lightning flashing. What’s this “amazing” secret that your grandfather speaks of? Will it be amazing enough for you to warrant your time to play Grisly Manor? Read on to find out.
If you ever had the joy of growing up in the 90s, you will remember the times of PC point and click adventure games. These were essentially a series of parallel intertwining puzzles wrapped up with witty and entertaining stories. A few of my favourites were Day of the Tentacle , Sam & Max, Full Throttle and of course the Monkey Island series. Grisly Manor plays very similar to these great games but unfortunately lacks the creative story telling and funny main characters elements that arguably make these games such classics. What Grisly Manor is however a collection of well thought out and intricate puzzles that will leave puzzle fans wanting more.
The puzzles range from easy to moderately difficult. Depending on your skill and experience level, it should take anywhere from 20 mins to 2 hours to complete this title. Grisly Manor does an adequate job in showing you how to play by displaying HUD information of where to touch in order to guide you through the first couple puzzles. From then on you are on your own as there are no hints to ease your potential frustration, luckily a quick google search should help anyone who stuck in a rut.
If you do find yourself struggling, a good way to progress before you hit google would be just to click on everything and anything that looks out of the ordinary as you will find items and passage ways in the most unlikely of places. I made a rookie mistake and was stuck at one point where I didn’t realise there was a turn around the upstairs hallway leading to additional rooms. (duh!)
Grisly Manor’s graphics presented in a photo realistic style. This surprisingly works quite well and provides a somewhat effective eerie feel to the room settings. Complimented with a non obtrusive music score it does well in convincing you that you are exploring a big, cold and mysterious mansion.
Verdict: 4/5 The Secret of Grisly Manor provides a refreshing throwback to the classic point and click puzzle adventure games in the 90s. Admittedly lacking entertaining stories telling and lead characters, the game should still strongly appeal to puzzle enthusiasts. Although arguably a little too short, it still offers good value for its small price tag.
Developers: Fire Maple Games
The Secret of Grisly Manor QR Code
(Click on the image or scan the barcode with your Android phone to goto Google Play)
