Magic Academy should set the standard for games in the hidden object genre. Not only does the game involve the player in an engaging story, but also it keeps things from getting boring with its variety of puzzles.

Most hidden object games pause for a short time after a player clicks a found object and require waiting wait until the previously found object makes its way off the screen before you select the next one. This is not a problem in Magic Academy, so the game moves faster.

Hidden object games don’t always have a tie in between the objects you find and the game, but all objects and puzzles connect with the story in Magic Academy. Other than finding hidden objects, players compare two scenes to find differences, find objects based on shadows of the object instead of words, put jigsaw puzzles together, make card matches and seek out all of a similar object such as butterflies, insects, spiders (I could’ve done without them!) and scrolls.

The music and dark rooms set the scene nicely. It doesn’t take much to scare me, so I turned off the all-to-real music while leaving the sound effects on. If a child likes the Harry Potter series, the game should be fine to play. My eight-year-old — who likes Harry Potter — joined me a few times, but the hidden objects were difficult for him to find. But when he succeeded, he was excited.

Speaking of Harry Potter, the developers snuck in a Harry look-alike that plays your missing sister’s classmate. That and the fact the story takes place at a wizard’s academy is where the resemblance ends. The level of challenge is just right. I failed to complete a few levels, but conquered them on the second or third try.

A timer keeps you moving and you can get help. Once you use a help, however, you have to wait a set amount of time to pass before you get another. I liked this hint style better than receiving a set number of helps since some puzzles took longer as they had more objects. The easier puzzles contained an average of 10 objects while the harder ones had 30.

Overall, Magic Academy entertains, challenges and contains a good ending. The beautiful graphics and mystery will gratify fans of hidden object games. Those having played Mystery Case Files: Ravenhearst should like this one.

Tags: pc games, game reviews, magic academy, meryl k. evans