It's no surprise the average casual gamer is a woman. What is surprising is that more women aren't making the games women love. Game developer Amaranth Games is looking to change that, with women filling many of the company's key positions, including CEO, lead programmer and lead artist. The firm's best known for its successful RPG, Aveyond but is also branching out to develop games like adventure/hidden object game A Gypsy's Tale: Tower of Secrets.
The game puts you in the tasseled shoes of Reylin of Winderalth, a magical gypsy girl hired by a mysterious monk to save a girl trapped in a tower. You're not given much information regarding the identity of the girl or why she's been imprisoned but you set out anyway, to do your best to free her.
A Gypsy's Tale is a hidden object game but unlike other game of the genre, the emphasis is less on hidden object scenes and more on advancing the story by solving problems. In that way, the game approaches more of a traditional adventure, albeit less challenging than most hard core adventure games tend to be. It also varies in its presentation of the hidden object elements by asking you much of the time to find groups of things--either ingredients for potions or the various pieces of a dismantled object.
When you hover the mouse over one of these collective items, a radial menu appears with icons representing the pieces you need to find. Once you've found all the pieces, you can then use the reassembled item to solve situational puzzles (get machinery working, activate magical contraptions, etc)
Each scene also holds a series of crystals that when found, enable you to teleport among locations, saving you a boatload of unnecessary clicking.
A Gypsy's Tale is good fun and a fairly forgiving hidden object/adventure. There's no penalty for clicking wrong or clicking too much and nothing is timed. The game also does a fair job of telling you exactly what you need to do, especially if you avail yourself of the hint button. In general too, the story is interesting (if a bit nonsensical and with a few unresolved plot threads) and the artwork is quite beautiful. The main criticism of the game is perhaps that it ends on more of a cliffhanger than some gamers may appreciate.
In spite of that, A Gypsy's Tale: Tower of Secrets is sure to please hidden object fans and adventure gamers alike and can be downloaded now for $10.00 from the Amaranth Games website.
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