The fact that this game excels at the end makes up for the slow beginning and mini-game robbery, but only to make it just as good as the last two episodes.

The fact that this game excels at the end makes up for the slow beginning and mini-game robbery, but only to make it just as good as the last two episodes.

I should also point out that The Scorpio Ritual is a short game—six to eight hours of play spread across four main locations—and it culminates with an unusually abrupt ending.

It’s still a little shallow in the gameplay department, but right down to the closing credits, it’s a lovingly thorough ode to retro games, and an amusing final adventure with some of the most colorful, acerbic, and silly characters you’ll ever virtually meet. If you can appreciate those things, then consider this game more than worthy of its pixels.

It’s still a little shallow in the gameplay department, but right down to the closing credits, it’s a lovingly thorough ode to retro games, and an amusing final adventure with some of the most colorful, acerbic, and silly characters you’ll ever virtually meet. If you can appreciate those things, then consider this game more than worthy of its pixels.

If you are looking for a brain-teasing experience full of complex puzzles to blow your mind, Memento Mori has little to offer along those lines. But if you are fan of story-driven adventures, you'll find a promising new adventure to fill your needs in this gripping psychological drama (albeit disguised as a conspiracy thriller) with one of the most shocking and memorable endings the genre has seen in a long time.

You may not want to live there, but the return trip to Ravenhearst offers a little something for casual gamers, puzzle lovers, and adventurers alike.

All in all, Women’s Murder Club: A Darker Shade of Grey is a pleasing casual adventure, ideal for a rainy afternoon and a nice diversion for mystery buffs and fans of Patterson’s work.

If you like mysteries with just a bit of conspiracy in a thoroughly detailed historical setting, Mata Hari is the right adventure for you.

Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper is an unexpectedly sedentary and thoughtful game, and it’s far from bloody awful, if not quite the ripping good yarn it could have been.

The Hardy Boys are reliable protagonists, the slightly but steadily increasing challenge of the puzzles will be an excellent primer for more difficult adventures, and who knows, they might even learn something in the process.

In anticipation of that potential, every adventure fan should consider this an essential play, and go into it with the understanding that this is a very good and very fun game-just not the best Telltale has to offer.

Overall, I think this game will be good for newcomers due to the large number of standalone obstacles.

Its limitations still show, but with a longer, funnier, and even wackier story, Time Gentlemen, Please! is an admirable follow-up to its freeware predecessor and well worth the small fee for people who've played the first game.

In the end, there isn’t a whole lot wrong with The Bogey Man, but there isn’t anything particularly memorable either. That would be fine if this were the middle of the series, but as a conclusion, it’s a little disappointing.

The Siege of Spinner Cay is very good, but doesn't quite make the series great. I continue to enjoy every minute with the TMI episodes, but know that there is stronger comic momentum that can be attained.

It's a funhouse mirror, providing a totally new perspective on a familiar place, but gaze into it once and you won't want to look away.

Despite a few arbitrary cracks, Dire Grove is another (frozen) solid entry in the growing casual adventure library, and a worthy addition to the Mystery Case Files series.

3 Cards to Dead Time is a (very) lite word-based adventure that offers a gripping ghost story full of interesting characters. However, its casual nature means it isn't for everyone, and the sequel doesn't quite measure up to the standards of its predecessor.

A series of small issues prevent it from shining as brightly as it could have, but its fun puzzles in a cool setting make Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island an entertaining adventure.

This game has a clever premise with gameplay to support it, and even though the story falls way short of its promise, players who go into it with the right expectations will find a lot to like here.

Jolly Rover may not be the most original of stories, but if you're in the mood for something short and sweet and not too challenging, this funny pirate (dog) adventure gives you plenty of chuckles and lots to sink your teeth into.

Anyone looking for the next Sam & Max or Monkey Island won't find anything like that here, but with Puzzle Agent Telltale took an intriguing step in a new direction towards puzzle-based adventuring, and the result has proven to be well worthwhile.

Although the quality of immersion is excellent, it is somewhat transient, no doubt leaving many feeling short-changed. In the end, though, the intrigue and originality of the story make it a very important adventure game for all fans of the genre.

This episode doesn't showcase the duo at their best, but it's still worth your while to continue following where they're headed.

It's still worth playing, with its usual stellar production values and increasingly bizarre storyline, but this episode again feels like it's primarily laying the groundwork for a spectacular finale.

Ultimately, although it definitely suffers for its extremely ill-conceived finale, Alter Ego shows significant improvements on some of the problems that plagued Future Games' previous projects, and in fact is probably the best game the developer has produced to date.

It may not be quite as good as the others, but it's still required gaming for the Layton-obsessed, and a high recommendation for anyone who loves puzzles.