Part of the puzzle game series DreamCatcher Interactive acquired from
Discis, Quest for Karma is a retooled, revamped, and renamed version of
Karma: Curse of the Twelve Caves.

The game is of a piece with DreamCatcher’s
other two irresistible puzzle adventures, Jewels of the Oracle and Jewels
II: The Ultimate Challenge. This time around, we’re not in a newly discovered
ancient Sumerian site, but rather in a series of caves hiding an ancient Chinese
well. The well is supposed to have magical qualities, but a demon has sealed it
up with a devilish series of 14 puzzles.

This, of course, is where you come
in. With a wise old ghost for a guide, you work your way through a series of caves
that contain puzzles, with the ultimate goal of freeing up the well.

As
I said, these puzzles are similar in format and construction to the ones in the
two other games. However, there are only 14 of them, making this more of a hip-pocket
version of the same idea.

I enjoyed most of the puzzles, which included
a game of concentration, a classic Hanoi towers conundrum, a flipping tile puzzle
worthy of The 7th Guest, and a fun “switch the two colors of turtles”
puzzle.

In addition, there are some puzzles that are arcade (shooting moving
targets with an arrow, using an air gun to move a soap bubble, and one of those
tilt-the-marble-into-the-correct-hole puzzles. Some players may be put off by
these challenges, but I enjoyed them.

There’s also a puzzle that’s literally
a game you play against the computer, and it’s a real toughie.

My favorite
puzzle was a music puzzle, and it simply involved listening carefully to a series
of instruments. I always like music puzzles, but I feel obligated to specifically
mention this one because some players I know absolutely hate them.

The most
devilish puzzle in the game is one of those move-the-huge-block-out-of-the-frame
puzzles. This one is fair, but it’s a real nail-biter just the same.

As
with Jewels and Jewels II, the puzzles are graced with lovely graphics,
atmospheric music, and a thin story to tie them all together. And as with those
two games, these elements add to the gaming experience and make it more compelling
than simply flat series of puzzles. It’s a fun, intriguing, relaxing, and compelling
environment to hang out in while you tackle these challenges.

If you’ve
finished both Jewels games, and you’ve completed the mountain of puzzles
in Pandora’s Box, but you still need to scratch that particular itch, Quest
for Karma could be just the ticket!

Final Grade: B

System
Requirements: 486SX 25 MHz (486SX 66 MHz recommended)

8 MB RAM (16 MB recommended)
256-color SVGA Graphics
2x CD-ROM drive

Windows 3.1 or Windows 95/98
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