When I was young (or, more accurately, young-er), I spent hours searching for hidden objects in Scholastic’s I Spy books. In case they didn’t play as big a role in your childhood as they did mine, they feature stunning photographs of intricately designed scenes including a massive array of various items. At the bottom of each page is a whimsical poem cluing the reader in on which items to search for.  It’s a miracle I don’t wear glasses now, as I strained my eyes for several years while searching for buttons and keys and all sorts of cleverly hidden objects in those books.

Last year, Mike Wright and his wife quit their day jobs and, out of their love for games, gambled their time and money on creating a company, Aisle 5 Games, which they now work for together.  Inspired by the casual game hit Mystery Case Files, they decided to create a similar game set in a haunted mansion. The first in a planned series, G.H.O.S.T. Hunters:  The Haunting of Majesty Manor, (which I’ll call G.H.O.S.T. for the sake of this article) is very similar in design to the I Spy series. As a new member of the G.H.O.S.T. Hunters team, you are assigned you to investigate the luxurious mansion home of Viola Majesty. It seems Miss Majesty is unnerved by a series of spooky goings-on in her home and wants to know whether the guilty party is a ghost or a human. You are given fifteen days to search the house’s nineteen (!) rooms and round up a list of possible suspects.

Each day there are a series of rooms to search, each with a list of 10-16 items with ‘residual psychic energy’ that are of interest. You have thirty minutes to find all but two of the listed objects in a room in order to move on to the next room. (A bonus round, however, occurs at the end of each day in which you find the remaining 2 objects in each room that you missed.) After searching all the rooms for a particular day, you will have identified a suspect. After 15 days, you narrow down your search for the culprit by examining a stash of suspicious objects in the manor’s creepy attic. If you’re clever enough, you’ll unravel the killer’s identity and —

The interface is simple and stylish. Your “Spectre-Scan Mate” serves as your main tool in the game, featuring the list of items you must find and the list of suspects you have uncovered. One unique feature it provides is the clever Hints system, a Multi-Scanner Wand that lights up and clicks whenever it’s near an object that’s yet to be found. You get five hints every day, but batteries (hidden in some of the rooms) will give you more hints, which last for about thirty seconds. You can also access the Map feature as well as the Options menu.

The game itself is quite entertaining. Mike’s wife, Heather, has done an admirable job with the music and sound effects. While the looping background tracks may become monotonous after some time, they set the scene perfectly, as do the eerie noises in each room that really do make you think a ghost is present. This is definitely a game that’s fun to play with the lights out! Meanwhile, the graphics – a product of Mike himself – are beautifully done and realistic. Each scene is filled with myriad objects, some of which are easy to spot initially and others more cleverly hidden. It can be frustrating, but more than enough time and more than enough hints are given to find the necessary items.

I have only a few minor quibbles with this game. Firstly, as some of the items in each of the rooms are repeated and hidden in the same places, the game can be slightly dull at times. I found myself losing some interest in it towards the tenth day; while the new locations and suspects are interesting, the game began to feel tedious. Of course, avid hidden picture fans may disagree, but I felt some kind of extra challenge or special bonus would have been welcome. Consequently, replay value is somewhat minimal. Also, while I certainly respect the fact that Mike & Heather Wright are trying to make a living from their company, $20 seems slightly steep for a game that is so close to Mystery Case Files, which is free.  I wouldn’t let the price stop you from buying this game, though, as the husband-wife team certainly show a lot of potential and I look forward to their next endeavor, the sequel to The Haunting of Majesty Manor, which will be out next year. Intrigued gamers may also want to note the system requirements for the game, which are slightly higher than average.

Lastly, it is worth mentioning that Aisle 5 Games is giving away $2,500 and a chance to appear in a future G.H.O.S.T. Hunters game to anybody who can correctly name the original owner of Majesty Manor. Clues are sprinkled throughout the game and on the company newsletter, which you can sign up for via the website.

Overall, the game is a very solid effort on behalf of the indie community and definitely worth checking out by casual game enthusiasts. If for no other reason, buy it just so that we can see more of what Mike Wright and Aisle 5 Games have in store!

System Requirements:

• 1.0 GHz processor
• 512 MB RAM
• Windows XP
• nVidia or ATI accelerated 3D video card that supports 1024 x 768 screen resolution