Hidden object and free-to-play games are not usually high on my list of interesting. However, hidden object games are something that my wife seems to enjoy so when I saw that Relentless Software released Enigma Express for iOS devices and it was free, I decided to give it a test drive. Enigma Express is set in the same world as Relentless Software's other mystery puzzle game, Murder Files. You are a junior detective trying to help Hannah Dakota of the Blue Toad Agency figure out why mysterious objects have been stolen from the bank deposit box of a notorious criminal.
The game is played out by finding hidden objects at various locations. Press on the object hidden on the screen to earn points. The higher points total you have when time runs out, the better. Points help unlock clues that are then used to unlock the next location in the game. A total of 5 clues can be earned at each location - earning additional clues also gives you more time to find objects the next time you play through that location. Some locations have you searching for up to 4 objects at once, adding a new object to find for each one you have already found. Other locations have different variations where you are looking for a single object at time and have to find it before being given another object. There is also a hint system that is on a timer, so you won't be able to use it more than once or twice a try. In the background you have the cut scene (somewhat) interactive story bits that tell you the underlying story of Enigma Express.
Those are the nuts and bolts of the game, but then you run into the free-to-play elements. Each time you go to a location, you use 20 energy to begin the object search mini-game. Energy is replenished over time with 1 energy coming back every few minutes. If you need a quicker influx of energy, you can always buy some with coins. You earn coins periodically through the game or can buy them with actual $$. When you use clues to unlock a new location, there is a timer while train tracks are being laid to get you there (typically a few minutes) or if you don't want to wait, you can use coins to finish the track instantly.
What works well with this game is the quirky story, art and voice acting. There is a lot of polish to this game and finding the objects within the 1 - 2 minutes you get for a level can be a challenge at times. This certainly could have been a premium game on the App Store and no one would have blinked an eye. They also have allowed the ability to login into Facebook and have leaderboards with your Facebook friends.
Where things breakdown for me is in the Facebook integration, loading issues and free-to-play elements. I would much rather have paid a few dollars to have the game without the timers than to be kept from playing the game every 10 minutes or so when I run out of energy. I also don't like that I am asked to connect to Facebook after I finish any hidden-object mini game try - I don't have a Facebook account and don't need to see that pop-up every couple of minutes. It would be nice if there was an option to turn off all of those pop-ups. It would also be nice to be able to pay to remove the timers and coins so that the game can just be played and the story enjoyed. Probably the hardest thing to get over is how long it takes for the game to load up when you first open the app. Sometimes it seems to hang and you have to clear it from memory and re-open the app to get to play. This may just be due to the capabilities of my gen 1 iPad mini being on the weak side for the game, but it is compatible back to iOS 4.3, so there may be a lot of older devices trying to run it.
You may see this for a while.
I think all the elements for a fun little game are here, but the timers and pop-ups and loading times are killing it for me. Hopefully some of these items will be addressed in updates down the road. For all the quirky polish that goes into the Murder Files games, I would like to see them succeed. I give Enigma Express 3 Mick Happies as a free-to-play hidden object game, just know what your in for before spending too much time with it. Now I need to go spend some time with all of the other games I just bought during the Steam Summer Sale.
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