DS Games – Ghosts and Rooms

I’m a big fan of DS games, chiefly of the mystery/puzzle genres, and find getting ‘lost’ in a game is a great way to unwind.

Almost all my games have been bought from Amazon – either new or used but in excellent condition – where I can find almost every game imaginable at a reasonable price.

Many of the games I play contain a ‘hidden object’ element, often with added minigames and features, but there are some that are really quite unique. In the first of my DS game reviews, I look at some of these more novel games.

Ghost Trick (Phantom Detective) – An odd concept, but certainly a different game. The story starts with murder of the character that you then play as, which you attempt to solve, in addition to other mysteries, in the form of a ghost. This allows you to ‘inhabit’ various objects and manipulate them to change the course of events. Some of the sequences that you need to perform take quite a bit of working out, but in a challenging rather than a frustrating way. I really enjoyed the game, despite its odd quality and the irritating character in the white coat, as it’s just so different from others I’ve played, and lasted longer too. I can certainly recommend Ghost Trick if you enjoy a bit of problem solving.

Rooms – An interesting take on traditional sliding puzzles – where you rearrange squares to form a picture – with some unusual twists. Your aim is to make your way to the exit of each set of rooms, with the difficulty level increasing all the time. Extra features include finding keys and explosives to use, swapping the location of rooms and ‘travelling’ through a ‘magic’ wardrobe. I did find this a little frustrating in the later stages and thought the underlying story a bit strange, but enjoyed the individual puzzles at face value. Certainly a challenge!

Zenses (Ocean and Rainforest editions) – I love the somewhat simple concepts of these puzzles, which are anything but simple to master. If you do find a few of the puzzles a bit too easy, just up the difficulty level for more of a challenge. Activities include combining patterns, matching shapes, building stacks and clearing boards of patterns, interspersed with memory challenges. It’s difficult to do these puzzles justice with words, as they are really quite clever – you just have to play them to appreciate them. I definitely recommend Zenses if you love a good, visual puzzle.

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