An overpriced hidden object game with short playtime and ordinary gameplay.
Type: Single-player
Genre: Hidden Object
Developer: Actoon Studio
Publisher: Actoon Studio
Release date: 29 Jul, 2020
Intro
Wind Peaks is a short hidden object game where you have to help a group of scouts to find their missing items. The game has 10 levels in total.
Graphics
The game takes on cartoonish visuals with almost no words in it. Words are replaced with the use of pictures and animations to explain whatever is happening. It works well with the game though since the gameplay is simple and easy to understand. The light color palette also depicts the forest theme well with its variations of brown color.
Story
It might be obvious for a ~1h game, but there’s not much with the story. The story is portrayed in a series of comic-book-like images and you can infer the story based on what you think. I couldn’t seem to decide what was going on with the story though since I found two possible scenarios in mind, but everything doesn’t seem to matter anymore after I reached the ending – you’ll be left with questions about what was happening and left with impressions that the game isn’t finished yet. The game implies that it’s only the first season of the game, but the short story and the lack of interactions between characters don’t make me feel attached to the story at all to care about the continuation.
The Game
Hidden Object
Simple and easy tutorials are provided at the beginning of the game. The game does a clever job of providing a tutorial with animation, making it easier to understand rather than reading some texts. It also makes the design to be cleaner with only images filling the whole screen. However, it takes some time for me to understand the non-basic mechanics due to its simplicity.
Hidden objects are hidden very well inside the large forest. As a hidden object game, you are supposed to find the marked object on the screen. However, due to the vast map, you need to use the zoom feature and/or move around to scour through the area. It’s going to be faster to move between areas by zooming out, but it’s gonna be harder to find the objects that way. Switching between the zoomed out and zoomed in view will be important in finding the objects that you are supposed to find in this game.
Although most objects can be easily seen in the wilds, some will require you to do a certain action before you can unlock them. It goes from an easy task of pressing switches to complete a simple puzzle, which isn’t hard to solve. It still provides a refreshment though in case you are bored with the repetitive gameplay of searching hidden objects.
The hint system is implemented cleverly. Instead of giving the solution right away, activating the button will show a timer which will give you some time to search for the object again before the timer goes to 0. The game will give you the exact location of the object once the time is up and you can use the hint button again for finding other objects. It works well when you are only one item short and couldn’t seem to find the last one after searching everywhere.
Length and Difficulty
I finished the game in ~1.2h. The game was confusing and difficult at first with how well the objects were hidden, but it’s not that difficult once you know what to do. The hint system also can help you to find the missing objects in case you are stuck.
Problems
I’m not sure whether it was expected or not, but I saw some bushes that can walk.
Specs
Intel Core i5-9300H 2.40GHz, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650
Verdict
Despite my bad initial impression, the game turns out to be an enjoyable one. Finding objects one after another doesn’t seem too repetitive with the addition of the “simple puzzles” while the hint button helps me to get through the game whenever I was stuck. However, the price doesn’t seem to reflect the state the game is in, especially with its short gameplay and mediocre quality – it’s not something extraordinary that you should spend so much money just for a ~1h game.
