Everyone likes a good carnival, right? Right!? RIGHT!? Okay, now that we all agree, how about those carnivals where your mother gets kidnapped and used for some spooky ritual? What do you mean no!?
Dark Arcana: The Carnival follows the story of a detective who has been put on the case of a missing mother. While at the carnival with her daughter, the mother suddenly went missing as they were leaving a haunted mansion. When you, the detective, arrive, you quickly find out that this carnival holds a few secrets that might have been better left hidden.
Dark Arcana: The Carnival’s a hidden object game, this time coated over with spooky carnival vibes. This game follows in the footsteps of the PS4 hidden object games that came before – it features an alternate option to doing the hidden object games and you have to return to some of the same scenes several times. It also continues the trend of the items being particular about selecting them so that if you’re off by 3 pixels the game marks you as wrong and you have to try again to select it correctly.
This time around, the other method for clearing out the hidden object scenes is by playing Monaco. Monaco involves you matching two nearby icons to clear them. Only matches that involve a non-white icon will actually count as an “object” in the hidden object game, so you may have to spend a bit of time clearing to be able to make a good match. Pieces move in based on how you cleared out the last match, so for example if you cleared two in a single row then they’ll come from the top.
The other thing that Dark Arcana: The Carnival adds is a monkey sidekick. While you don’t have access to him the entire game, he is used to reach objects that are “out of reach” (because apparently you couldn’t put your hand through those bars to reach that key). Basically, he’s just an added puzzle layer in a few situations throughout the game.
Dark Arcana: The Carnival isn’t overly long, and will likely take you around 3-5 hours depending on how good you are at puzzles. If you enjoy hidden object games then you can perhaps check out the game, or if you’re looking for some not-too-hard trophies. If you’re not really a puzzle game fan then it’s likely best to just give Dark Arcana: The Carnival a pass.
I was provided with a PS4 code by Artifex Mundi (publisher) for review and coverage purposes.
