Mystery Case Files: 13th Skull

 PC
User Score
7.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 5 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 5
  3. Negative: 1 out of 5
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  1. gold
    Mar 4, 2020
    9
    Одна из лучших частей в серии. Я проникся атмосферой, а также и простым сюжетом.
    Итог: 9.999/10
  2. BigLittleGuy
    Dec 30, 2022
    4
    I've played all of the games up to this point, and this is the first one to actually really annoy me. 13th Skull continues on the series' direction of a point and click adventure / puzzle game with the usual hidden object mini game thrown in.

    This game, however, feels way worse to play than the previous entries. Sure, the first few could get tedious due to the repetitive hidden object    I've played all of the games up to this point, and this is the first one to actually really annoy me. 13th Skull continues on the series' direction of a point and click adventure / puzzle game with the usual hidden object mini game thrown in.

    This game, however, feels way worse to play than the previous entries. Sure, the first few could get tedious due to the repetitive hidden object game play, but to me it was fun to build a mental map of the game and be able to solve screens in less than a minute or two. Here, the repetitive, boring game play comes from fetch quests and boring puzzles. You know how you're meant to be the Master Detective? Well everyone within a one mile radius of you has a random task you are required to do, so you're the town's errand boy now. Have fun finding 10 crayons, cheese and mousetraps, ingredients for gumbo, nails, clean clothes, gardening supplies, and much much more in this game. While Dire Grove also suffered from backtracking, it at least felt rewarding to have a reason to back track as you realize you have an item or two that aids progression. Here, the game just feels like it wants to pad out time.

    A lot of the puzzles or item locations are just downright stupid, too. This does have the most lenient hint system out of the whole game, and thank goodness as half the things you need to do have no rhyme or reason. In a fetch quest for crayons, where you are told to just search around the house, surely you would immediately go check the grill in the backyard and cut open a bag of trash, right? Or take of the lid of a trash can to find an ingredient for gumbo? Even when easy to figure out, a lot of puzzles just have finicky control schemes that make them a pain to complete, like this one with coins in the attic where you have to get them into their correct slots, but the box in which you click to move coins is so small you can accidentally click and move the track underneath it.

    The story is a Mystery Case Files story, it's fun, a little goofy (though a twist even further deflates the Master Detective's lofty title), and the atmosphere aint bad either. I personally preferred the lonely locations from the previous games, particularly the desolation of Ravenhearst and Dire Grove, but the NPCs wouldn't be too bad if they were done better. I think the hilariously poor acting is a bonus honestly, but they love giving you random tasks that suck all the fun out of the game. Atmosphere isn't bad, not my favorite but the stormy swamps of Louisiana are actually very good looking here.

    In general, this is a MCF game, but it is easily the weakest in every way, even if not bad in every way. Just go play Dire Grove. 4.5/10    … Expand

Critic Reviews

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No score yet - based on 3 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. Impulsegamer
    Feb 28, 2011
    70
    This is one of the better hidden object games and proves that this genre is still alive and quite healthy. For most veterans of this genre, it will take them around 6 to 7 hours to successfully complete and for newcomers, a little more, depending on how often you use the hint system.
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  2. IGN
    Dec 23, 2010
    70
    Mystery Case Files: 13th Skull is an enjoyable adventure game with an interesting story. If it weren't for the constant back-tracking and the horrendous acting of the characters, this game could have been great.
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  3. Adventure Gamers
    Dec 22, 2010
    70
    Overall, Mystery Case Files: 13th Skull is an impressive mélange of solid storytelling, interesting gameplay and superlative production quality, and strives proactively to blur the line even more between casual and traditional adventure games.
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