Mystery Box: Hidden Secrets

I'm going to focus mainly on the puzzle aspect of this game for my review and ultimate score of a thumbs up - but barely.

The puzzles here are merely ok. They mostly follow the same general theme of one or more sides of the box offering clues on how to enter the correct combination/setting to solve a puzzle on another side of the box. I think this formula is fine but I have seen it put to much more enjoyable effect in other games.

Most of the "entering" of correct info was straight-forward "take ell the time you need to click" affairs, but on a few occasions there were minigames where you had to click with more precise timing, but nothing terribly difficult.

The problem is the quality and fun factor of the puzzles/clues in this game is rather hit or miss, and sometimes the vagueness or obliqueness of the clues is just more annoying than fun - but maybe that was just me. Also if you get stuck, there is usually an additional hint that you can reveal to give you some guidance. I did use the hints on occasion and sometimes they stated the obvious, sometimes they were useful, and on a few occasions they felt unintentionally a bit off, like maybe the developer changed the puzzle design and didn't update the hint.

There are quite a few puzzles. There are 7 different cube types, and each cube type offers 16 cubes. And each cube usually has 2 - 3 puzzles depending on how you count. Sometimes on a given cube, solving one puzzle reveals further clues for the other puzzles on that cube.

So to summarize, I would say many of the puzzles were not really fun or satisfying, but you kind of have to wade through all of them if you want to get the achievements. Also you don't really know if the puzzle is just "meh" or it's you that's having difficulty with it until you actually solve it. And very often after solving a "difficult" puzzle after a lot of trial and error, you don't necessarily get that "Aha!" satisfaction, but rather feeling of "well that was a bit badly clued".

I am ultimately giving this a thumbs up because there are a lot of puzzles, and of these some were ok.

The first part in always interesting solve-the box series that almost anyone can solve due to generous hints.

Disclaimer: since all entries in this series more or less play and look the same way, and since I already reviewed one title before, most of the review can be used for all games. However, there are some distinct elements between each title.

Your only tool is the mouse cursor, which is used for all interactions. The camera is focused on the box, so you may move it around by clicking and dragging, zooming in with a double click on one of the sides, and interacting with a left click.

The game offers a lot of content. There are seven distinct boxes or packs, each with eight stages. The main difference between packs, excluding the puzzles, is the material used to make the box. There is wood, stone, and so on. This is purely a decorative element that has no effect on gameplay. Also, all puzzles are unlocked from the start, allowing you to tackle them in any order you wish.

Each puzzle or box uses the same template. There is a large button in the front, as well as three sides with objects that provide a hint or can be pressed, moved, or interacted with. The bottom does not matter because the box lies on a table, and the top is designed for the lid, which opens after the box is solved.

There is no need to experiment because you just need to concentrate on the three sides. All of them are pieces of the puzzle, and they must be put together to obtain the solution. Puzzles frequently include buttons, switches, knobs, and levers. The goal is to move everything into place and press the big button. If everything is correct, you will open the lid.

The biggest challenge is that there’s no feedback when you do something right. So, if you solve one side, you will not receive any visual or auditory cues. You may be certain that you have done everything correctly, yet when you hit the button, nothing happens. A sound effect can only be heard when something new appears on one of the three sides.

Fortunately, you can use a hint if you get stuck. It does not offer a solution; it simply directs you in the right path. Because there are no penalty for using hints, it might lessen the satisfaction you get from accomplishing everything on your own. But on the other hand, boxes aren’t that hard to figure out and all of them have the same difficulty.

The reward for opening a box is a puzzle tile. Each puzzle has two pieces, with the other hidden somewhere on the box. Depending on the box material, locating a tile can be simple or difficult. So, while the tile on a glass box is immediately noticeable due to the different shade, the velvet tile fades in with the box and becomes nearly invisible.

Once you have found all of the tiles, you can do a simple puzzle in which you rotate them to reconstruct an image. It depicts a renowned invention with a brief description. Achievements are rewarded for finding all tiles, so the last puzzle is just a bonus.

Refund requested.

Puzzles are very simple, but needed to look up walkthroughs because several boxes would not open. Even after copying the exact solutions from the video's (which were the solutions I had come up by myself already) boxes did not open. So, game is not really playable.