PC Game Review: The Hidden Object Show: Season 2

The annual Fall Carnival makes up one of my favorite memories from elementary school. I remember enjoying going from booth to booth to win prizes and never winning the cake walk. It was also neat seeing my teachers outside of the school day. Now that I have two kids in elementary school (one is now in high school!), I look forward to the school carnival.

The Hidden Object Show 2 doesn’t quite compare to the elementary school carnival, but it’s colorful and contains many games within the game. The game takes a unique approach in not having players find X objects in every scene with special activities in between. Instead, players see the fortune teller who decides what kind of game they’ll play.

The 11 hidden object games range from the basic find 10 of the same category of objects (sweets and things you throw) and silhouettes of objects to Hangman-style (find the letters to build the list of objects to find) and compare two scenes to spot the difference.

The game’s biggest strength is length with 300 rounds! You could play it for two or three days and barely make a dent in the game. However, it also makes the The Hidden Object Show 2 feel like it has no direction. After playing four rounds in a level, you win a prize. The prize list scrolls through and names your prize. Ho hum. Just not exciting.

In addition to finding objects, players can look for tickets to grow your ticket total, question marks for one or two more hints to add on to the three in every round, and skip chips for skipping games you don’t want to play while on the fortune teller scene.

Sometimes the scenes overwhelm with so many objects blending with the busy background. It gets old. When asking for a hint, the showman comes out with his cane to point to the item. He can be swift that you miss where he points or you can’t see the object even after he points it out.

Scenes contain bright colors and the showman has a little character. Sounds get carried away at times. Season hidden object players will love this one because the objects prove challenging to find with so many things in each scene. Others might tire of the game’s business and lack of direction.

The Hidden Object Show 2 earns its money the hard way with variety and lasting a long time. But its long length may bore some who like to play for something. Life’s a carnival — give The Hidden Object Show 2 a try.