3 Cards to Dead Time - A Spooky Mystery Ride for Your PC Gaming Pleasure

 First off, I have to just say wow. The completeness of the story line throughout 3 Cards to Dead Time simply blew me away from the start. It's like a Choose Your Own Adventure book (for those old enough to remember those) meets a sweetly designed console game meets an edge-of-your-seat thriller.

You play as Jess Silloway, who has just found out she has a special "gift" after almost being murdered a few months earlier in the first installment, 3 Cards to Midnight. Now, her well being, as well as the lives of her adoptive parents and her boyfriend hang in the balance as she strives to solve one myster after another to keep everyone safe and keep her sanity. After encounters with people and places that bring her visions and memories of people long gone, she begins to wonder what everything means and how it all ties to one small town in Maine that was all but wiped off the map in the late 1920's.

With the help of her friends, family, and a PI (who is deeply in love with her as well), she has to unlock the secrets and the mysteries that surround her family, her gift, and bring her the power to stand up to those that mean her harm before it's too late.

There is not one of the thousands of hidden object games, mystery or otherwise that would hold a candle to the story line that is presented in 3 Cards to Dead Time. With the massive mystery, the huge amount of game play, and a story line that gets more mysterious as you go, it's hard not to give this part of 3 Cards to Dead Time a solid 5 out of 5 here.

 The game play in 3 Cards to Dead Time is completely unique, again differentiating it from other hidden object games available. While you do search out different objects in the different areas on each level, they are not just a list of items to find. Instead, you are challenged to find objects that do certain things (such as fly, cause phobias, and so on), objects that are found on other things (such as tarot cards), and even objects with traditional association (such as sex, drugs, and rock and roll). The developers of 3 Cards to Dead Time offer up a completely unique take on hidden object games that will challenge even the most avid mystery game lover, perhaps even on the easy mode.

Another part of the game play that I absolutely loved was the fact that you don't have to play each level in a specific order. You get three cards to choose from and you pick which card you want to play first. While you do have to play all of the cards in that level, you don't have a set path that you have to take.

Aside from the hidden object games that you'll find in 3 Cards to Dead Time, there are smaller puzzles that are spaced throughout the levels as well. And let me tell you now, even on the easy mode I had a hard time beating some of them. Just one more reason that I completely fell for this hidden object game.

Overall, I'm giving the game play of 3 Cards to Dead Time another solid 5 out of 5 because it will challenge even the most savvy gamer while offering something unique and more stimulating than standard seek and find gaming.