Dark Arcana Review

I must admit, anytime I see Artifex Mundi is releasing a game on Xbox One I get excited. Similar to their previous releases such as Clockwork Tales, Nightmares From The Deep, and Eventide, the game Dark Arcana: The Carnival continues on with good point and click gameplay. If you have not played this type of game before, have no fear. Dark Arcana offers easy to learn gameplay that is suitable for all ages.

I grew up playing games like Where in The World is Carmen Sandiego?, and Myst. I loved these type of games because they are perfect for when you just wanna relax and have fun. So naturally as Artifex started releasing games on Xbox I found myself getting back into gameplay that I grew up with. Now Dark Arcana is here and has all the elements that point and click fans love, hidden item images, unique puzzles and a interesting story.

This time around you play as a detective that has responded to a call about a child who cant find her Mom, Susan Jones. Susan took her daughter to a local carnival which lead to her being kidnapped by a mysterious being. After a short talk with the child you venture into a dark and scary carnival, deserted and left with no clues, the nameless detective starts hers investigation. Almost immediately you begin to unravel a story unlike anything this detective has ever seen before. Shortly into the case she discover the owner of the park is also missing. Jim Gobbins, a once famous Knife Throwers who travelled the country stunning audiences everywhere. And that’s all I can say without spoiling the story. Although the story is a little short even on your first playthrough, I was still genuinely interested in learning more.

You can expect about a 4-6 hour campaign is you don’t skip any puzzles or hidden object scenes.

The gameplay consist of mostly hidden object scenes, simple to complex puzzles and a bonus called Manaco. Manaco is a card matching game that you could play instead of doing hidden object scenes. The goal is to match a pair of circus themed cards. You can match same colour cards to gain bonuses that consist of clearing a row, vertically, horizontally or diagonally or you can match a white a red card for a instant bonus.

Hidden object scenes are similar to the iSPY books and old school games. You a given a image with about 12-16 hidden items you must find, there is no time limit and you have the option of using hints, although that will void a achievement for using no hints during HOS's. The scenes were my favourite part of the game and I was always racing to the next.

Graphics and Audio are not the best around but it doesn’t matter for this type of game. Cutscenes have drawn out animations that are not fluid. Audio is the same as always with Artifex games, decent special effects and voice acting. Yet I still feel voice acting sounds a little too acted out. What I mean is the dramatic moments seemed a bit cheesy but it really wasn’t that bad.

Achievements are easy in this game as well, even though you will need a minimum of 2 playthroughs which takes about 6 hours total with guides. There are no hair pulling achievements and all come with ease, with the exception of two easily missable 1G achievements and one 3G achievement for beating a certain mini game on your first try. After 6 hours and 4 minutes I had 1000G and another completion under my belt.

Overall Dark Arcana The Carnival is a worthwhile experience that is perfect for sitting back and enjoying a calm game. A interesting story combined with a easy 1000G and a bonus mini campaign make Dark Arcana more that worth the $9.99 pricetag. Whether you are looking for something you don’t normally play, easy achievements or a nice point and click, I definitely recommend checking out Dark Arcana on Xbox One. Released on Friday March 17th, Dark Arcana The Carnival is available now on Xbox One

Check out Nate's gameplay review below