Nintendo DS Game Review: I Spy Castle

Posted by Jeff on October 31, 2011 at 9:19 pm

Nintendo DS Game Review: I Spy Castle
by Cooper McHatton

I Spy Castle is an excellent hidden object game suited for the young gamer. Youthful players will get happily lost wandering through the medieval castle uncovering its mysteries, and searching for over 400 objects to solve the 36 well done and interesting puzzles that will lead them further into unlocking the secrets of the castle.

Kids who love mystery, adventure, puzzles, and magic, will spend hours traveling through the many rooms in the castle’s two floors and courtyard. Using reason and memory, players will have to find their way back to objects they know they once saw. It will take time and persistence (and maybe frustration for the youngest gamers) to be as thorough as you need to be to find objects that only will be revealed if you look in just the right place. As you venture throughout the castle you’ll also collect items in your backpack; some of which will be needed to unlock passages, others to further yourself along (although you won’t know why until later in the game).

The mini-games that a player encounters throughout I Spy Castle offer a welcome change of pace to the seek & find I Spy work. Activities like shooting arrows, finding the difference, tracing, and coloring prove to be terrific ways to mix up the formula.

The added feature of I Spy Castle is the storyline that accompanies the puzzles and mini-games. You not only want to object search and puzzle solve, but you want to find out the mystery of the castle itself, leading to a more interesting game play.

The music is period appropriate and the voice overs are well done and helpful. As a voice over feature, it reads the I Spy riddles aloud, so you don’t have to know how to read to play the game. This creates a really nice feeling to the game that children will love to be immersed in.

One of the handiest features of the game is the hint function. You are able to use the hint function every few minutes (you have to wait for it to refill). Anytime you use a hint, it shows you a small area where one of the objects you are looking for is located, which is really helpful. On the other side of the coin, if you’re stuck in a particular area for too long, it can be frustrating for the young player who might get impatient waiting for the hint feature to become available.

I Spy Castle walks a fine line between the easy and the challenging, finding a sweet spot in keeping the game interesting and difficult enough to really make you work and search for items, but not so formidable that you’ll want to quit!

Overall, I Spy Castle DS is a good value and will keep its target audience (the ages 5-10 crowd) happy and intrigued for hours.

OWTK’S I SPY CASTLE NDS RATINGS

Graphics: 8
Sound: 9
Design: 7
Story: 7
Gameplay: 7
Value: 7
Overall: 7.5

Buy I Spy Castle DS from Amazon.com at a special low price.

Visit the official Scholastic I Spy website for games, parent/teacher information, and more.

*OWTK received a copy of I Spy Castle for NDS for review consideration. The opinions expressed above are honest and unbiased.