Score
Gameplay:	9
Graphics:	10
Sound:	6
FunFactor:	9
PlasmaFactor:	9
Overall:	8.6

The Tarots Misfortune Review
March 21, 2010 by Ryan Lodata

The Tarot’s Misfortune, developed by Triple Hippo Studios, promises to enthuse and challenge puzzle and casual game enthusiasts. The game follows Rosalee, a tarot card reader, who is visited by a stranger in the middle of the night who requests that she give him a Tarot card reading. But can this stranger be trusted? How and why was she sent to a jail? The answer to these questions is what the gamer must find out.

Gameplay

When the game begins, players find themselves in a cell and nothing in their inventory. However, there are Tarot cards and tools that are hidden within the static background that you must find to make your way out. For example, you must find a broomstick, fish hook and a few other items to create a gadget that will help get the key to your cell from the adjacent room. While this may sound like an easy task, it can be quite difficult to find them.

To “find” these objects, players must click on the item that is located somewhere in the foreground or background. After clicking, the item will appear in your inventory or, if you find a tarot card, will give you more information on what lies ahead on your adventure. The items that are added to your inventory are then used to solve one of the many puzzles that will enable you to move to the next area. This may sound easy, but you would be surprised how difficult it can be to find objects as you scroll to the left and right in an attempt to look behind an object that may be blocking your view in the foreground.

The only issue with finding items is that it can sometimes be an extremely easy task. In a moment of frustration, if you don’t have patience, you can simply click all around the play area and simply collect the majority of the items that you need. However, if you do have the patience you will find yourself staring intently at the background as you try to find the very, very well hidden items. Should you get stuck, you even have a hint button that will highlight an item that you are having a difficult time of finding.

Graphics

One of the best features of The Tarot’s Misfortune is its highly detailed and well drawn environments. All of the objects in the game are very well drawn and are as full and active as you can imagine in a 2d landscape. It is very evident that the game’s artists took their time to draw out the scenes with almost painstaking detail and created an environment that further enhances your experience.

Sound

While Tarot’s Misfortune has its strong points, one of its weakest is the in-game sound. Aside from the magical sound that is played when you find an item, there is not much in the way of music. In fact, the music that the game does have is put into a perpetual loop that might annoy gamers that are looking for a compliment to their search instead of filler.

Plasmafactor

Once again, the backgrounds make a comeback in this review. They are, by far, the absolute best feature of this game aside from gameplay. They are not only beautiful, but they are extremely well drawn and only further add to the level of difficulty of this title. This will certainly bode well with those of you that have a fascination with puzzle titles that require patience.

Conclusion

Those of you with patience will be duly rewarded with a fun title that just might suck up hours of your time as you begin to unlock the mystery before you. The beautifully drawn backgrounds engross you as you set out on the task of finding the required objects. While the artwork may grab your attention, you may just find yourself turning off your speakers and look for other forms of musical entertainment. Overall, this is a strong title for any casual gamer that is looking for an outlet of escape and would be a great addition to your puzzle collection.