The Agency of Anomalies: Cinderstone Orphanage Collector's Edition

Cinderstone Orphanage is a hidden-object game with a mysterious story and many puzzles. The story is about an orphanage where all the children and their caretakers have disappeared. You play an agent of the Anomalies, and while reading about the orphanage in the newspaper, you see a ghost who begs you to help them. And so, the adventure begins.

The game has two difficulty settings: Regular and Advanced. The main difference between them is that in advanced mode, explorable zones are not highlighted and the hint button recharges much slower.

For a hidden-object game it has a really large number of cut-scenes. Most of the story is told through them. Each time you'll find something story-related in the game, you'll get to see a new one. This is nice, because you'll get to experience the story from your 1st-person perspective, along with the narrated version from the cut-scenes. They are also very well made, with extraordinary artwork and design. Basically, the game sometimes looks more like a good movie.

The gameplay is also a lot of fun. To advance and discover new areas, you must find objects which help you uncover the mystery. Some objects will have little to no use, but you're still required to find them. Others will be parts of some bigger object, which needs to be complete in order to work. There are also lots of puzzles in the game. If by chance you don't manage to solve a puzzle, you can skip it. There is a feature which stops you from clicking on the screen too many times, in the attempt to find items by luck. If you click too many times consecutively, your arrow will disappear and the game window will darken a bit.

The really nice thing about the game is the artwork. It really creates a mysterious environment, and the paranormal world is very interactive. There will be times when you'll have cats, or ghosts just moving in the scenery. This gives the feeling of a live game and adds to the mysterious atmosphere of the game.

Overall it is a very good game, with a very good story and many puzzles to entertain you for countless hours.