Buy Now...

In its original conception, an Antiquarium could hold any manner of ancient item that would be of interest to a relevant party.  However, in this case, an Antiquarium is also the title of a Hidden Object game produced by Seven Sails.  Rather than items of a certain age from a distant past, this Seven Sails Antiquarium has a more wider collection of content that is presented in a format suitable for different types of Hidden Object game play.

Allowing different people to venture into this Antiquarium and tackle its content, profiles can be created.  Adjustments can be made to the audio levels used for background music and sound effects.  The game can be viewed in full screen mode with a custom cursor.  However a choice of difficulty level is not considered an option.

Seven Sails has opted to go with two different styles of Hidden Object game play action with this title.  The game starts with a scene from which you are meant to locate 20 different objects listed in text format.  These objects will be listed five at a time, with only those listed being selectable.  As each object is found, it will be sold with its price being set by the amount of time it took to find it.  The money, such earned, will be added to your bank balance and this can be used later in the game.

See also: Games

more

After the completion of this scene, the game will switch to a different method of Hidden Object searching.  You will need to find small sections of three pieces of jewellery which have been scattered around a multi-section display stand.  Once all the pieces have been located then the jewellery  will come together and combine to form a special object that can be put to some use before you are then moved on to tackle a mini game puzzle. 

This task could involve producing a jigsaw type puzzle scene.  The pieces of the puzzle will be scattered around a ghost image on which you can place the pieces to build up the scene.  With the pieces being moved around under control of the mouse, it was noticeable that you did not need to be too precise when placing the pieces in position.  When close they would often jump into position as if they knew their place.  The presence of the ghost image could sometimes result in a piece being hidden as it blended into the background.

The game then continues with the pattern of two Hidden Object scenes followed by a mini game puzzle.  Scenes are repeated with a different selection of items to find before you need to move on and you will be required to find 20 examples of a different specific type of item.  Sometimes it could be could be eyeballs, masks, daggers & swords, or stamps just as long as you found 20 pieces.  Using a different group of these items and a slightly altered display stand, you will again need to search for the scattered pieces before needing to tackle another puzzle.

More variety is used with the type of puzzles making an appearance.  You could be asked to restore a scene featuring sections that had been moved around.  Sometimes you might need to rotate these sections through 90 degrees to recreate the scene.  On other occasions you will need to swap two sections until everything is in its correct place.

Interspersed between the collection of Hidden Object action and puzzle solving, are cut-scenes featuring the Antiquarium owner delivering her thoughts.  These thoughts are presented in text format and add little to the challenge of the game.

Earlier I mentioned the money earned from the sale of found items, this financial balance can be used visiting a Relic Room built into the game.  This room contains a selection of antiques which can be purchased to show off your gaming expertise.

After a promising start, it was not too long before the game quickly become boring.  Despite its mixture of different styles of Hidden Object game play and mini game puzzles, I was disappointed with Antiquarium.  You can download this game from Gamehouse.com where it is priced at $9.99 or from Big Fish Games priced at £7.93..  The game requires a 1.0 GHz processor with 256MB of RAM and 380MB of hard disk space running Windows 7 and later.

Antiquarium | Big Fish Games

Antiquarium | GameHouse