Abra Academy is another “search the pictures and find the items” type of game, just like I Spy. I love these types of games, and this has the added appeal of being set in a witch’s school. You help the witch students pass their classes by finding magical items in different rooms of the school. The atmosphere is appropriately magical and spooky, and some of the items are really hard to find.

One great thing about the gameplay is that there isn’t a timer. That means that all 24 levels are relaxing and stress-free. There are also some fairies to help with locating items you’re stuck on.

With great graphics and sound, this is a fun game to play either alone or with someone to help locate objects. Click here for a free one-hour download or to buy Abra Academy for $19.99.

In Dream Day Wedding, you’re the Maid of Honor for Jenny’s wedding. She’s trying not to be a Bridezilla, but there are lots of things for you to do. Foremost is the “I Spy” aspect of the game, which involves you searching for clues in pictures. You have a time limit, and a set amount of things to find in the bakery, tux shop, flower shop, etc.

In between the leles are mini-games, where you match tiles, solve specific puzzles, and help save the wedding from disaster. You also have to find bonus “Bluebirds of Happiness” to help Jenny make it to her golden anniversary. And finally, you can decide how Jenny and Robert met, fell in love, and got engaged in the unique story game.  

I love this type of game, searching for clues and matching elements. The wedding theme is popular these days, and anyone who’s planned or gotten married can relate. The images and music are first-rate, and the puzzles are difficult without being too frustrating.

Click here to download the game for an hour of free play or purchase it for $19.99.

Paparazzi is a game that combines all my guilty pleasures into one entertaining mix. Take my favorite type of game (finding hidden clues in pictures), add in some tongue-in-cheek tabloid gossip, and mix well. You’re a photographer moving up in the world, and taking pictures of some of the hottest stories ever. The pregnant star, the singer who lip-synchs, Bigfoot, they’re all money-making photo opps. Build your reputation (and earn lots of money) as a hotshot, dirt-digging tabloid photo-journalist through 10 juicy assignments. 

Along with your helpful guide, you go all over town trying to snap pictures of the rumors your editor gives you. If you win the round, there are also bonus-making mini-games. One is to find the differences between two pictures. The other is to use your quick reflexes to catch a subject in the act.

The game aims to be a cross between the Mystery Case Files and the 5-Spot games. It mostly succeeds, with fun music and clever twists. There are only two main drawbacks. In some of the pictures, the clues you’re looking for are a little fuzzy. And, with only 10 assignments, the game is a little long.  

But overall, for an I Spy type of game, this one delivers. Click here for a free 1-hour trial to see whether you’d make a good paparazzi.

Mystery Case Files: Ravenhearst continues the great tradition of adult “I Spy” type games. This time, the mystery is in a haunted old house. Your job is to find out what happened to Emma Ravenhearst, which may explain the secrets hidden in the house. You, as a master detective, must find clues and pieces of Emma’s diary.

In order to find the pieces, you must search rooms for objects, like in the other Mystery Case File titles. However, this time you also need to unlock some rooms. Trouble is that the locks can only be opened by clicking the right sequence of events, or placing pieces in the right places or order. For example, to unlock the first door, you must place the sun, moon, stars, beach umbrella, etc. in the right slots around the lock. Then, you have to flip 2 switches to open the door. it sounds complicated, but it’s not, and you can get hints on what to do.

There are a total of 32 rooms, full of odd and hard-to-find-things. At the end of each round, there is also a puzzle to put together. The puzzles give clues to the diary entries and help propel the story along.  The music is eerie, with special effects like creaking, howling, and a raven’s caw.

This title lives up to the high bar set by the other ones in the Mystery Case File series. It has enough differences to make it interesting, but it kept the fun search aspect in place. Download a one-hour free trial or buy it here now. If you need help on opening a door, you can go to the Big Fish Forums.  

You can also check out the other titles in the series: Prime Suspects and Huntsville.

Mystery Solitaire - Secret Island is another cool game from BigFishGames. At first, you have to master a solitaire-style matching card game. But in order to move ahead, you also have to find secret items hidden within different scenes both on the island and underwater. Can you get off the island?

I love this game because it mixes up the gameplay. I like to stretch my brain in different ways, and this lets me solve different sorts of puzzles using different skills. Try it out free for an hour or buy for only $19.99 here.

Big Fish Games has done it again with Travelogue 360 Paris. They’ve designed another “I Spy” type of game. This time, you’re in Paris, and you’re finding clues in tourist destinations around the city. The twist, though, is that now you can zoom in and out and also look all around (hence the 360 title).

It’s a really cool interface:  you zoom in with your mouse scroll button and rotate around by holding down the right mouse button. If you don’t feel like using the mouse, there are also controls on-screen to click.  You start by choosing to play either a relaxed game with no deadlines, or a more difficult timed version. There are usually about 8 items per location, but there are 22 different locations througnout the game. Also, at the end of each section, there’s a differnt puzzle to solve (putting things into a suitcase just right, putting pieces of a puzzle together, etc.).

The only annoying thing for me was the repetitive music, but I just turned it off and listened to my own. I enjoyed this title as much as I did the last two: Mystery Case Files: Prime Suspects and Mystery Case Files: Huntsville. I hope they come out with more travel destinations in the series!

MCF Prime Suspects is a dream game for me. See, I love to play my son’s I Spy computer games. Well, I must not be the only one who likes them, because Oberon Games has developed a few of them. One of the best is Prime Suspects. You play as a detective looking for a stolen jewel. You find and eliminate suspects by:

• visiting various places (from 4 to 6) and find the objects in the clues
• playing a mini-game at the end of each round
• finishing all the rounds to find the culprit

Prime Suspects adds some twists to the mix. For example, in one area, you need to use a flashlight that only has a small radius of light. In another, you need to use a magnifying glass.

The games are challenging, but not too hard. To try before you buy, Big Fish Games offers a 1-hour trial dowload. If you like the game, when you buy it, they send you a code to unlock the rest of the game.  Try it now here.