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Stray Souls: Dollhouse Story is a single player, hidden object, adventure game with a story and puzzles. This is not a game for anyone suffering from coulrophobia - fear of clowns - as clowns feature prominently in this game as do dolls. The story starts with Danielle and her new husband, Sam alone at home. There's a knock on the door and Sam answers it but as he steps outside the door slams shut. Danielle rushes to see what's going on but when she opens the door Sam has gone. Lying there, on the porch, is a crate which she opens to find a home-made knitted doll that talks to her telling her that Sam is in danger. Thus begins a story that leads Danielle on a journey both to the town where Sam came from and into his past. The game is a point and click adventure and is entirely controlled by the mouse. Within the game are both hidden object puzzles, the standard adventure puzzles in which items from the inventory must be used in specific locations. The Dollhouse connection comes from a toy that Danielle carries about with her. One of her tasks is to find eight dolls that tell the story of Sam's life and place them inside the house. There are two modes of play, Casual and Expert. The difference between the two is that in the Casual mode the player is given more help, glittering stars indicate interactive areas. The living doll offers advice and assistance as the player progresses and the game automatically updates Danielle's journal when important points have been passed. The journal also includes a map that shows Danielle's current location, the places she's visited, and the location of the hidden object scenes. In addition to the objects in the story there are thirty five 'Beyond Objects' hidden throughout the game. These are items that change shape, for example a crow in a tree may morph into a cat. They do not affect the game play but are present as an additional challenge to the player. If the player gets totally stuck in a hidden object scene there is a hint button they can click on, this causes the doll to blow a puff of smoke at the hidden item. The hint button can be used again and again but it does take time to recharge, how long depends on whether the player is in Casual or Expert mode. The game is not timed and the player can take as long as they like exploring and hunting for objects. The game automatically saves progress when the player exits. |
