Safecracker -- The Ultimate Puzzle Adventure
Ages: Everyone

I had a ball. There are too few games that are exclusively puzzles, and none that I can remember that had such a splendid setting -- the mansion of the deceased Duncan W. Adams. Mr. Adams, an eccentric millionaire has hidden his will somewhere in one of the 35 extraordinary safes. You, an expert safecracker with a British accent, are hired to find it. The designers (Kheops Studio) have gone all out in creating a luxurious environment -- a glass domed conservatory complete with an ornamental fountain, luxuriously carpeted rooms, plush furniture, magnificent paintings, a billiard room and color coordinate bed and bathroom suites and, last but not least, a wickedly fascinating collection of safes. The safes and puzzles are the only things that you can touch -- the settings are only for looking -- no sitting on the furniture.

So you wander alone, accompanied by subtle music -- not so intrusive as to distract you from your job -- and what a fun job it is. You will have doors to unlock, mazes to solve, lasers to redirect, ciphers to decode, some Sudoku type problems, a driving game, music boxes to unlock and clues to find. Depending upon your particular proclivity some will be easier to solve than others, but you will at some time have to resort to pencil and paper. Gads, what fun -- and you have the mansion all to yourself.

Reviewed by: Editor - 08/06