Pahelika: Secret Legends - Puzzled Adventures

Pahelika: Secret Legends developed and published by Ironcode is a puzzle game you are most surely going to enjoy. The game gets you into some magical travelling locations where you will face all kinds of puzzles to solve.

You begin Pahelika by discovering an unusual book that, in Myst-like fashion, transports you to a variety of magical lands.

The object of each journey is simply to make it to the portal that will transport you home, but naturally you'll have to do a little legwork first.

The puzzles of Pahelika are a mixed bag – some are simple find the right object to put in the right slot sort, while others require more abstract reasoning, such as assembling seemingly random objects to create a fire-starter.

For all of them, you'll have to scour the location, picking up everything that isn't nailed down, and determining how to use the objects with items in the room.

While other adventure games are content to let you flounder around helplessly, Pahelika gives you several helpful hints. Items that require your attention become highlighted in sparkles when you mouse over them, and some locations even have instructions on what to do hidden in them.

Even better, you can rarely leave the room you're currently in, which you know that the solution to the conundrum at hand is right in front of you, you just have to figure out what it is. 

Developer Ironcode thoughtfully provides a walkthrough free of charge on its website, which should walk you through most of the game's trickiest spots, but at times its frustratingly vague.

In one area, you had to flip five switches into the correct positions in order to open the way to the next location, but there was no apparent indication of what that pattern should be.

The story, such as it is, is told via short voice overs as you enter new areas and comic book-style cut scenes in between chapters. The voice acting is well done, but the cut scenes proceed at a glacial pace, completely stalling any momentum you've gained from solving the puzzle to open the portals.

If you're a fan of adventure games, but not of their tendency to be punishingly difficult, definitely give Pahelika a try.

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