Sprill and Ritchie: Adventures in Time Review

A hidden object title with a twist of adventure, Sprill & Ritchie: Adventures in Time is the latest HOG from Alawar, sending you on a wild ride through past, present, and future. When Ritchie invents a time machine, all is well until a flux mixes items from different eras. But will setting things as they were fix the flow of time, or is there more to history than this simple mishap?

By
Share this
  • Share this on Facebook
  • Share this on Twitter

A hidden object title with a twist of adventure, Sprill & Ritchie: Adventures in Time is the latest HOG from Alawar, sending you on a wild ride through past, present, and future. When Ritchie invents a time machine, all is well until a flux mixes items from different eras. But will setting things as they were fix the flow of time, or is there more to history than this simple mishap?

The game begins with Sprill, who recalls his previous adventure which involved a magic pearl and rogue aliens. He’s convinced the worst of his adventures are over, that is, until now. Ritchie invites Sprill over to share his latest discovery: the ability to create a machine that travels through time. But once the machine is assembled, things go wrong and items from all different eras of time are misplaced. Determined to set things right, Ritchie recruits the help of his reluctant foxcub friend to restore the course of history and time to its original state. But only time will tell if simply putting things back as they were will restore history to its natural course.

Sprill & Ritchie is a classic hidden object game, but with a twist. Players are not limited to just finding objects, but also completing tasks. Every single object in the game has a purpose: unlike many HOGs where you simply find a list of random items to continue, Sprill & Ritchie implements each and every task and item into the storyline of the game.

There is also a huge variety of mini-games, 55 to be exact, which are all unique. Mini-games range from matching symbols to reassembling broken machines and trinkets, and much much more. For those who don’t like to complete mini-games or find it too difficult, nearly any minigame can be skipped after an alotted amount of time so the player can continue.

Hints are renewable and unlimited, and the game provides plenty of dialogue to guide you along your way. Objects and gameplay are scattered across 33 unique levels: no double-visits, giving it much more of an adventure-feel and sense of excitement.

Furthermore, Sprill & Ritchie features additional challenges for you to complete once you’ve finished the game. These challenges take the form of trophies which can be unlocked and earned while you play. Trophies are wide and varied, rewarding story-related things such as finishing the game or rewarding actual gameplay achievements, such as completing every mini-game without skipping or finishing levels quickly, giving Sprill & Ritchie fun and challenging replay value.

The feel of the story and the gameplay of Sprill & Ritchie is both humorous and welcoming, giving a charming vibe that any age or genre of gamer will be comfortable with. The soundtrack is also unique and upbeat, and the gameplay itself spans everything from the Stone Ages to the distant future. The only thing the game could have improved on which might have been a nice touch was to add some voices to the 3D mouth-moving critters, but the gameplay itself is excellent and unique.

Subtitles are available for all dialogue, leaving sound an optional setting. Tutorials and directions are also easy to follow and understand, without being too obvious. The difficulty of the hidden objects in combination with the hints provides both a playable game for beginners and a challenging game for veterans of the hidden object genre.

Sprill & Ritchie would be a welcome addition to the game collection of any HOG or adventure gamer of any age. Overall, an excellent title I hope to see more of in the future.

For similar games, try G.H.O.S.T. Chronicles: Phantom of the Renaissance Faire, Sprill – The Mystery of the Bermuda Triangle, and Dream Chronicles: The Chosen Child.

The good

    The bad

      80 out of 100