Imagine you are an archaeologist and someone has come to you with the dig opportunity of your life. No doubt, you would jump on the opportunity. Not to mention the deal was sweetened by the opportunity to keep any other artifacts that were found. The person financing the dig is only interested in one item. It sounds like a great opportunity, until you find out the person financing the dig is the “bad guy”. Of course you won’t find this out until you have delivered the artifact they were looking for.

This is the exact scenario that takes place in Samantha Swift and the Golden Touch. Samantha had the opportunity of a life time, but found out she had mistakenly given Alexander the Great’s Scroll of Wealth to someone with ill intentions. Now she has to keep digging to figure out how she is going to right the wrong.

Players have to help Samantha uncover the Golden Touch in this hidden object game. The game is a bit more than just a hidden object game, though. Players are taken on an adventure and the adventure leadds them to puzzles and mini-games. The puzzles are in the mini-games and in the hidden object part of the game. Players will have to find items written in blue text. The blue text means players have to use tools to uncover that item.

The tools are other items that have been found on the list of items. For instance, players may find a knife and the knife would be put in the tools list. There is an entire part of the screen dedicated to tools. After the first round of items have been found, the blue items start appearing. Players have to look at the tools available to them and try to reason where the tools could be used. In other words there is no way to know where the tools are to be used. The cursor will change from a yellow arrow to a blue arrow with cog wheels to alert the player a tool should be ued here. Once you know a tool needs to be used, players have to find out which tool to use. There are normally a few different tools at their disposal. The earlier puzzles are straight forward and easy to figure out, but as the game progress the puzzles get more difficult and less obvious.

Samantha Swift and the Golden Touch has a few things that set it apart from an ordinary hidden object game. Besides the puzzles mentioned above, and the adventure aspect there are also mini-games spread through out the levels. The mini-games are all different types from card games to more puzzles to be solved. The mini-games are marked by a green arrow with a magnifying glass. The mini-games are hidden in the hidden object boards. Players know they exit from the arrow change.

The hidden object part of the game is a bit different, too. Most hidden object games have hints built in incase the player gets stuck and just can’t find the item. Well this game does one better. Samantha Swift and the Golden Touch has a radar. The radar makes finding objects a bit easier by showing the players what the object looks like. This is a great feature. Many times I invision an item looking one way and it really looks a different way, which makes the item harder to find. The radar will tell players how close they are to the item as well. Players click on an item name in the list and that items picture shows up in the radar. As players move around the screen and get close to the item, the picture on the radar screen will turn from white to yellow to a darker yellow to orange and then red when you are pretty much on top of the item. Players still have hints at their disposal as well. The hints can be used on the puzzles, as well.

The graphics in Samantha Swift and the Golden Touch are great looking. All of the hidden object boards contain great graphics and the objects are hidden well with a good mix of obvious items and items that are more difficult to find. The mini-games keep with the great graphics and are nicely done too. The graphics stick to the theme of the level, sometimes they are in a desert setting and other times they are underground with steam coming out of holes, which makes it harder to see and find the objects.

Samantha Swift and the Golden Touch is a great game. The game is so much more than just a hidden object game and contains enough different types of game play to keep any type of casual gamer entertained. The puzzle aspect adds another layer to the hidden object game. It was interesting to have to find items to uncover other items and caused you to use your brain a bit more. There is nothing bad about the game and players will quickly find themselves addicted and wanting to know how it all ends.