Screenshot: Labyrinth City: Pierre the Maze Detective
I’ve always been a fan of hidden object games, including the
Where’s Waldo books and even hidden word puzzles. These simple games are great time wasters, and something I’ve enjoyed since childhood. There are some pretty entertaining hidden object games out there, but
Labyrinth City: Pierre the Maze Detective does things a little differently. Surprise: it involves mazes. Based on the wonderful children’s book full of colorful mazes and delightful art, the detailed scenes are now brought to life as a video game.
Labyrinth City: Pierre the Maze Detective is a hidden object adventure game. In it, you play as Pierre, who is trying to catch the nefarious Mr. X and recover the Maze Stone. Conveniently for him, the Maze Stone creates labyrinths throughout Opera City, which is unlucky for Pierre who must navigate them. These mazes are pretty fun, but not exactly a ‘maze’ as you might imagine it, instead made from the environment. Some mazes consist of crowds of people that have to be navigated around, while others require Pierre to make his way through traffic, up and down ladders, etc. Surprisingly, it’s pretty fun exploring and interacting with each of the detailed locations, and persistent explorers can even find secrets and collectibles.
Screenshot: Labyrinth City: Pierre the Maze Detective
It’s an absolute joy to explore each of the detailed maps, each of which have a different take on the maze concept. Each map is brightly illustrated, and packed full of activity. Unlike most hidden object games,
Labyrinth City requires you to find a route to the areas you want to explore, instead of just clicking on anything that might look interesting. Some of the interactions are just lovely, and are amusing to adult me—so I can imagine it could be a fun activity for a child to participate in. While gameplay works a bit like an adventure game, there aren’t any enemies to defeat, nor can Pierre take damage or die—it’s completely non-violent.
It’s hard to think that I would recommend a game like
Labyrinth City: Pierre the Maze Detective so readily. It’s a pleasant game that invokes a childhood whimsy, like I was trying to find Waldo, but in an animated book.
Labyrinth City: Pierre the Maze Detective is a lovely game with beautiful art—and if you’re already a fan of the book, each level is based on the double page illustrations from the book.
Screenshot: Labyrinth City: Pierre the Maze Detective
Labryinth City: Pierre the Maze Detective is available now for iOS and Android, on
Windows via Steam and
for Nintendo Switch.
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