Murder in the Alps – Review

Anna Myers’ holiday trip in the Alps does not go as planned when a guest at the hotel she is staying at was found murdered! As mysteries bloom and tensions grow, guests start to meet their ultimate fate one by one. Help Anna exercise her investigative skills and solve challenging murder cases in Murder in the Alps – a free-to-play hidden object adventure from Nordcurrent.

Murder in the Alps was first released on mobile in 2018 and met with such strong fanfare that a PC version was later followed. Despite being released some time ago, the game continues to gain in popularity and shows no signs of stopping. Unlike most hidden object games for mobile, Murder in the Alps has a different format that focuses on the storyline and the adventure that accompanies it. This should appeal to fans of the HOPA genre that is typically available on desktop.

The game tells an incredibly intriguing tale sets in the 1930s, which is obviously inspired by Agatha Christie’s classics. While there are many murder mystery hidden object games out there, what sets Murder in the Alps is its fascinating character and well-written dialogs. Each character has a distinct personality and is well-developed, while the dialogs are captivating and really help drive the game.

Murder in the Alps is divided into parts and chapters. Each part contains four chapters that are all connected, although all parts are set in the same “universe.” At the time of this review, the game offers two parts with the third part soon to be released. One chapter takes around two hours of continuing playtime to complete, so there is plenty of hours to enjoy and you really get immersed in the storyline.

Nordcurrent might be mostly known for its top-grossing cooking game Cooking Fever, but it also excels in the hidden object department. Murder in the Alps contains many hidden object scenes and few puzzles. The objects in the hidden object scenes can be a tad small, but the scenes themselves are impressive. They contain creative interactions and interesting zoom zones. On the other hand, the puzzles are not very original but are still serviceable in the context of the game. It is also worth noting that Murder in the Alps is satisfying both visually and aurally. The graphics are crystal clear with stunning visual effects, the background music adds to the suspense of the game, and the voice-overs are simply stellar.

One major issue with Murder in the Alps is that its free-to-play model is far from perfect and can be quite frustrating. The game works on an energy system, one energy takes eight minutes to reload and you can regain up to 200 energy. Certain tasks in the game require energy, for example picking up objects, starting dialogs, or using hint. With the long reload time and an abundance of energy-consuming tasks, players can realistically only play the game for free in multiple short disjointed sessions. While there are regular bundles and sales, other freemium hidden object games feel more generous and give players more to do for free.

Even with a flawed and relatively expensive free-to-play model, Murder in the Alps’ riveting plot and superb production are hard to deny.