Found Lost

No shortage of creep factor

Reviewed by Shawn from afro-ninja.com

Found Lost follows the template of the good old ‘explore a scary house and solve the mystery’ format of a lot of point and click games. Instead of relying on cheap scares however there’s more of an emphasis on the underlying story in the game- which is a welcome addition to the atmosphere.

You’re on your way to a party and you get diverted down a side road due to construction. Your car stalls out in the middle of nowhere, and the only place in distance is a house about half a mile away. It’s a classic hook, and I hate to be over-analytical of a plotline, but there’s really not enough basis to be exploring this house. You’re just looking for help- and upon seeing that this house is abandoned and blood-stained, chances are you’d be getting out of there asap. It could be further argued that you are compelled to stay there due to elements revealed in the story at the end, so I’ll leave it at that. Whatever the reason, it still makes for a pretty damn eerie adventure.

The house is explored in standard point and click fashion, although parts of it are inconsistent. Sometimes information will appear from hovering the mouse over certain locations, while other times you have to click an object for a description to pop up. Various elements such as windows and faucets can be interacted with for added intrigue. You never actually collect any items either, nor solve any puzzles. There are various articles and letters scattered around the house to read, but some of them appear a little too small and are hard to read. The graphics, while nicely detailed, are composed of a mix of vector drawings and bitmaps and the contrast seems a bit odd at times. This is especially noticeable with the grass texture used outside of the house. That’s just nitpicking though, as the dim rooms (paired with the flashlight exploration) fit the mood perfect. Instead of any kind of background music you’ll get random whispers and murmurs, bridged with the occasional environment sfx like the sound of a door opening.

As much as the game will draw you in, it’s over way too fast. There are literally only five rooms to see, and one ‘puzzle.’ Since the game took the approach of storytelling and mystery I would have liked to have seen more of it worked into the house, particularly with a few extra rooms or locations. I found myself mildly confused as I explored the rooms, until everything was fully explained at the end. Again, just working some of that explanation into the game would have made the exploration more fulfilling, instead of getting to the end and needing to have the author say “ok here’s what really happened, do you get it now?”

At any rate, Found Lost is a solid point and click that deserves a play-through. You’re not scared of a little blood, are you?

Click here to play Found Lost






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