World Riddles: Seven Wonders

good
key review info
  • Game: World Riddles: Seven Wonders
  • Platform: PC
  • Show system requirements
  • Gamepad support: N/a
  • Reviewed on:
Are you ready so solve some puzzles?

Funny Bear Studios are back with a new casual puzzle game that follows the success of World Riddles: Animals, released last year. This time around they tried a different approach and decided to go with rediscovering the Seven Wonders of the World in a new, fun and very challenging griddles puzzle game.

This reinvention of the nonogram-solving experience is not entirely based on the premise that you will only be faced with the prospect of solving endless puzzles. As a matter of fact, you will also take a trip back in ancient times and explore the Lighthouse of Alexandria, statue of Zeus and even the Colossus of Rhodes. Learning new historical facts about these wondrous locations will turn the game into an educational experience, perfect for those of you that are searching for a new puzzle solving experience.

Gameplay

As you first enter the game I suggest that you take your time and read the instructions. Following the grid and searching for the hidden design by uncovering the clusters of globes hidden behind the tiles is all about making heads and tails about what's with the numbers on each row and column. If you happen to love solving crosswords, understanding the rules should come easy, but in case it doesn't, let me break it down for you as simply as I can.

The numbers you see in front of each column and row represent the number of adjacent globes in a cluster on that row or column. For instance, if you have two numbers, it implies that there are two clusters of globes each with the number of elements indicated by those two numbers. Also, remember that clusters can be separated by more than one empty tile so keep that in mind when you start clicking around.

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Don't worry about clicking the wrong tile because you are allowed to have a certain number of mistakes. In the top right corner of the screen you will see a charging hint button that you must not hesitate to use whenever you're in trouble, but if you still manage to get yourself in a pickle and waste all your error smileys (as I like to call them), then you can restart the level at any time.

I've also found that solving the levels faster than the average completion time shown by the game will not only give you extra points, but you will also be able to unlock various bonus levels that you can later access from the main menu of the game. These new time trial challenges come with various objectives to complete and unlike the regular game, if you fail to solve one of the puzzles in the given amount of time, then you have to start over from scratch. I know it sounds frustrating, especially if you're close to solving the puzzle like it happened to me, but you need to remember that beating the game is a lot more rewarding than taking it out on your innocent mouse.

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Again, besides the nonograms you will find that at the end of each explored location, you will be given either a themed jigsaw puzzle to solve or a fun hidden object game where instead of searching an image for the items on the list, you will have to place them in their rightful place. I know these don't seem very challenging, but they sure do come as a breath of fresh air every once in a while.

Audio & Video

When it comes to graphics, World Riddles: Seven Wonders won't blow your mind a way with amazing visual effects, life-like cinematics or highly detailed textures. In all fairness, it's just a casual puzzle game that is meant to pull you aside from your everyday routines and offer your brain something to chew on. There's no way why the visual aspect should be better than it already is, because it's a casual game and as for the background music, I can honestly say that it worked for me. I've played a couple of games at my time (being modest) and this one didn't strike me as having an irritating or dull soundtrack. As a matter of fact, most of the times I didn't even realize there was something playing in the background because I was fixated on solving the puzzles. Still, with a little tweak from the Options menu you can adjust the volume and pinch it down a notch if you think it's more than you can handle.

Conclusion

To wrap it all up, World Riddles: Seven Wonders is definitely an educational game that tries to combine good old fashion puzzle solving fun with actually learning a couple of historically accurate things about the Seven Wonders of the World. The great part about it is that you will have a lot (emphasis on “a lot”) of puzzles to solve, that basically test out your ability to focus and count. The downside is that you could get really frustrated after a while and you might start losing your focus. Enjoy the game for what it is, an entertaining and educational nonogram-solving experience fit for everyone, regardless of their age.

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story 6
gameplay 8
concept 7
graphics 7
audio 7
multiplayer 0
final rating 7
Editor's review
good