Return to Grisly Manor

I like the games by this developer. The challenge provided is not terribly hard but just enough that I am motivated to reach the end. The artwork is beautiful. The music adds to the enjoyment. One thing I like about these games is the built in hint system. They are free, but are on a timer so you can’t buzz right through them. And you wouldn’t want to! Half the fun is figuring it out yourself. But if you are truly stumped, you can ask for a hint. I started with Grisly Manor, which was a little short but still a lot of fun. After I completed the game, I sat with my granddaughter while she played and that was fun for both of us. The sequel, Grisly Manor 2, was much longer and even more enjoyable, with a great ending. My most recent game was Lost City. While scenes are beautiful it seemed a bit too long with more back tracking than I cared for. The last half of the game I used more hints just to get through it faster. It would be nice if you could click on the map to get to the room you want to go to. For example, once you figure out what season you need to be in, it gets tedious to get to the room where you can adjust the season, and then continue on. Nevertheless, the Lost City provided much enjoyment, broken into three or four days as I had time to work with it. Because I’m of the age of being forgetful, a year from now I’ll be able to play these games again and they will still be fun. Thank you, Fire Maple, for making good “clean” games that are appropriate for any age player. I look forward to buying the next game.

Fire maple games have always been my favorite. I’ve played all of these throughout my life and they always brought me joy. I highly recommend getting this app because it’s truly interesting, fun, and worth your time. Grisly Manor is the OG so you should definitely play this, but if you enjoy this I 100% suggest you check out the other fire maple games such as Return to Grisly Manor, Lost City, Thickety Creek, Curse of the Cobra, Hidden World, etc. All super fun and mysterious. In my opinion, these apps are one of the best on App Store and are extremely enjoyable. Thanks for servicing these brilliant games to us, and if you are not the company thank you very much for reading my review. Ava Chamberlain

I am a fan of the Fire Maple games. Grisly Manor 2 benefits from the forethought that went into making the puzzles fit in with the story, which are much more involved and thought-provoking than in the original. The puzzles themselves are at a medium level of difficulty; just hard enough to make you think, but far from exasperating. I also appreciate how the developers spent time creating clever, organic puzzles that avoid employing the lazy tropes (slider puzzles, combination lock puzzles, tiny hidden objects, finding/using items that make no sense in the story/environment) that many of the games in the genre fall back on. I also like how the game revisits the original Grisly Manor story, but expands on it significantly, avoiding redundancy. This game, like all of Fire Maple’s games, is a welcome relief from the gloomy, creepy settings and atmosphere in most of the games in this genre. The music is pleasant, the sense of humor is quirky and pervasive, and the visuals are colorful, which makes for a stress-free, family-friendly, puzzle-solving experience. The journal and the map are useful features, as well. Overall, this is a nice, calm way to spend a few hours, and scratch that puzzling itch.