The Lost Ship

I always liked The Lost Ship, played it a number of times, but as others have commented it was already finished just as I was getting into it. Too short. This newest version adds another island, reachable by canoe, and a fort just down a short path from the ship (which no longer factors in this second half of the extended game). I have to say that the new locations are beautifully rendered and fun to traverse. The new puzzles are more challenging and unique than the existing ones. There are a few that I solved only by accident and would not have been able to solve on my own because of a new (to me) arrangement of the clue icons across a horizontal surface. Even when I had the puzzles “solved” (by accident) I still could not make head nor tail of the cryptic clues. Aside from that, this puzzle adventure app runs smoothly and without a hitch. A mature child could play and enjoy this game, perhaps with the aid of a savvy grownup, or a modicum of luck. The people at Synchrony are VERY good at this kind of thing, and from what I’ve seen, probably the best.

Syntaxity, Since finally trying Blackthorn Castle last year, I was thoroughly impressed by the lack of glitches, smoothe gameplay with a functional and easy to use User Interface, explorative setting locations, challenging yet not too difficult to beat, quality graphics, realistic style, sound effects and music as well as the adventurous nature of these games. One after the other, I tried each game and delightfully found the same satisfaction in all (current) six. Then, you released your bountiful update for the Lost Ship, which was originally much too short. Now seeing the pattern of adding similar updates and extra content, in order of original release, I eagerly await more to be released. If I had to describe these games, in as few words, I would say they are honestly must-haves and instant buys for this genre. If a new game were to be released, I would buy it as soon as I found out about it. Having them all up to now is not enough because they are so satisfying. But there's more. I discovered an interesting alternative to their replay value. Sure once you play them you might get tired. I liked Blackthorn so much I kept replaying it, but with an unexpected challenge I put to myself. Memory. I've repeatedly played them several times each as a way to stregthen my memory So, I look forward to each new game/additional content Syntaxity releases. To be honest, you couldn’t release add-on or new game content fast enough. Thank you.

If you like point and click puzzlers, the Lost Ship should prove satisfying. The puzzles are mid-range in difficulty, and there are solution hints scattered around the game (and, as with other Syntaxity games, always keep an eye on dark wall patches, loose floorboards, and the like for clues; it’ll save some frustration). The puzzles are plentiful, but be prepared to do a lot of backtracking and wandering if you don’t want to spend the money to upgrade to the “fast map” feature. Overall, if you like this genre, this is a decent way to spend a few hours. I like the Syntaxity apps. While they’re not at the level of the Room or House of DaVinci games, they scratch the puzzle itch just fine. If you’re new to Syntaxity, I’d recommend The Enchanted Worlds or The Mystery of Blackthorn Castle. P.S. I take it from older reviews that this game used to be pretty short. It’s apparently been updated, and now the map is just as large as it is in the other games.