Ever since Darjeeling and Pixmain announced that they’d be releasing a digital adaptation of the popular children’s book series Pierre the Maze Detective in May of last year, I’ve been looking forward to getting my hands on it. The game is titled Labyrinth City, and the specific story in the series the game is based off of is titled The Search for the Stolen Maze Stone and sees the titular detective partnering up with his pal Carmen as they search out the evil Mr. X who has stolen the Maze Stone from the museum and is threatening to turn the entirety of Opera City into a maze. Yes, it’s about as wacky of a premise as is required for a children’s book.
At the time of announcement I described Labyrinth City as “sort of like a marriage of Where’s Waldo/Wally? and the Professor Layton series." Now that I’ve had a chance to give the game a spin for myself, how does that shorthand description hold up? Not too bad, actually, but not really because the mechanics of either of those series is reflected in Labyrinth City. This isn’t a traditional hidden object game like Where’s Waldo? or Hidden Folks. It’s probably more similar to the Layton games because there is an overarching story, cutscenes, and even some very good voice acting. But as far as the puzzle-solving it’s probably not quite as robust as you’d find in a Layton game.
Where Labyrinth City really reminds me of those previously mentioned games is in sheer charm and attention to detail. As the title suggests you are the Maze Detective, and indeed every scene in the game is literally one gigantic maze. You’ll need to make your way from point to point as the story leads you to, but you’ll find there’s never quite a direct path to where you need to go. Instead you’ll be taken on a tour of each level’s majorly detailed scenes that are genreally filled with all sorts of activity. Often you’ll walk right by some sort of interactive element which can lead to a small side puzzle to solve or just a bit of flavor or humor that adds to the overall charm of the whole scene.
There are also special stars to collect and tons of hidden items to discover, so there’s definitely some “video game stuff" to do here, but by and large this is just a children’s story brought to life and it’s hard not to have a smile on your face as you make your way through its incredibly vibrant scenes. It’s just adorable from top to bottom. While maybe not everybody’s cup of tea, if you find yourself wanting to escape some of the craziness of the world then I can pretty much guarantee you’ll get lost in the–here’s that word again–charming as all heck Labyrinth City – Pierre the Maze Detective, and if that’s not worth a fiver I don’t know what is.
