The rise of casual games is a money train every company wants to find a seat on – and Mastertronic is preparing to release four new titles that will buy them a little more leg room in this crowded market.
All four are hidden object games – a genre that has proven to be particularly successful this year and stands to do well in the upcoming gifting season. As such, the publisher is confident its new releases will live up to its expectations.
“This genre has seen an increase in popularity and certainly suits the supermarket environment,” says product director Neil McKenna.
“The consumer demographic is completely different to our usual core game offering and, as such, an area of the market that we wish to expand into. Hidden object games sell well and sell steadily and with a retail price of £9.99, these titles will appeal to the casual gamer.”
The first title in the range is Hollywood: The Director’s Cut. This puts players in the role of a new assistant art director who is granted the opportunity to work on some of Tinseltown’s biggest productions.
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As they explore the sets and backlots of the movie studios, they must seek out key hidden objects in order to prove their knowledge of films to the director. Their career improves as they progress and they can set their sights on further success, including getting their very own star on the Hollywood Boulevard.
Offering a spookier storyline, Frankenstein: The Dismembered Bride tells of a man’s quest to find his beloved wife, who disappeared several months ago. Brad’s search leads him to the Bavarian mansion of Baron Albrecht von Frankenstein, where Janet fell prey to the Baron’s evil experiments.
Players must search 23 hidden object scenarios spread around the mansion and its grounds to recover pieces of Janet’s body. Even if they find all of them, they also need to locate the scattered pieces of the machine that can bring her back to life.
Blending the likes of Indiana Jones and Dan Brown’s novels and set during World War II, The Secrets Of The Vatican follows the adventure of Father Bellarmo Bagatti as he seeks the Holy Lance of Longinus.
Legend states that the lance pierced Christ’s body during the Crucifixion and, as a result, gives the owner the power of invincibility. Bagatti must follow clues throughout the Vatican and find the lance before the Nazis or the War will have a very different outcome.
Finally, Mastertronic bundles two popular hidden object games in a single package: Treasure Seekers 1 & 2. In Treasure Seekers: Visions of Gold, players search for their grandmother’s pirate treasure by solving puzzles in a range of environments, from strange laboratories to the bottom of the ocean.
THE NEW SEEKERS
Treasure Seekers: The Enchanted Canvases tasks players with helping Nelly find and save her brother from the bowels of a bewitched Romanian castle. Only by exploring the worlds inside the castle’s magical paintings can they find the legendary Philosopher’s Stone.
“Retailers should expect a good reaction to these games,” McKenna says. “They have been available in download versions but these are the first boxed versions. They’re strong and well-known casual games at an impulse purchase price point and certainly worth the shelf space to any retailer who attracts the casual gamer.”
Mastertronic already boasts a vast range of casual titles, and this latest range will only serve to improve their presence in this sector. However, McKenna reveals the publisher is far from finished with the popular sector.
“We’ll be looking to increase our casual offering and will actively be looking to acquire more titles like this,” he says. “We’re recognised as a leading force in PC games publishing by traditional gamers and now we’re determined to make our mark on the casual games market.”
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