Drawn: Dark Flight

Drawn is an adventure/puzzle game series by Big Fish Studios. I'm a fan of Big Fish games in general (particularly games of the adventure/puzzle genre) but this game - Dark Flight, the second installment in the Drawn series, really impressed me. I haven't yet played the first game in the series (The Painted Tower) but Dark Flight, while being a continuation of the first game, has a strong story in its own right and is still able to stand on its own story-wise.

Drawn: Dark Flight tells the story of Iris, a young girl who has the magical ability to make anything she draws come to life. Iris manages to escape (with the aid of her father's closest advisor, Franklin) when her kingdom is taken over by the evil dark King who eliminates her parents (the rightful King and Queen) and the rest of her family. Dark Flight begins after you have succeeded in helping Iris to escape the tower where she was hidden in exile (the storyline of The Painted Tower) - she still needs your help. You must explore the Kingdom of Stonebriar and help Iris re-light the three beacons which have been extinguished by the dark King. If you succeed, Iris will be able to take her rightful place as Queen of the kingdom and dethrone the dark King.

Probably the first thing that grabbed me with this game is the stunning hand drawn visuals. I loved the little details, like the way you can open all the windows in the streets and bat at lamps to make them swing. Tiny details like that really make games come alive for me. There is a strong theme of "paper" throughout the game - not only are the majority of the puzzles based around cut-outs and paper pop-ups, but the scenery itself resembles some kind of Tim Burton-esque pop-up book.

The theme of the kingdom - and what the dark King has taken away - is creativity. So the puzzles are based on art, music, drama, etc. The puzzles are all so unique - I've never seen puzzles quite like these in any other game. One of the really nice features of the game is the drawing mechanic. There are several puzzles in which you must trace the outline of an object (for example, with a piece of charcoal) in order to solve them. It added to the "hands-on" type feel of the game. During many of the puzzles I felt like I was working on a fun craft project, rather than playing a game.

However, these puzzles are hard. I don't think I've encountered harder puzzles in any other Big Fish game. Don't let that deter you though - the difficulty makes it all the sweeter when you actually figure out the solutions, and if you really, truly get stuck, you can opt to "Skip Puzzle" after a short time limit is up. Personally? I took the "sit-for-two-hours-til-my-brain-melts" approach to these puzzles, heh. If you get stuck while exploring, or can't figure out where to head next, you can click to ask advice from Franklin at any time. His hints start out vague but will get more precise the more you ask, which is a great hint system for a game like this.

Drawn: Dark Flight is highly recommended to anyone who's a little burned out on hidden object games, wants a visually rich gaming experience with a strong storyline, and wants a bit of a challenge with some extremely unique, fun puzzles. I will be waiting eagerly for the next installment (not yet released). Click the links below if you're interested in trying out Drawn for yourself.