Way back in 2007, hidden object aficionados encountered The Scruffs, a fun and quirky game that features equally fun and quirky characters as they try to unfold a family secret and prevent their beloved family home from being sold. Fast forward to present 2012, a sequel to this game appears. The Scruffs: Return of the Duke features a completely different storyline, but brings back the comical family from the original game. And this time, they are involved in a bigger adventure which we will be tackling with the rest of this review.
Grandpa Scruff is actually a duke, and after discovering this fact, the entire Scruff family returns to Scrufford but soon encounters an evil impostor that wants to take Grandpa Scruff's rightful position. Well, that is the entire gist of the story as you try to thwart the impostor's evil plans and help the old man get back his title. Simple, right? Well, that is because the entire game is very simple as well. But it makes up for it with pure, lighthearted fun, lots of humor and possibly the cutest hint system you will encounter in the hidden object genre.
The game play of The Scruffs: Return of the Duke is straightforward hidden object. You try to find items in various cluttered scenes with some of them turning into inventory items you can use to progress the storyline. It is much like the first installment of The Scruffs, but definitely better and more refined. I could say it is funnier too, bringing me lots of laughs even with just the hidden object scenes. And while the puzzles may not be so unique, they are very well made, with some taking quite a lot of time to complete (Sudoku, anyone?).
What I really loved best though is the game's hint system. The Scruff dog located at the lower right side of the screen will give you hints whenever he is available. What he does is bark whenever you get to approach the needed object. Absolutely cute and very fun to use. Kudos to the developers for putting such an element oftentimes neglected on other hidden object games.
All in all, The Scruffs: Return of the Duke is certainly a must try, must buy game. But of course, it is much better for you to try it out first if comic style graphics and storyline suits you well. As a bit of trivia, the original The Scruffs game won second runner-up best hidden object game of 2007 at the Big Fish Games portal. Just so you know how fun this game really is to play.
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