The Birdwatcher 2: Mushroom Houses?

Started the game! I would guess that I'm already about one-third of the way through, judging on how the map is filling up. 

Of course, this Carol Reed game plays exactly the same as the other Carol Reed games, and actually that's one reason we fans like 'em. We know exactly what we're getting. We always get the map that allows us to visit different locations.

Our Map! Not many locations here in the beginning of the game.

Of course, Stina is always with us, and often becomes a fount of local knowledge (the lady playing Stina actually does the voice of Carol in all these games).

Stina in her latest shop! (Her businesses change in every game.)

As always, we get lovely scenery, and this really is one of the reasons I enjoy these games. Every outside location (and many inside locations) we visit allows us to look in all four directions. There are some really nice photos of the Swedish countryside and the beautiful parks in town. I like that!

A park with flowers

And I don't know how Mr. Nyqvist keeps coming up with these quirky places. Some of them must be in locations in Sweden other than his town. Here's a park with little micro buildings, for example:

We get clues from these!

And we go to normal places as well. I love the tall stovepipe on this house. We have to find a way to break into it though!

Clues are hiding here, but can we get in?

And of course we get to talk to people! The characters are always fun:

An eccentric gentleman

That strange wealthy guy has built himself an entire village of mushroom houses! Yes, mushrooms! Where did Nyqvist find this?

And this is just one!

Well, I am a fan of mushrooms. You can never have enough mushrooms.

What's nice about Carol Reed games is that when you find a clue, it almost always sends you to the next place you're supposed to visit, where you will find more clues! And puzzle boxes! I forgot to include any shots of some, but I've already found and solved three of 'em! Have patience when you find one. You will run across the clue to the box at some point, and you will go back and solve it with a nice feeling of satisfaction! And in this game Carol can take photos of them with her phone--that's a new feature. Plus, the inventory drops items when you don't need them anymore, always a nice feature.

So I figure that by the way the map looks now, I've finished about a third of the game. The game works so well that you don't have to take notes. You don't even have to write down the solutions to the puzzle boxes--you can take pictures of them! And the in-game hint system works very well. It doesn't give away solutions. It's just nudges you in the right direction if you get really frustrated. 

So! Tomorrow!

Next Entry.