I must say, Break the Curse: The Crimson Gems was quite the find. Like a bloodhound picking up a scent, this little gem kept me wanting more. With a variety of puzzles in unexpected places, a riveting story, and the task of picking up hidden items that help you along the way, Break the Curse: The Crimson Gems gave me an immersive experience and creative gameplay that compelled me to find the pair of missing circus performers.

Perhaps the most story-driven casual game I’ve played so far, Break the Curse: The Crimson Gems had an intriguing plot.  As a private investigator, you are hired by the ring leader of a circus to find his two missing performers. And yeah…the premise is already quite preposterous, but it only gets stranger the deeper into Break the Curse: The Crimson Gems you get.  

Clues of the duo's untimely disappearance lead to a broken down mansion of a supposed witch, where most of the game takes place. As bizarre as the plot was, exploring the different rooms of the mansion to uncover more of the mysterious tale was rather thrilling, and, of course, added to its peculiarity. Overall, the story paired nicely with the different elements of the game.

Seeing the game through the eyes of the investigator, this first-person action game was awesome. The art style for Break the Curse: The Crimson Gems was smooth and beautiful. The different areas added to the overall mysterious feel of the game. After all, with a curse to break and scary, evil witches, what more excitement could you want? The soundtrack also added to the overall ambiance. The voiceovers for the different characters were fresh, admittedly a little cheesy, but overall a nice touch.  

What really drove Break the Curse: The Crimson Gems was the gameplay.

There were layers upon layers of puzzle solving, even down to putting a code to solve within the journal entries that helped supplement the storyline.  

Many parts of a scene could be investigated with more details and would usually contain a small mini puzzle to solve before it gave up the clue or useful object. Some of the puzzles were familiar, but what impressed me was the sheer amount of puzzles and the variety in which they came. 

There’s nothing like being thrown for another loop to keep the mystery going. Many of the puzzles left me mystified and took me a lot longer than I would have guessed initially looking at the puzzle. I thoroughly enjoyed the added layer of finding hidden objects that helped unlock secrets or allowed you to advance to the next room in the witch’s mansion. 

Break the Curse: The Crimson Gems is definitely worth the time, and players will be so engrossed that they won’t even realize that hours have disappeared.