Detective Holmes: Hidden Objects Review (Xbox Series X|S & PC)

As elementary as hidden object games are, Sherlock Holmes, being the home to countless clues, cases, and puzzles, does make for a rather fitting backdrop, all things considered. Detective Holmes: Hidden Objects, while still about as on-brand and as rife with familiar aspects as a common evidence-littered world, too, just feels like a well-oiled piece of the jigsaw. While it is quite clearly as “easy win” for Crisp App Studios, it does, at the very least, capture the essence of the source material with its thematically accurate visuals, locations, and time-appropriate context. Though, the question remains: what does it do to elevate the bare bones of a generic hidden object game?

Detective Holmes: Hidden Objects leans into its role as a simple, self-contained clue-fumbling experience—a familiar, far-from-overdressed iteration of a beloved anthological tale about the ever-famous Baker Street detective. As its title implies, it removes the complex structure of a century-old novella and instead focuses on the skeletal system—the Victorian architecture, the back alleys of London, and the small fragments that form a scene from a classic Sherlock flick. With that, it turns a blind eye to the usual pattern of a perplexing crime drama tale and instead opts to pour its heart and soul into the image. Baker Street has objects of interest, and it wants you to unearth them.

Detective Holmes unfolds in a fairly straightforward manner, with a collection of hand-crafted panels, a trove of hidden objects, and a simple cursor that lets you scrub through the fine details of each image and pluck out a series of missing set pieces. From Baker Street to the prestigious manors of Whitechapel and beyond, the game grants you passage to the Victorian era and directly into the underbelly of a world where crime and corruption run rampant. As Sherlock, the famed detective with a knack for spotting the smallest of details, it simply falls to you to navigate each piece of London and to decipher the breadcrumbs in any order you deem necessary.

To give credit where credit is due, Detective Holmes does lean into its sources incredibly well. Like a true adaptation of a classic novel, its hidden object form captures a significant portion of the iconic narrative, with several iconic locations, dozens of themed set pieces, and a variety of curious crime scenes that bathe in traditional Sherlock-like aesthetics. Although without a thought-provoking plot and the occasional dramatic twist or piece of Watson-Sherlock chemistry, it delivers on its promise to construct an appropriate atmosphere that quite clearly reflects the original material.

Of course, a hidden object game is still a hidden object game, and therefore it falls into a bubbling pot that is quite simply overflowing with similar works. To that end, you could argue that Baker Street has had more than its fair share, and that Sherlock Holmes isn’t in desperate need of another adaptation. Though, it is fair to say that there is a market for these types of games. In the case of Detective Holmes: Hidden Objects, it’s unapologetically simple, but also teeming with all of the faithful aspects of a cozy puzzle game. With enough panels, as well as enough objects to fill out its blank pages and keep your eye distracted for an hour or two, it provides everything that you need from a hidden object puzzler. Perhaps it doesn’t need much more than that.

In addition to its treasure trove of Victorian-esque panels and puzzles, Detective Sherlock also features a useful hint system—a simple and effective tool that, true to the point of a built-in guide, aids you on your quest to locate tougher obstacles and objects in each of its panels. Again, this isn’t exactly a technical innovation, especially in the hidden object field, though it is a solid addition that makes the overall experience a little easier to navigate.

While Detective Holmes isn’t exactly a game-changing experience, much less one that has the power to alter the existing formula, it is a surprisingly well-rounded game that blends striking artwork with all of the hallmark elements of a timelessly engaging franchise. It might not be the be all, end all of puzzle games, but it is a game that knows what it wants and precisely what it brings to the table. For that reason alone, I’d recommend it as a quick and easy way to scratch that Sherlock-obsessed itch.

If games like Around the World in 80 Days, Hidden Around the World, or, at a push, Find My Frogs are to your liking, then it’s likely that you’ll enjoy brushing through the pages of this pocket-sized Baker Street journal. Better yet, if it’s a Sherlock Holmes game that you want, and if you are suffering from fatigue from the usual Frogwares anthology, then consider this as a shorter vacation that’s slightly less mind-boggling and mechanically challenging. Generally speaking, though, you should consider it, especially if you’re an avid fan of short puzzle games that build their worlds around influential time periods and fictional characters.

Verdict

Detective Sherlock: Hidden Objects captures the essence of the source material with a mechanically minimalistic yet visually compelling collection of artistic panels that compliment the Victorian aesthetic surprisingly well. Even at its core, as a self-contained, somewhat familiar hidden object game that relies on a lot of the same basic elements, it serves its purpose as a perfectly serviceable puzzler that can (and probably will) keep your brain occupied for an hour or two.

As I said, if you’re a fan of Sherlock Holmes, and happen to have a sweet tooth for simple-to-navigate hidden object, spot-the-difference-like puzzle games, then you ought to give Crisp App Studios a chance. It might not wow you, given that it is, in Holmes’ terms, positively elementary as far as puzzle games go. But, it should give you an excuse to pick at your own brain for a short while whilst you wait for another chapter to sweep you off your feet. What more could you want from a Sherlock-based experience?