SEASON OF MYSTERY: The Cherry Blossom Murders

Recommended with a caveat - if you hate trying to find hidden objects that really blend into the background/other objects, or that are on a completely different scale to what you'd expect (giant clothes pins, for example), then avoid this game. Personally I found it added a bit of challenge and there were only a couple of times I got really frustrated with it, but there are some items that are REALLY hard to spot! (Looking at you, office playing card...)

Otherwise, it was an adequate mystery story (as others have said, with NO supernatural elements which makes a change in this genre!) peppered with many hidden object scenes and a few relatively easy puzzles/mini games. You visit most of the scenes multiple times, and as the list of objects appears to be random you may find yourself looking for the same items as the last time you were in that location. (The items do not change position between visits.)

[EDIT to add: Several of the scenes have at least one spider, if that really bothers you. Other common phobias depicted include snakes and owls.]

This randomness also affects the achievements, as there are some you might not get on one or two playthroughs unless you're lucky. For example, one of them is "Find 7 cats" - I was only asked to find a cat once on my playthrough, so I'd have to play it again and hope I get asked for more! Or "Find 30 Flying Objects", which includes birds, balloons and so on. Again you have to hope the scenes ask you to find enough of those things. [EDIT I got them all on the second playthrough, as well as the "under 2.5hrs" cheevie.]

One feature that's very helpful is that if you're not sure what an item is, you can click on the word in the list and it will show you a silhouette. Very helpful if you're not sure what shape of wrench you need to find this time, or if you have no idea what a "profile" is. If you still can't find the item then you can click the hint button and it will highlight the correct area. Most of the words used seem to have been translated adequately. There was one "umbrella" I was asked to find that didn't look much like an umbrella to me, but that's because it wasn't the usual western style. You also may need to look for words within the scene, for example finding "3 ships" involved two actual ships and one instance of the word "ship" on a wall.

I had fun and don't regret buying it on sale, but even though it's cheap anyway I'm not sure I'd have been happy paying full price.

Simple but fun

This game is pretty good for its price point. The eye spy game play is really fun when you are streaming with friends. Get some homies together and start playing. Best $2 dollars I've ever spent.

I'm quite patient when it comes to first impressions in a game. But I've only played for a few minutes and I already can't stand it, even as a hidden object enjoyer.

The items are just too blurry, bizarrely sized and obscured and it becomes more of a game of randomly clicking every pixel on the screen as opposed to actually looking for them with your eyes. When you're looking for a harmonica, you don't expect to be finding a 5 foot tall one propped up against a hallway. When you're looking for a shrimp, you don't expect to be finding a monster shrimp the size of a cat superimposed upon a chair. Similarly, there were shrunk objects and ones essentially transparent for no discernable reason. I feel like there could have been a much more creative way of hiding an object in plain sight than either making it virtually invisible or like a completely different object entirely.

No shade to those who enjoy it, I like a challenging H.O.G but this type of challenge in particular was only rage-inducing and not as calming and interesting as others in the genre have been.

A stereotypical Casual Hidden Object Point & Click Adventure game.

Not exactly thought-provoking. Only takes a few hours to fully complete.

Mostly a bit of leisurely wholesome fun that doesn't take itself too seriously.

Great story and charming hidden object scenes. Just a few puzzles besides, none too difficult.

Simple point and click game with some mini games like matching and puzzles. Kinda reminds me of the "I spy" books I use to enjoy as a kid. Very chill game

Square Enix made a H.O.G. :D