Nostradamus: The Last Prophecy : 2007 Adventure
The Hidden Prophecies of Nostradamus: 2008 Casual
Cassandra's Journey: The Legacy of Nostradamus: 2008 Casual

The final adventure game protagonist to make his presence felt in the casual market comes as something of a surprise… at least, to everyone but himself, presumably. It’s Nostradamus, noted 16th century astrologer and prophet who was first featured in another Kheops historical adventure, The Last Prophecy. Although only a peripheral figure in that game, he’s actually even less relevant in the two casual games to bear his name, cited mainly as a hook for popular attention. The two games in question are both solid enough little hidden object titles, but be forewarned that they bear little resemblance to the life and times of their namesake.

The Hidden Prophecies of Nostradamus, by Cat’s Eye Games, requires players to uncover fragments of a crystal ball locked beneath a series of Tarot cards. A few poetic rhymes move the “plot” forward between each of its fifteen levels, but really that’s about it for the entire story, and since neither element has any relation to Nostradamus, it plays out more like the hidden prophecies of Zoltar. In fact, it’s not even historical. Locations throughout the game don’t seem to have any factual significance, and while the building interiors are perhaps reflective of the Renaissance period, the many hidden object screens are filled with modern day items.

Aside from the inexplicable Nostradamus references, what we’re left with is another extremely traditional seek-and-find game. Each level has you visit three different locations on a map, which begin with 12 or 13 hidden items per screen before ramping up to 20 or so by game’s end. You can switch between them if you’re stuck, but you need to find every item in every location, so you’ll have to return to any that aren’t yet finished. The allotted time in “Sorcerer mode” (because, you know, Nostradamus was renowned for his witchcraft – argh!) gives you 45 minutes to complete a level, while a relaxed mode gives you double that. Either should give you more than enough, however, as the hint system works the same as Da Vinci, in which the hint bar refills after use, giving you lots of help if you really need it, just never in rapid fire sequence.

The item list also works exactly the same as Great Secrets, revealing only five objects at a time, and progressing only as you find each of those. There’s a time penalty for random clicking, and occasionally you’ll be required to find multiples of the same object, but never any more than two. The artwork is fairly clear, however, so it’s unlikely you’ll ever find yourself pressed for time, or even tempted to overuse the hint feature.

Each level also contains a single standalone puzzle, which break down into two or three repetitions of six basic types: there’s a lengthy “hangman” exercise to fill in Nostradamus’ recorded prophecies, Tarot Concentration, piece-switching jigsaws, a Bejeweled-style matching game, pathfinding around obstacles, and perhaps the world’s lamest minigame, in which picture tiles change when you slide the cursor over them, and again when you back off. I absolutely blew through each puzzle in almost no time, and I don’t consider myself a great puzzle solver, so that’s saying something. If for any reason you do get hung up, or just loathe that blasted tile-changing puzzle as much as me, there are three puzzle skips available in both easy and normal modes.

There is no voice acting throughout the game, not because it’s a casual downloadable game (though it is), but because there aren’t even any people in the game. The quiet is relieved only by the game’s soundtrack, which is pleasant enough when it plays, though there are periods of silence between scores. What’s truly bizarre, however, is that between songs, you’ll occasionally hear a throat being cleared or a page being turned, as if you’re listening to a live concert. That’s not written into the game in any way, so it’s a curious choice. Either that or someone just forgot to hit the “off” button in the sound studio.

All told, the gameplay in The Hidden Prophecies of Nostradamus is diverting enough for the 3-4 hours it’ll take to finish. It adheres faithfully to the tried-and-true, so the experience is utterly predictable, even without Nostradamus’ soothsaying talents. It’s a shame that so little effort was made to prop up the story framework, but anyone looking for a little more narrative oomph mixed in with their fortunetelling does have another option available to them…

Cassandra's Journey: The Legacy of Nostradamus, by JoyBits, takes just as many liberties with its historical subject matter as Hidden Prophecies, but at least the famous seer is actually in this one. At least, his spirit is. Set in modern day, players follow Cassandra, an aspiring mystic who’s visited by a woman whose brother has mysteriously disappeared. Inexperienced as she is, help comes unexpectedly in the form of Nostradamus, who guides her in finding a magic family ring to increase her powers. Her travels take players to rather unexotic locations like her office, a park, a pawn shop, and the depths of her own purse, though she does take a couple time-baffling trips to Nostradamus’ back yard. Not much of a journey, really.

But wait a sec… Magic ring? Here we go again. Yes, magic is repeatedly referenced throughout the game, though Nostradamus was never involved with magic in any way. Mind-reading, too. Is even a cursory glance at a history book too much to ask? Sigh. In any case, Nostradamus’ role in the game is as mentor only, appearing on occasion to spur Cassandra on in positive directions (and conveniently moving the story forward in the process). He’ll even speak a few words of wisdom to you, as this game is one of the few casual titles to include voice acting, limited though it is.

As with all hidden object games, of course the story is just an excuse to set up the gameplay, so narrative gaffes aside, Cassandra’s Journey is another traditional hidden object game. Theoretically it’s broken down into forty different “levels”, but it treats each individual scenario and even standalone puzzle as a level in its own right, so the entire game can be finished in under three hours quite easily. Naturally, searching for concealed items is required, but this task is fairly evenly split between finding randomly listed items, collecting large sets of the same object, spotting items displayed as silhouettes, locating differences between two and even three similar scenes, and spotting the answers to riddles you’ll first need to solve. Not surprisingly, the latter provides the hardest challenge, as some riddles can be a bit too vaguely clued, but you’ll also be hard pressed to find the smaller differences in the comparative scenes as you split your attention three ways.

Fortunately, help is plentiful, providing you work for it. Each hidden object scene contains jewels that you can then use to “shop” for different types of hints. The best (and costliest) hints specifically highlight an item, while the lower-priced hints show either a general (but large) vicinity of an object or a glowing cursor. You can also buy extra time in one-minute increments, though these apply only to the current scene, and for the most part your allotted ten minutes will be plenty. A “relaxed mode” is also available if you really like to play at your own leisure.

There are several other puzzle types to overcome along the way as well. Besides the familiar obstacles like piece-switching jigsaws and more Bejeweled, there are a few lesser-seen assignments, such as a word search, a variation of Solitaire, and an unusual grab-the-moving-text activity, each of which you’ll do a couple of times. Also sprinkled in are several “tricks” from Nostradamus, which he claims are magic but are obviously mathematical in nature, however impressive they might be on the surface. You can’t fail these, although there is a quiz attached to the optical illusions shown, which are sure to blow your mind even if you know you’re not seeing what you think you are.

Really the only evident purpose of these tricks from Nostradamus is to unlock different means of fortunetelling from the main menu. Whether by cards, stars, or crystal ball, Cassandra will tell your fortune, but her revelations are little more than fortune cookie-type platitudes. The current date is recorded, and you’re only allowed to visit once per day, but if the developers wanted repeat visitors, they probably should have made a longer game.

In fact, even a complete game would have been nice. In focusing on Cassandra’s pursuit of the magic ring, the story ridiculously forgets all about the missing brother until the end, at which point it’s suddenly reintroduced and then punctuated with… “to be continued”! Now, flimsy storytelling like this won’t be leaving anyone anxiously awaiting the outcome, but it’s still a bit of a slap in the face to be deprived of the actual mystery the game seemed to promise. So, despite the presence of Nostradamus, you won’t be leaving any wiser than you begin, but you should have a fairly enjoyable journey for as long as it lasts.