For Gatsby Girl & Others--Favorite DS Casuals

Here are some of my favorites by category. These are the ones I feel have appeal for adults, and are really good and fun to play.

I don't like a lot of the just plain ports from the PC, as the graphics suffer so much and the hidden objects become muddled. Cate West gives me a headache on the DS. More and more of the BFG featured games are being ported as well: Escape the Museum, Samantha Swift, Dream Chronicles, etc., so we'll have to see how they fare.

I'd love to hear from anyone else, and I'll be glad to add details about any game if anyone has any questions.

Puzzle

Professor Layton and the Curious Village
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box
Touch Detective
Touch Detective 2 1/2
Shaun the Sheep
Neves

(Disney is also starting a lovely little whole family series with the already released Disney's A Christmas Carol, which has a built-in advent calendar, and the upcoming Alice in Wonderland in March, 2010. These are not the "for small children" platform/action games of their movies like Princess and the Frog, but actual puzzle games for everyone.)

Hidden Object (Specifically made or tailored for DS-not just ports)

Chronicles of Mystery: Curse of the Ancient Temple
Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir
Where's Waldo?

Match 3, Strategy, Card, etc.

Jewel Master: Egypt
The Quest Trio
Slingo Quest (A port that works!)
Foto Frenzy

And what I feel is the heart of the adult appeal games for the DS:

Adventure Lite

Time Hollow
Trace Memory
Jake Hunter: Detective Story
Hotel Dusk: Room 215
Hardy Boys: Treasure on the Tracks
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Series (There are 3)
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
Women's Murder Club Games of Passion

A number of these last ones used to be really hard to find, but they've been rereleased and most are on Amazon now, as more adults are playing (or admitting that they do. )

I'm also looking forward to the upcoming

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth

and

Art of Murder


That's it for me! Grab your stylus and tell me what you love!

THanks Cynder, great list!

Ana

Thank you, Ana, I'd love to see what everyone else loves.

Cynder,

When I made my request, I didn't know that you would provide us with such a great list! Thanks. I am new to the DS but really enjoy it because I can play in bed (I don't have a laptop). I got a friend hooked, too. I can't wait for the new one- DS XL to be released. I have some kind of serious vision issues and I think that the larger screen on the XL will work better for me.

I was most interested in your last category (Adventure Lite) and glad to know that I have many of the games you listed. I have been scouring GameStop to find used ones of the older games.

I have the Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles games but not the JH Detective Story. I think there are two of them. A friend gave me The Hardy Boys but I was skeptical of playing it because I didn't like the PC version and stopped playing it. You didn't mention the Nancy Drew games and I know that the reviews weren't that great but my friend (who is a great gamer) loved Clue Bender Society.

I have seen Time Hollow but haven't bought it. Maybe I will stumble on it again. Since I am not great with puzzles (you should know this from the trouble I have had with WMC), I thought the puzzles in Professor Layton- Curious Village were too hard. I keep trying to play these puzzle games thinking that I will eventually get with it and get better; so far that isn't happening...

One last question: I have read rave reviews about The Quest Trilogy. Is it all puzzles? What did you like about it?

Thanks so much for responding. I really like this thread. Now if I can just get past that awful puzzle box in Women's Murder Club: Crimes of Passion...

I liked Clue Bender Society a lot, also Broken Sword Shadow of the Templars.

I like this thread
I have the DS Lite, great gadget to have when waiting for 2 hours in a Doctor's office.

Thanks to Gatsbygirl for putting the request for more info on the DS games.

Cynder:
This is a fantastic list. Thank You for taking the time to put it together.

My daughter picked up Ementium about a year ago and neither one of us can really get very far. It's not what she thought it to be and is pretty gruesome, scared the living daylights out of me that I screamed LOL LOL.....yet I keep going back.

I have Professor Layton's Diabolical Box and find some of the puzzles challenging. My 8 year old granddaughter puts me to shame with this game.

My preference in games are IHOGs and getting into Adventure.

I also enjoyed MCF Millionheir, Crosswords DS (which has anagrams and search a word) and Puzzler Collection (words)

I'm gonna have a look at some of these cos I trust your opinions cos let's face it you all know a good game on here haha.

Cynder, that was a great list and the only other DS game that I could add would be Undercover Dual Motives, which I enjoyed but it is a difficult game to get (an import).

I'm also looking forward to the next edition of the DS, especially for those hidden object games which are very hard to make out.

I do have the Cluebender Society, but there's so much endless repetition and walking to solve anything, I can't say I've finished it yet. Isn't going to make my favorites, but I think I will get around to doing it sometime.

The Jewel Quest Trio is basically a Match 3, "golf" solitaire, and simple mah-jongg (not the real mah-jongg with the tiles, but the simply matching game that passes for it, and that a lot of folks think is actually mah-jongg.)

You can play whichever one you choose, and switch as you like. It's just very relaxing on a night when you're tired.

Jake Hunter: Detective Story is the re-release of Jake Hunter Chronicles, with the addition of a cartoon adventure, but, if you have the original, it's not worth buying again, as the extras aren't very much. The adventure episodes are identical.

I had played Broken Sword on the PC, so I didn't get the DS version, but it's a great game, too. I do love my little DS for waits at the dentist, etc., and also for those nights in bed before you sleep when you just can't read another book any more.

Cynder,

Thanks for all the info and help you have given me with the DS. You must have been playing it for quite awhile to have made it through all of these games and know so much about them. That has been very helpful.

I have given up on WMC: Crimes of Passion (just can't get through that slider) and just started Cluebender Society. I am getting used to the interface and having to use the key pads. I am just at the beginning but it seems ok, so far.

I will play some of the other games I have been collecting after that. I am finding that I don't have enough time to do everything I like to do (reading, PC games, DS games). Funny how work cuts into our time...

I am really looking forward to the new version of the DS to see how much better I will be able to see it. I have a DS Lite so it will probably seem really big to me. I know that it will lose some of its portability when they increase the size but I am looking forward to the bigger screen. Just hope they don't raise the price too much.

Thanks again for all of the great info and help.