Rooms of Memory: A Facebook hidden object game that's more challenging than most

As the hidden object genre becomes more prominent on Facebook, we find developers attempting to distance themselves from the "big boys" like Hidden Chronicles (see, for instance, the uniquely themed Disney Animal Kingdom Explorers). In the case of 6waves' Rooms of Memory however, we find a game that takes enough from others to feel familiar while also adding in some twists.

Rooms of Memory begins with your character inheriting a set of manuscripts and all the earthly possessions of the late Professor Bellows, your uncle. You'll be guided through gameplay by the professor's butler, Alfred, who will help you settle into your new manor. The ultimate goal of Rooms of Memory will be to decode the professor's cryptic diary and discover the secrets hidden within. This, of course, is done by completing a series of hidden object scenes, with your overall manor serving as your hub for accessing these scenes.

Unlike Hidden Chronicles, you won't be required to build new structures to unlock scenes, but will instead need to lookout for keys that appear along the way (or can be purchased). These will help you unlock the "fog" surrounding buildings, thereby unlocking the scenes housed within. Each scene has a mastery rating, as you might expect, but there isn't any sort of point combo meter that rewards you for finding multiple items in rapid succession. Instead, your mastery will rely more on how quickly and how often you finish scenes, with each being timed (you can pause the timer, while also covering up the scene entirely, if you need to take a break).

Searching for items can be accomplished through either finding items on a text list or searching for items based on their shadows. Each scene is presented from a rather distant viewpoint, but your mouse pointer is replaced by a constant magnifying glass, giving you a single circular viewpoint that you can move around at will. Unfortunately, this is more of an annoyance than a helpful tool, as you'll likely spend much more time completing scenes than you would have without its inclusion, since your "area of investigation" is so limited at any one point in time (unless you play in full screen). There are plenty of hints to choose from if you get stuck, like the standard hint that shows you one particular item, and another that will add more time to the clock, as examples. These are especially helpful, as some items can change location from one playthrough of a scene to the next, so you can't rely on rote memorization to make your way through.

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You'll earn coins and experience points during and after each scene, with these coins being used to purchase extra hints from the store. There are also plenty of items available for Crystals, the game's premium currency, encouraging the use of real world cash to progress quickly. This also includes purchasing items to refill your energy, which is expended quickly, sometimes at the rate of 20 energy points or more per scene (you'll start with around 50 in your rechargeable energy bar).

In terms of social features, Rooms of Memory greatly limits who you can interact with, even on your true Facebook friends list, depending on how active they are in the game. If someone hasn't played the game in some time, their profile will "go to sleep," removing your ability to send them gifts, or even gain bonuses from visiting them. You can ping your friends with "wake up" requests, but of course your mileage may vary there. When your friends are awake and active, you can visit their manors to receive energy, coins and experience point rewards.

All told, Rooms of Memory definitely isn't without its problems, as the use of square or rectangular items as hidden objects makes finding them based on shadow alone virtually impossible, and scenes where the graphics go completely dark are unnecessarily frustrating. Still, if you're interested in a game that's more challenging than most other hidden object offerings on Facebook, Rooms of Memory just might be worth your time.

Click here to play Rooms of Memory on Facebook --->

Have you tried Rooms of Memory? What do you think of this hidden object experience on Facebook? Let us know in the comments!