From hat to madness
Bridge to Another World: Alice in Shadowland is an entry into a long-running series of hidden object puzzle games. In it, you play the role of the titular Alice… a grown woman who picks up a hat on a bridge and is attacked by a mysterious shadow. Soon enough she’s in another world, one where everyone believes she’s the saviour.
Water under the bridge
Of course, her goal is just to make it home to her husband and kids! This goal is also yours as you search, think and find what you need to defeat the evil of this other world.
Though Bridge to Another World: Alice in Shadowland is part of a larger series, that won’t stop you from picking up this game first. Though you’re thrown into the action (and into Shadowland) quite quickly, the game gives you an idea of what Alice is like as you figure out your first puzzles. In fact, the game does a great job of continuing the story it starts with. Without giving too much away: once your own shadow turns against you, things are dangerous… and weird. Alice in Shadowland is fraught with the same sort of whimsical magic that drove Lewis Carroll’s classic. Though the Alice of Shadowland is older than other Alices you might know, she provides the same sort of grounding presence, just from a more adult perspective.
As for the puzzles, they’re fairly standard in terms of the genre. You look for objects both large and small, click on them, and progress the plot. There’s a few twists, but overall your job is to find diamonds among coal: simple but tough work, suited to a keen eye, and easy to understand.
Life captured in a mirror
The flora and fauna of Shadowland are weird, as you’d expect from any game that makes references to Alice in Wonderland. The game blends crimson with deep blue, shattered glass with darkened water, and overall manages to be very colourful and interesting while still presenting a world that should be called “Shadowland”. While the character designs for the inhabitants of Shadowland can be ostentatious, you shouldn’t expect anything less! Though the environments are beautiful, the occasional video leaves something to be desired. In our testing, outside of the highest-end computers, the introduction of the game skipped frames: Alice’s steps on her ill-fated evening run were jumpy rather than fluid. This isn’t a huge deal, especially since there aren’t many videos like this one, but it is noticeable in the grand scheme of the game’s presentation.
Things left hidden uncovered
Bridge to Another World: Alice in Shadowland is an enjoyable entry into the Another World series, and into the hidden object puzzle genre as a whole. Its difficulty is at about the right level for one to feel clever figuring out where things are, but not so high as to be frustrating. If you enjoy the idea having a well-written fantasy story behind the puzzler you’re playing, Alice in Shadowland will fit that particular bill.
