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There is an Achievements section in the menu screen, and I usually don’t bother looking at these, but I’m so glad I did in this title. This is extremely helpful, and like the hidden mechanisms of the previous power-up, is the only way to solve these particular brain teasers. The Oculi Tempus let’s you see about 10 seconds of an important past occurrence, which helps you see the exact placement or settings of objects in certain puzzles. There’s often no way of even knowing an action is possible with an object unless you’re looking through this seemingly magical device. The Oculi Infinitum will allow you to see inside the inner workings of a mechanism, and manipulate its normally hidden parts. This really gave a special authenticity to the game, and made each puzzle that much more unique and interesting.Ĭlose to when you first start the game, you’ll get access to 2 cool power-up features, that you’ll need to employ to solve some of the puzzles, the Oculi Infinitum and the Oculi Tempus. Many of the mechanisms you’ll see were actual working inventions, created by the real-life Da Vinci, and some are original to the game, but inspired by Da Vinci’s notes and drawings.
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You’ll need to uncover bits and pieces to complete them, or use with these devices to unlock their secrets, and progress to the next device or next room. In each chamber you visit, you’ll discover multiple devices designed by Da Vinci, either incomplete or locked up tight. Your master has vanished, concealing himself from his enemies, and hoping that only you will be able to find him. You play as his most trusted apprentice, following clues he left for you, as you make your way through his maze of rooms. The game is set in 1506 Florence, at the height of the Renaissance, in the network of connected, secret chambers of Leonardo Da Vinci’s library and workshop. The puzzles averaged a medium challenge level, so were never too difficult, but remained entertaining enough even for a seasoned adventure and puzzle gamer like myself. Even though it wasn’t exactly the story-driven format I thought, it provided me with many hours of puzzle solving fun, immersing me in the rich world of Leonardo Da Vinci and his fascinating inventions. I expected it to be a traditional point-and-click adventure game, but it’s more of an intricate, multi-environment, 3D escape room, where each room you find your way out of leads to another one. The House of Da Vinci, from Blue Brain Games, is a beautifully rendered 3D puzzle game, originally published as an app ($4.99) last summer, and recently launched on Steam ($19.99).
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