Part point-and-click adventure, part match-3, and part hidden object, Phantasmat is weird, quirky, and fun.

User Rating: 7.5 | Phantasmat PC
Phantasmat takes three sometimes tired genres -- point-and-click adventures, match 3 puzzle games, and hidden object puzzle games -- and mashes them into one.

You've been in a single-car accident on a creepy remote road. You come across a town that has been mostly submerged after a dam broke many years before. There are really only three people remaining -- the creepy owner of a single hotel that still operates, the creepy old woman that lives in the hotel (the wife of the former town mayor), and an odd young woman that is helping you (and herself) escape the whole weird situation.

You try to return to civilization, and unravel the mysteries around the flooded town, by wandering about the game world solving hidden object puzzles and doing some light adventuring. You'll do the adventuring using objects you obtained during the hidden-object puzzles to solve a few roadblocks in the story. When you come across a hidden object puzzle, you have the option (at any time) to switch to match-3 mode. In this mode, you are trying to free tokens that remove hidden objects from the list of things to be found -- as you free a token, it's one less thing you have to find. The match-3 game, itself is decent, though nothing really new -- very Bejeweled-like, but with creepy items instead of gems (eyeballs, etc.).

None of these gaming elements are particularly unique or exciting, but they're solidly done. The game is a little corny, but I found the creepy atmopshere to be effective. This is definitely an "indie" game, so don't expect the most stunning visuals, but the hand-drawn images throughout the game are very well done, and the voice over work is better than most indie games out there.

Overall, if you like those three genres, this is a fun, short, and inexpensive adventure well worth taking.