Around the World in 80 Days: The Challenge

Around the World in 80 Days: The Challenge is a casual adventure game from the HDO series based on the classic novel by Jules Verne.

The story follows the adventures of Phileas Fogg and his servant, Jean Passepartout, as they undertake the task of taking a world trip in only 80 days. Attempting to remain faithful to Verne's story, the game preserves the characters, locations, as well as most of the adventures the characters live during their voyage.

Just like in the book, the story starts with an overview of Fogg's life and his relationship with the Reform Club, portraying the moment when its members make the famous bet. Fogg and Passepartout embark on a ship to Bombay with a tight schedule that will take them to India while a Scotland Yard detective follows the travelers mistaking Fogg for a thief. You will make your way through numerous levels solving puzzles while the story unfolds taking the travelers toward the U.S., the last point in their itinerary.

Around the World in 80 Days is essentially a hidden-object game that presents lots of variations to the classic object search. You get a list of three or four objects to spot and new items will appear as you find the ones on the list. Instead of names on a list, you may also see silhouettes or need to find a number of identical items (20 letters, 25 keys, etc.) in the same scene. Some objects will go to your inventory and later can be used to interact with the environment. In between HOG scenes, the game will present you with mini games to solve which can be match 3 puzzles, sliding blocks, pictures to reassemble, etc. While some games are way too easy --only a few clicks will do the trick-- others will demand more time, memory, and particularly good observation skills. Aside from the main tasks, there are other details to pay attention to, for example, the stamps for the passport registering every location you visit. Fogg will even take his time to play his favorite card games with people he finds along his numerous trips.

Combining the usual search for hidden objects with jigsaws and puzzles of different types, Around The World in 80 Days recreates the famous adventure in a game that is both fun to play and quite addictive. Every location mentioned in the story has been portrayed in the game, with excellent art work and lots of details illustrating the different cultures. It's definitely worth a try.