Game: Lost Amulets: Mystic Land
Genre: Casual, Puzzle, Board Game
System: Steam (also available on Windows, & macOS)
Developer | Publisher: MixoGames Ltd.
Controller Support: No, Mouse & Keyboard
Price: US $5.99 | UK £4.79 | EU € 4,99
Release Date: October 3rd, 2022
Review code used, with many thanks to MixoGames Ltd.
Mahjong and Finding Objects
Lost Amulets: Mystic Land is a game that was originally released in 2009. It’s main gameplay is pretty simplistic. It has 50 levels, switching between finding the hidden objects and their own spin on mahjong matching. It has tiles shown at the bottom of the screen that you match with rather than matching pairs on the board. They also include a separate mode that has more classical mahjong matching.
The game also provides a limited resource that you find hidden throughout the levels that you use to spend on hints/powers to make things easier. After every two levels, there’s a random bonus level decided by a wheel spin. These consist of either bingo, matching, tiling, or memory games.
Feels like a Mobile Game Port
The music in Lost Amulets: Mystic Land feels extremely dated, and nothing about the music really impressed me. I honestly found the music ranged from passable to grating. The art feels straight out of ’90s matching games and has a compressed look overall. I just wasn’t immersed at all, especially when the game is marketed to have gorgeous tile sets and immersive music.
Simplistic and Short
The story is explained in three sentences, which can be simplified down to just one: restore the five amulets. It doesn’t really contribute to the game other than to give you a way to track your progress. The game would stand as it is with or without this story.
Their “challenging” mode is labelled as casual which makes sense to me because I honestly did not feel challenged at all when playing through these levels. And around level 20 or so I got really tired of the bonus levels so I just skipped them so I could continue to progress. Which was fine because the bonus levels were just there to provide extra currency for powers/hints.
Conclusion
I have memories of playing this type of game in the 90s and early 2000s on a PC. So, I was a bit interested to try this type of game now that I am older and have access to more kinds of games. While Lost Amulets: Mystic Land is a perfect game for people who love finding hidden objects and matching mahjong tiles, that’s just about all it has to offer.
It doesn’t really innovate its genre, nor does it provide anything for a player outside of the target audience to really enjoy. The lack of meaningful storyline and challenges meant I was not really engaged through most of their levels. The music and the art didn’t really pull me in either. I honestly do not think it’s worth the price tag unless you are a mahjong enthusiast.
Of course, opinions differ, but Mina in our team also reviewed the newer game in the series (originally released in 2020) and was much more enthusiastic! Her review is here.
Final Verdict: I Don’t Like it
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