The House of Da Vinci Review ( Nintendo Switch )

Review code used, with many thanks to Blue Bird Games.

At first glance The House of Da Vinci looks a lot like the Fireproof game The Room which is also a puzzle game. The House of Da Vinci is similar in a lot of ways to the Fireproof game, which doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Let’s take a look at it.

Florence 1506

The House of Da Vinci is an escape the room style puzzle game set in 1506 in Florence, Italy, where you play as Leonardo Da Vinci’s assistant. You have been summoned by Leonardo Da Vinci to attend his library. Outside the library you meet a guard who gives you a scroll. Upon reading the scroll you find that Leonardo has an new invention that he fears might fall into the wrong hands. After further investigation In the Library you discover Da Vinci has disappeared!

You are tasked with solving a series of puzzles which will open hidden compartments in his inventions to reveal further information and give you instructions on how find your master and safeguard his newest invention. The story is told through letters and notes you find around the rooms throughout the gameplay.

Interconnected Puzzles

Each room you enter contains lots of different puzzles and almost always every puzzle is interconnected. You’ll need to solve parts of them to reveal objects which need to be used in order to progress on to another puzzle present in the room.

You’ll have to examine each object you come across in great detail as you will find many hidden secrets. Most of the puzzles have some sort of moving mechanics that will need some manipulation by you to solve the puzzle.

When you find an object it goes into your inventory, you can rotate each object in your inventory and often manipulate it to either transform it into something else or combine it with another item.

For instance, a wooden rose head can have a metal rod added to it to form a style of key to be used on another object in the room to help solve a puzzle. A lot of the puzzles you will come across are based on Leonardo’s actual work. There’s his Battle of Anghiari painting as a puzzle and you will see his wooden tank and the flying contraption that is seen at the beginning of the game.

Two Eyepieces and Hints

Following on from the similarities with Fireproof’s series, The Room’s main item you use throughout their game is an eyepiece and that item also appears in The House of Da Vinci. However, in The House of Da Vinci your given two eyepieces to use.

The first eyepiece you’re given, the Oculi Infinitum, allows you to see things with X-ray vision which helps you find secret codes embedded within some of the puzzles. Later on you’re given the second eyepiece, the Oculi Tempus, this eyepiece allows you to see into the past. By using it you see a ghostly image showing you how to open a secret door. Or you may be shown just the right number of turns needed or the position required to move something in order to solve your next lock or puzzle. Sometimes it’s difficult to know which eyepiece you should be using for a particular puzzle, I found myself swapping between each eyepiece’s constantly throughout the game.

There is a very great variety of puzzles in The House of Da Vinci, from sliding tile puzzle to a mini map strategy game where you’re tasked with conquering different areas on the map by figuring out the patterns and moving the pieces across the map. Usually playing this sort of game I would take notes in my gaming note book of things I needed to remember. Due to the Nintendo Switch having a screenshot feature I used that instead of my note book and it works very well for remembering important clues to the puzzles.

There is a hint system to help you along if you do get stuck on a particular puzzle, the hint system is set to a timer and needs some time to reset before you can use the hints again. When you do use the hints, you get a short cryptic clue to point you in the right direction. This system works fine and I used it myself a few times.

I did have a problem with one of the puzzles where the tiles slide and flip. The hint system wasn’t much use at that time as I had made a mistake in the puzzle and with no way to reset the puzzle I had to restart the chapter from the beginning to redo the it. Some way of resetting a puzzles might be a good way to overcome this.

Visuals and Controls

The visuals in The House of Da Vinci are beautiful and striking, dark corners and moody lighting all add to the atmosphere of the game, it really is a class looking game. The music and sound effect are on par with the graphics, as you manipulate a puzzle there are various clunk and clank sounds from the machines. Again, all this adds to the atmosphere and complements the gameplay.

As for the control’s, The house of Da Vinci can be played using the Joycon’s or the touchscreen. Neither system is 100% perfect, the touchscreen does work but there are times when it can be sluggish and other times it can be overly sensitive and can overlap with other areas when your trying to focus on one particular place.

The style of writing in Leonardo’s notes is reminiscent of the era the game is set in, however I found that the font the notes are written in make it slightly harder to read and decipher on the Nintendo Switch screen.

Conclusion

There is no getting away from the fact that The House of Da Vinci is very similar to The Room. The story is a bit flimsy and at times some of the puzzling does feel like a direct copy of The Room. That’s not to say it’s not an enjoyable game as it is and if you enjoy playing this genre of game, why not give The House of Da Vinci a try.

Final Verdict: I Like It

6 3

Florence 1506

Interconnected Puzzles

Two Eyepieces and Hints

Visuals and Controls

Conclusion

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