Game: Wind Peaks
Genre: Adventure, Other, Puzzle
System: Nintendo Switch (also on Steam)
Developers | Publishers: Actoon Studio
Age Rating: EU 3+ | US E
Price: US $14.99 | EU €11,99 | UK £9.99
Release Date: March 03, 2021
Review code used, with many thanks to Actoon Studio
Wind Peaks is a hidden object game, if you think of Where’s Waldo it would be similar to it. First published on Steam in 2020 it is now the turn of the Nintendo Switch to visit Wind Peaks!
Scouts Go Camping
Wind Peaks tells the story of a group of scouts who find a map that guides them to a magical part of the forest. In their hurry to explore they’ve lost a few of their essentials like flashlights, shoes, and garden gnomes, (I’m not sure why you would need to take a garden gnome camping!) so it’s up to you to track them down. It features 10 hand-drawn levels in total, it is a short game, I completed it in an hour or so.
The gameplay is pretty straightforward as it is with most hidden object games. You’re given a set of items to find in the scene and must go looking for them. Straightforward does not mean easy, however, as some items can be very well hidden at times. There also some interesting secrets to discover in some scenes which adds a little extra to the game.
Find the Hidden Objects
The number of objects you’re looking for starts out quite small, as you progress through the game the number of objects to find increases. The isn’t a timer in any of the levels and I like that you don’t feel pressured by some kind of time limit or have to worry about a timer constantly hanging over your head while you play. It’s a very relaxing game to play in that way.
Hint System
If you get stuck you can use the hint system, click on the item you aren’t able to find in the list, and press the X button. Pressing the X button will trigger a 3.00 countdown, then you wait until the time is up. Once the time is up there will be an icon directing you to the general area of the hidden object. It doesn’t just give you a free pass, but being in the right place was always enough for me to find that one object that had escaped me, though I didn’t like waiting for the timer.
In Wind Peaks, the story is told through the hidden objects and by the level set pieces. To progress the story you have to find every object to revel a cutscene. Items are everywhere, some may have ended up behind rocks, bushes, or the flaps of tents. You’ll also find strange things in the woods, like ancient carvings and towering idols that have weird presences!
There are cutscenes that play out in-between certain stages and at the beginning and end of each level. They convey a general sense of what’s going on, but with no dialogue of any kind, and a setting that’s not been clearly confirmed, it’s kinda hard to know whats going on specifically storywise.
Visuals and Controls
Wind Peaks is full of lush environments it has a storybook look to it, especially the way the cutscenes are presented to you. I like the look of the game, it’s cute and charming and should appeal to all ages. I did find that each area starts to look similar to previous areas. There is quite a lot of repetition in the use of the plants and trees in all the areas, it needs a little more variety.
Controls work fine, it’s mostly the control stick that’s in use and a few buttons. You can zoom in and out of a scene using the shoulder buttons.
Conclusion
I like Wind Peaks, it’s an acceptable hidden object game. It is however limited with its story and interactive elements in the game are mainly the items you are tasked with finding. I’ve played a few games in this genre and this one is fine for what it is.
It does feel more like a prologue than a fully-fledged story, it is short on playtime and also has an abrupt ending! I feel it might be a little overpriced on the Nintendo Switch, £9.99 is somewhat high for roughly an hours worth of play. So with that in mind, my score is…
Final Verdict: I Like It 
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