Mortimer Beckett and the Secrets of Spooky Manor is a search and find game. It allows for up to four players to play the game at once. While you do have to read a bit of text on the screen, for the most point, it's very simple - just point and click. Even smaller children can easily figure that out, even if older kids or Mom and Dad have to read the text to them while the whole family is playing. As the story progresses, you may have to shake your remote a little to ditch ghosts (more on that in a bit), but again, the game is simple, and there is no violence - the scariest part is the very cartoonish ghosts.
In Mortimer Beckett and the Secrets of Spooky Manor you are Mortimer Beckett, going through room by room of your eccentric uncle's house (that really looks like it needs to be on an episode of Hoarders, I kid you not!). You need to find pieces of the handy dandy Ghost Machine your uncle has created, and turn it on to rid the mansion of these pesky ghosts and free your uncle from their grasp. Sounds easy, right? Except to find the pieces, you are looking at some pieces that are split into teeny tiny pieces - for instance, a top hat might be throughout the room into 4 different pieces! Once you've found all the missing pieces in room and put them back where they belong - sometimes in other rooms - you can then solve the puzzle as how to get to the next level (or floor) There is also a secret code that you are finding all the letters to as you solve rooms.
The first few areas are easy, but as you go on, it definitely gets more difficult. This isn't a game you can solve in the first hour, (but rather over the entire evening) and it could easily be played over and over again if you play as a family - because by the time you get to the last room, you're going to forget where the items on the first floor were - especially if there are several of you clicking on items. You'll be paying attention to what you're finding, not what they are finding. Here's the thing: the bigger your TV screen is, the easier it is to find the pieces than on say a 26-27" screen. And also, the better quality screen you have, the clearer the picture is. If you have an older TV, you may want to stay away from this game because of it, otherwise you'll find yourself face first in front of the TV squinting, or clicking randomly saying Hail Marys.
Mortimer Beckett and the Secrets of Spooky Manor is rated E, for everyone, and has some silly Halloween style music throughout the game, but you can adjust the sound. It's not the most exciting game in the world, but it's fun to play as a family, and you can definitely waste away an evening playing it. As a value game - under $15, it's fun, but I wouldn't spend more than that. Amazon has it listed for $29.54, but we picked up our copy for half that at Target, FYI.
Disclaimer: I purchased this game with my own money, and was not compensated in any way for this review. It's my opinion only.
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