MCF - Ravenhearst
Written by Jake on February 12th, 2007 and posted in Reviews Tags : casual, downloadable, i spy, Indie, pc
This is the third game in the Mystery Case Files series by Big Fish Games. Apparently there are going to be a total of six episodes!
The game is set in England, and you are a secret agent sent by The Queen (no less!) to go and investigate an abandoned spooky manor. The Queen has also given you a young women’s diary with only one page in it, and your mission is to find the other pages to discover what happened at the manor.
Basically the gameplay is the same as the other Mystery Case Files games, but that’s not a bad thing because it’s a proven enjoyable formula. You visit each 3D rendered room in the manor and have to find various “clues” which are listed at the side of the screen. This might sound easy except that each room is cluttered with a crazy assortment of items and so finding some clues can be really difficult especially when the clues are a bit cryptic. It doesn’t help that the clues have American names and I’m English. For example it once said find a Pound sign (£), so I looked and looked and couldn’t find it but it turned out that they meant a hash sign (#)! What the hell? There are plenty of other things like this including a road sign which turned out to be a yellow American one about deer crossing or something. This sort of thing could be viewed as a bit annoying but I guess I ought to take the line that non-Americans merely get more challenge out of the game 
It amazing how many differences there our in our languages actually. Anyway I’ve digressed…
When you’ve found all the clues in several rooms you are shown an old parchment-style picture that you have to piece together from puzzle pieces. This is pretty good fun and then you are shown a new page from the diary. You gradually find out about some lovers in the 1890’s, and the women becomes ill and stays at her lover’s newly built manor, and then the guy starts getting weird and reading weird books etc (I shan’t give away too much).
Occasionally you’ll have to unlock a room by solving a convoluted puzzle in which you manipulate strange objects and use logic etc. These puzzle are pretty cool and funny and I’ve only had to cheat on one so far by looking up a hint on the Internet. If you get stuck you can actually skip them but you suffer a penalty.
The graphics in this game seem better quality than in MCF - Huntsville and the clutter seems to fit more naturally in its environment. Also it has these little spooky background noises going on which add to the atmosphere. Plus I think it’s easier too because you get more hints and time, and it’s a bit more lenient on the total number of clues that you have to find. This all just makes it more fun and less punishing.
Like the other MCF game I’ve been playing Ravenhearst with my whole family and even my 3 year old son who sits on my lap is helping to find things. It’s a great fun game but make sure that you have a large screen because you’ll all be crowding round it looking at the minute details! I really want to give this game 4.25 stars as it’s better than Huntsville (which got 4 stars), but I can’t be that precise, so I’ll opt for 4.5.
MCF - Ravenhearst Information
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Jake's Rating :Readers Rating : no rating yet
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- Price : $19.99
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- Reviewer : Jake
- February 12th, 2007
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cant figure out the 7 key code
Collect all of the keys from each room, enter into the cellar. Take each of the keys and drop them one by one in the black space between the roses watch what happens!
I can’t figure out the puzzle with all of the lights. I have had to skip that one twice. It looks like you need batteries but I can’t find them. Anyone?
you have to light the entire board of lights by clicking the right ones (it’s a logic puzzle) and then a coloured bulb will light up and you can turn the handle to get a battery. Repeat 3 more times.
I can’t get the puzlle with all the clocks - I can get all the items in the boxes at the bottom, but I can’t do the last thing to get the door open. Help!
The objects represent numbers e.g. 5 fingers, 2 cards, 6 pointer star etc. Key these numbers into the keypad
on ravenhearst still cant get into the cellar collected more than 7 keys but the basement tab wont flash so i cant get 2 the cellar getting really frustrated anyone any ideas
Jaci: I think it’s a bug. Basically let it run out of time and then start the chapter again and see if the tab is flashing. If not, let the time run out again. until finally you see the basement tab flashing. Then get 7 keys in the other tabs but do not click on the basement tab until you have 7 keys. Then you can go into the cellar and complete the game. Good Luck!
thanx jake after many days of being frustrated with it i finally did it now i dont understand the key puzzle have tried to put the correct keys next to the black holes not working tho what letters do i put for each key?????? i’m baffled
when you place the correct key (based on it’s shape) a letter appears. Make a note of all the letters, it should spell a word like BELOVED or something else (there’s a few varieties).
I can’t seem to figure out the puzzle with the clocks. I got the first picture at the bottom with the baby then it turns to 5 fingers and I can’t figure out what to do after that.
Also any help on the tadpole/frog one?
Donna. I already answered this one
you need to use the clocks to get all the pictures at the bottom. each picture represents a number like 5 fingers, 2 cards, pointed star etc. good luck!
oh and on the frog one you have to get the pictures in order from egg through tadpole to full grown frog by pressing the green buttons. Then figure out what level does what with the plant food and then feed the plants. When the petals grow you have to pluck them the same as the picture and the door opens.
finally clocked it very frustrating but addictive game got all my friends playing it now thanx to all who gave me tips couldnt have done it without you
cool well done. send your friends here to read our reviews
i am stuck getting into shed
found piggy bank and coin and released all flys but cannot figure out what to do
mandy: you have to catch the flies by clicking on them and then use them as fuses to bridge the gaps in the electric wires.
I did that with the flies and nothing is happening… What’s my next move?
You should have place 3 flies. Now rotate the black dial to 35. Drop coin from piggybank into pipe and use coin on racing game. Choose a horse and pull level. Keep trying until your horse wins. Good luck!
I know you already said when i find all the keys for the cellar door just to wait for the time to run out and start over until the basement tab is blinking, yet i have had the tab but it “went out” after i collected all my keys. PLEASE, i just want to see the ending!!!
how do u get the card to swipe
Dee: It’s a real shame that last bit of the game is bugged. You’ll have to let the time run out and try again I’m afraid. Also try to collect the keys in the order that the tabs are presented to you and go to the basement LAST. Good luck.
Homie: Click on the card and drag it through the card reader below the amp.
I’ve only play Ravenhearst once on Bigfish.com and I was not able to open the safe. After I got Prime Suspect I looked on the internet for. Any idea on what I’m in for with Ravenhearst?? I see alot of players are in for a treat! But I haven’t seen anyone asked about the part of the safe? Any suggestions?
Sorry I don’t know what safe you are talking about. Can you describe the screen a bit more?
From bigfishgames.com. They give you 2 parts to look for items if you succeed it goes to a lock called Elaborate lock. You have to take 12 different items (Clock, Glasses, Unbrella, Flower, Hat, Owl, Bat, Saturn, Moon, Fashlight and so on) to be placed in a way as a clock would be. To see if you are correct you click on 2 switches. I’m hoping if I decide to get the game it won’t be as hard as it looks or heard others describe it! I hope that helps.
Oh OK, that’s the first puzzle. you have to fit the items with the sun/light themes on the left side (sun, sun hat, sunflower, umbrella, sundial, sunglasses) and the dark themes on the right (Right: owl, bat, moon, Saturn, star, flashlight). Some of the other puzzles are quite tough too so you may not like the game. But I’ve listed a lot of hints on this page.
I guess I’ll be in for a treat! I do wish the game sites would give you more then the same 2 puzzles for more of a challenges. Thanks for the help. I’ll have to think it over before getting the game.
It really is a VERY good game and the puzzles are fun. If you get stuck post here and I’ll try to help, but read the other posts first.
Please use our link above to buy the game
Thanks for the tip. Hey, there’s a new game I found. It’s called Hide and Seek, I’ve tried different websites. I guess some have better screens to play then others. I get what you mean, when I started looking for the items in Prime Suspect/Titanic, I’ve had to look the word up to know what it was and write it down so I wouldn’t forget!
Yeah there’s a whole bunch of similar games. I’m going to write an article about them soon. If you are English, some of the US words might throw you.
No, I’m American. Only that you may know what the item is and don’t remember the actual name. It really seems to give you a workout until you get the hang of it. I wish you didn’t have to wait a second or two before you click on another item. But it’s fun!
Hey u all, finally been able to get the game! Yeah,
I’ve been able to play it 3/4 times. There’re some parts that u get stuck. I’ve had to fine out the hard way. I do like to game even though the part of “Tic Tac Toe” I’ve had to skip, I can’t get it to work. But I found if U write the “Items or Where U found the Keys” it’s a lot easier to remember where they’re at the next time!
hey..how to use the clocks to get all those pictures???i juzt found the first picture and i cant continue playing it…thanks (CLOCK PUZZLE)
I have played the entire game and enjoyed it however I had to skip one puzzle and I have not been able to solve it even in the second playing.
It is the one with the tic tac toe..I am able to hook the fish and grind it but can not make the tic tac toe work. Any hints?
please help me with the cellar thing:( ive been playing it over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over …… but nothing happens and im starting to be devastated.. help me please………
peachie: I wrote this tip about the cellar before: “I think it’s a bug. Basically let it run out of time and then start the chapter again and see if the tab is flashing. If not, let the time run out again. until finally you see the basement tab flashing. Then get 7 keys in the other tabs but do not click on the basement tab until you have 7 keys. Then you can go into the cellar and complete the game. Good Luck!”
re: tic tac toe. If you’ve ground the fish and flicked the switch next to the slot machine then you should be able to play (and hopefully win) the tic tac toe game…
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