Trapped: The Abduction is a dark hidden object mystery from Avanquest Software.  You play Helene, a woman who faces a living nightmare when she wakes to find herself locked in a car boot.  Unable to escape, Helene is transported to a junk filled building, full of puzzles and traps.  Worse still, she is unable to recall her name or anything else about her life.

The story revolves around two things: trying to escape from your prison and the abductor who has trapped you there and trying to figure out who you are and why you’re there.  During the course of the game you move from room to room, clearing hidden object puzzles to unlock the location fully and then solving puzzles to enable you to pick up useful objects and clues and to move on to the next location.  An example puzzle would be reassembling a water colour to fill a water bottle. 

Some of the puzzles are rather bizarre, such as using a washing machine and tumble dryer to dry a jacket, before cutting out the logo on the jacket to take with you as a clue to the abductor’s identity.  I think a certain amount of suspension of belief is required to get through the game but whilst certain scenes may be a bit of a stretch of the imagination, there doesn’t seem to be anything you would dismiss as wholly ridiculous. 

In terms of difficulty, the game is relatively easy and most puzzle lovers or hidden object fans will probably work through it fairly easily.  Despite dark and dreary locations, the object images are generally sharp and clear, making items easy to find.  There is a hint system available for the odd tricky object: I only used this once, when I couldn’t find a distributor cap (well, I don’t drive so I didn’t have a clue what I was looking for!).  Otherwise, it’s probably perfectly possible to play through the game without using a hint.

Trapped: The Abduction does have some small flaws.  The voice acting is fairly good but unfortunately there is significant repetition of the phrases the abductor uses whenever you solve a puzzle.  A few more thrown it would have made it varied enough I feel.  Additionally, despite working my way through the game expecting an intriguing twist at the end, I found instead that many of my questions remained completely unanswered.  Whether it’s leaving the way clear for a follow on is unclear but I did find the ending less than satisfactory.

However, the game has many redeeming features too.  It’s a reasonable length, covers many different locations and ensures the objects in the puzzles are varied.  Despite the sensitive nature of the game, it’s handled very well, with Helene proving to be a determined and defiant heroine.  As part of the Click and Play series from Avanquest Software this costs just £9.99, which I feel really represents good value for money.  Whilst very clearly not for children (emphasised by the advisory note on the box), this is a good choice for adult puzzlers, aiming to do something different, dark and macabre with a very lighthearted genre. 

**Review by Donna Haw**