Snark Busters is a hidden object video game series published and developed by Alawar. Each of the three games takes place in an unnamed futuristic steampunk world that has a passed down legend about a mysterious creature known as the Snark. The legendary Snark has never been caught, but some folks are so dedicated to catching it that the secret Snark Busters Club was formed to help capture it in its home in the backwards mirror world. Each of the three games also features different protagonist who each have their own reason for seeking out the elusive critter.
In the original Snark Busters: Welcome to the Club, you are introduced to one of Alawar's most recognizable characters named Kira Robertson. Kira is a young woman with a bit of a wild side. Her and her friends love to get into trouble and do things not considered the societal norm. This is most evident when the tutorial of the game has you stealing a police officer's hat to add to Kira's collection. However, Kira is caught in the act, and her respected socialite father shows his disapproval by locking Kira in her room. While attempting to escape her imprisonment, Kira finds a mysterious letter challenging her to find the Snark. Kira gladly accepts the challenge and finds her way out of her room and into the Snark's world in search of the mysterious beast.
Although Snark Busters: Welcome to the Club features the weakest storyline in the series, it is well worth the time invested to see Kira's story until the end. In the second title Snark Busters: All Revved Up!, you are introduced to a new character named Jack Blair. Jack is an accomplished race car driver and a bit of an eccentric personality. After Jack wins yet another race while under your control, he reveals that his dad is also a legendary racer, and he has always wanted to race against him. His dad offers Jack a chance to race him if he can track down the mythic Snark, so Jack sets off to find this impossible to catch animal. Jack's tale rewards you with a great ending and the funniest story featured in the series so far.
Enraged that Nicolas has turned down her many offers to instead get married to Elizabeth, Olivia has Nicolas arrested claiming that the gardener had stolen her precious locket. As Elizabeth tries to find the missing locket in order to clear Nicolas’ name, she meets a ghost who informs her that she must find the legendary Snark if she ever hopes to find the locket and free her husband to be. The strange tale of love, betrayal and a Snark is the best storyline in the series and reason alone to pick up the newest game. Each game is a high quality hidden object game that is fun and addictive, but each game has perks as well as flaws. Snark Busters: Welcome to the Club is the first game and features the longest campaign of the three titles, but the game's hint meter recharges dramatically slower than the other games and contains the weakest puzzles in the entire series. Snark Busters: All Revved Up! fixes those problems by offering the highest quality gameplay in the series. Snark Busters: High Society tries too many new things and its gameplay suffers slightly. The new game asks you to search for whole items rather than pieces, but in doing so, the game becomes far too simplistic.
Puzzles in the new game are the best seen however, and when you combine with the strongest storyline in the series complete with a first ever voiceover, this game becomes a must play. You can't go wrong with Snark Busters. Each game features beautiful artwork, addictive gameplay and compelling storylines. These are some of the best hidden object games you'll find anywhere, and the price of these games can't be beat. It's recommended that you play the games in the order they were released to get the most enjoyment out of the series, but each successive game seems to be more entertaining than the last. Needless to say, we're already looking forward to Snark Busters 4! Snark Busters can be purchased seperately from Alawar.
For more information on the series, check out the official Alawar website.
Snark Busters: Welcome to the Club Features
Series Information
Developer: Alawar Stargaze
Publisher: Alawar Entertainment
Not Rated Platform: PC
Score: 9.5 out of 10