It’s back to school season, which always makes me a little nostalgic for the good old days when a new trapper keeper and a fresh box of pencils made me feel like I could take on the world. I was always excited to go back to school, even in grad school, but those days are over for me. I’m a tiny bit jealous of all the kids heading back to new beginnings this week, and my daughter is still too young for me to live vicariously through her.

When I came across Sable Maze: Norwich Caves set at a university, it seemed a great cure for my not-going-back-to-school-blues.

Your mission in Sable Maze: Norwich Caves is to search for students who have gone missing while on an expedition exploring the caverns under the university. Former Norwich Caves University Professor Buildson had recently discovered the caves with the students, and they have all gone back for further study. 

You quickly realize Professor Buildson is not who he seems and the University had good reason for letting him go. The lure of the mythical lord of the labyrinth has taken over his psyche and turned him to the dark side. Race against the rising waters to save the students before Professor Buildson takes a hold of them.

Sable Maze: Norwich Caves is an excellent Hidden Object Adventure game with an interesting storyline, enjoyable puzzles, and overall good gameplay. The graphics are crystal clear and well done with better than average animation.  The music and sounds set the stage appropriately for a mysterious tale.

There are three modes of play to choose from ranging from the casual mode with on-screen guidance and readily available hints and puzzle skips to the expert mode where you’re completely on your own. 

Sable Maze: Norwich Caves hidden object scenes are not overly cluttered and many of them require you to find the pieces in the right order and complete tasks to uncover all the objects. For example, find a hook and a shoelace, use to make a fishing hook, and use the hook to retrieve a key from a jar.

The objects are not necessarily listed in the order that you need to find them, which could be frustrating but I enjoyed the trial and error of picking things up to see what I could use. I normally just work my way through the list, but this style forced me to look at the scene as a whole and decipher which pieces should be found first.

The mini-games in Sable Maze: Norwich Caves were equally enjoyable. None of them were overly challenging, though I did use the skip feature once to get back to the game. Typical games have you sorting, matching, and putting things in order according to clues you’ve discovered and the items in your inventory.  The games are closely tied to the storyline and draw the game together.

I really enjoyed Sable Maze: Norwich Caves and can’t wait to get back and see if I can rescue all the students before the waters rise too high!