Developer: Radikate
Publisher: Radikate
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC
Secret Seeker – Review
Secret Seeker is a roguelite hidden object adventure game where you’ll need to explore many different locations and try to find objects within a time limit, while occasionally being hunted by vengeful spirits. This game is developed and published by Radikate.
Story
You play a time traveler who jumps to specific moments in time to retrieve special objects and artefacts from sites where something mysterious has happened. As you travel to a location, you’ll get a briefing that explains a bit about what happened there and why you need to find some items at that location. But as you explore or find certain items, you’ll learn more about what might actually have occurred there, and you’ll be able to use these clues to uncover the mystery of what really happened at that location. Each location has its own separate story, but everything is loosely bound together by the overarching story of your character.
Graphics
The graphics of Secret Seeker are pretty and moody. The objects are hidden well and really blend in, and each area is appropriately messy to hide the objects. Most areas are pretty dark, but a lantern is one of the objects you can unlock for your character to carry, and the darkness fits the atmosphere of the game.
When a vengeful spirit appears, the whole environment will turn red, and the spirit emits a bright light so it’ll be easy to spot when it moves into view. However, with everything in a red hue, the objects are much harder to spot. Sometimes the spirit keeps hunting you for quite a long time, which will make you lose precious time. However, this is a fun mechanic, making the game more challenging.
Sound
The music of this game is nice and fits the mood of the game well, but the main music gets a bit repetitive after a while. Each area has its own theme, which is usually pretty creepy or makes you feel on edge. Additionally, during roguelite mode, you’ll constantly hear the clock ticking, which will make you feel even more rushed and tense!
The game is narrated, and while the narration is good (although seemingly AI-generated), subtitles often don’t have the same speed as the narration, which can be kind of annoying.
Gameplay
Secret Seeker is a roguelite hidden object adventure game where you’ll get transported to a 3D environment that can be a singular room, a mansion, or even a whole village. In these areas, you’ll need to find certain objects within a time limit of nine minutes. Some of these locations are haunted, and if you encounter a spirit, you’ll either need to run from it or hide somewhere until it disappears. If you get caught by the spirit or if you don’t manage to find all objects within the time limit, it’s game over.
You start the game in the ‘hub’, which is a sort of museum that will be empty at the start of the game. Some objects you’ll find at each location will be displayed in the hub. It’s fun to see the objects you’ve collected in the museum, and it encourages you to expand your collection. You’ll need multiple playthroughs of each location to collect all objects, since every time you explore a location, only a certain number of objects will be available to collect. In this hub, there is also the portal you’ll use to travel to all the different locations. At the start of the game, you need to activate this portal by collecting and placing power cells, which will help to get acquainted with the playing style of the game. You can also learn about the different game modes in the hub. The hub functions well as a way to tie the different stories together and to give purpose to your character. After you’ve completed a location, you can choose to return to the hub, immediately start a new location, or go back to the menu.
The main game mode of Secret Seeker is roguelite, so if you fail, you’ll have to start all over again. However, you’ll only need to successfully recover an item once to unlock it, so even if you can only survive one level, it’ll still be useful. If you manage to finish and survive all nine locations in one run, you’ll successfully finish the game.
The game also features ‘Relax mode’, where you can explore without time pressure and without danger. Locations and objects first need to be completed and found in the roguelite mode before they’ll be available in Relax mode. Relax mode is perfect for thoroughly examining all clues, testing your skills, and learning more about the mystery behind each location, without any stress or danger.
Each time you go through the portal, you can select one of three cards, each representing a different area to travel to. All these cards look the same, so selecting one feels arbitrary. Before you start a location, you’ll be able to select which objects you’ll need to find from a random selection of objects. You need to select a minimum of five objects, with a maximum of ten. Objects you’ve already found during earlier playthroughs are marked, so you’ll know which you’ve uncovered. If you find an object in roguelite mode, it’ll be available in ‘Relax mode’. Some objects contain story clues that you’ll need to find out what happened at a location, and certain objects will be displayed in the ‘hub’. This method of being able to find only a select number of objects each time will make replays of the same location feel purposeful. Objects are categorized as different rarities, with the rarer objects being harder to find.
When selecting the objects you’ll need to find, you will also be able to buy artefacts and passive skills for your character, which will remain as long as you survive, so these carry over to multiple locations. Artefacts are usable and can be a flashlight, a magnifying glass, an invisibility cloak, or something that reveals one of the objects. Skills can be things like faster running speed or extra time before the clock runs out. These artefacts and skills can be really useful and make your character much more powerful, but you’ll never know which options will be presented to choose from in each level. They also cost a certain number of credits, so you’ll need to save up to buy the more powerful ones. You’ll earn credits by uncovering objects, with rare objects being more valuable. Being able to enhance your character is really useful for surviving the more challenging levels and progressing further in the game.
Conclusion
Secret Seeker is a fun and challenging game that will make you feel tense as you navigate an area. However, since there’s a time limit of nine minutes, gaming sessions can be pretty short, which is quite convenient. The addition of Relax mode and the hub is really great, as it offers more purpose to the main gameplay. Secret Seeker is recommended for people who like puzzle games but also like exciting gameplay!
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