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My second outing with Poirot was actually created prior to Peril at End House. Luckily, the stories stand independently of each other so there were no continuity issues in that way. Death on the Nile takes place on a luxury ship (think small, old-fashioned cruise ship) that is carrying the wealthy, their servants, their companions, and the crew, on a tour of the Nile. All of the action takes place on and around the ship. You won't be exploring any pyramids.

To help Poirot solve this mystery, you will be working through hidden objects mysteries looking for clues. At the end of each day you'll use any clues you've uncovered to question the suspects (basically everyone else onboard) in the salon. I love how the hidden object puzzles are intertwined with murder mystery. It really is like playing a story — not just looking for miscellaneous stuff. You are working with Poirot to solve the murder mystery of Linnet Doyle, some missing pearls, and a number of other murders that crop up as the investigation proceeds.

Each room to be investigated is a different area of the ship. Happily enough, we don't require a warrant to go rummaging through any of the private cabins. That makes things much easier. Something I give high marks to the developers for is that the items to be found stay consistent with items common to that time frame. It would totally ruin the sense of immersion if I was told to find a CD player or a cell phone. Happily, this never happens. The rooms always look appropriate for the time and place and the objects to be found blend perfectly. The music, as with the visuals, is a clean fit with the play of the game.

Along with looking for objects hidden with each area to be searched, there are other puzzles to be solved. There are ripped up papers and articles to be found. You get to puzzle piece them back together for more information. When a mysterious substance is discovered, you get to do a mini forensics experiment to compare the reactions of that substance with other known substances to narrow down just what you're dealing with.

I like that we get a little more information from each of the parties of interest as things move along. It's truly enjoyable watching the pieces of the story come together. You are watching things progress — literally. There are these great little cut movies that show certain scenes advance. They're very well done and nicely capture the overall mood of the game.

In the end, as the body count rises, I really had to wonder if anyone but Poirot didn't have motive for the crimes. The plot thickened, day by day. Each day I thought I had a new prime suspect, and then something else would happen to blow that theory out of the water. Between the story and the puzzles, this game definitely kept me coming back for more.

There are a few incongruities — with the story part itself, not so much the hidden object part. Why is a package that was tossed overboard a couple of days ago available to be fished out of the water at a later time? Was some invisible tether carrying it along with the ship? There are also some questions (at least in my mind) on whether old fashioned guns shoot all that well after being submerged. The mystery story itself is great if you can overlook some of these little oddities.

If you enjoy Agatha Christie mysteries and love hidden objects games, you really can't go wrong with Death on the Nile. I had great fun playing through the story and am really looking forward to future offerings from the team.