There are a limited number of locations at first (the front entrance, the study), which are gradually added to. In order to perform actions such as restoring artefacts, installing items, or fixing up broken furniture, you need stars you get stars by playing levels. The real highlight, though, is the main gameplay. The mansion itself slowly starts developing, and one of the nice touches is that you get a series of choices for the look of the objects when you’re bored of the game itself, you can spend time redesigning the mansion and watching the characters mooch around, so there’s always something to do. Aside from the fact that Carl never seems to pay anyone, it’s a nice gradually growing cast that keeps things interesting, as well as a cute cat. A bunch of amusing supporting characters turn up to support Carl, including antiques restorer Amelia, her precocious little sister and wannabe linguist Peggy, superstitious DIY man Bill, and a slightly bonkers inventor-engineer. And so the game follows a dual set of objectives: to restore the mansion to its former glories, and to unearth the mysteries of its previous owner. Hidden treasure? Lost mysteries? It’s hard to know, but in the process of putting the mansion back together, clues keep emerging rooted in the various stolen treasures that your relative (an unfortunate colonialist, obviously) has brought back from international travels. But the mansion itself also holds secrets to – something. At the start of the game, you and Carl move into Castlewood Manor, which is in sore need of renovation.

You have inherited a run-down mansion from a distant relative, and the estate’s manager, Carl, is here to introduce you to its secrets. The Grand Designs team had outdone themselves this time.

And pleasingly, it’s a game that you don’t have to pay a penny to continue enjoying. However, the combination of a genuinely diverting narrative, a SIMS-style renovation frame, the player-friendly design, and the witty inventiveness of the levels themselves, set Manor Matters above many of its competitors. It’s a free hidden-object game, built on a basic system of giving the player a scene and inviting them to find objects hidden within the image. Manor Matters is a surprisingly addictive time-waster.

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