49 Keys Switch Review

49 keys is an a point and click adventure taking place in a book(though not a Choose Your Own Adventure). It bares a resemblance in some ways to the original Shadowgate, minus the constant dying. It was developed from an Italian game book called 49 Chiavi. And it bears its pedigree well, as the writing here is exquisite, with the author knowing their medieval occult stuff very well. It is 1520, you get a letter from your master drawing you to a mysterious monastery, that will eventually lead into a labyrinth to find the titular 49 keys. Puzzles abound, horror abounds, references to mythology and the occult abound.

Game play in 49 Keys is you navigating around a map, and are occasionally presented with a choice of place to go or something to look at. If it is not nailed down, it will automatically be picked up a placed in your inventory or ingredients list(which make potions). If it is nailed down, you will go into the inventory, pick the correct item for the task, and place it on the page where the puzzle is presented. There are also notes, which are critical for puzzles and other tasks. You can see table above, which is needed to solve the puzzle on the left page. I suggest you use the touch screen here, the button controls can be finicky. Finally, if you need them, hints are presented via the question icon at the top.

Audio in 49 keys is thematic tunes that go well. Visuals aren’t spectacular, the game is mostly text. However, when pictures and drawings do appear, they are well done. Overall, this is a complete package that I think adventure game fans will enjoy, though there is a lot of reading here, but the writing is great as I said. Will this get a Must Play verdict? No. The controls and UI could be a bit better, as I sometimes had to fight the UI to do stuff(you cannot use the map until the icons glow, remember that). So 49 Keys will get a Recommended Verdict with an eight back-end score.

Overall: 49 Keys is an interesting adventure game that largely succeeds in what it sets out to do. Being based on a real game book helped.

Verdict: Recommended

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