Hidden object games is  a genre that, frankly, sounds boring and perhaps a hair tedious until you give one a go. My first entry into the genre was Dream Day Wedding, a game that totally tanked a weekend as I became obsessed with finding all of the items cleverly blended into the beautiful backgrounds. It was far more passive experience than, say, playing a beat ‘em up, but the level of engagement was far greater.

Popcap looks to contribute to the underappreciated genre with Escape Rosecliff Island, the company’s first game of this type for the Mac. After an unexpected storm has left you shipwrecked on a mysterious private island, and you’ll need to find hidden objects and solve puzzles to escape. Popcap has included 2,100 concealed objects in 25 locations, plus five different types of mini-game puzzles and numerous clues that will lead you to safety.

Jump over to Popcap Game’s website to download a free trial version, for purchase it outright for a cool $20.

Minimum System Requirements

• Mac OS X 10.4.11
• 1.66-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU
• 512MB RAM
• Internet connection to register the game