Cryptic Kingdoms HD

Endless lock-and-key puzzles, a preponderance of seemingly random items to drag from screen to screen, and endless backtracking constituted thrilling gameplay in Myst's '90s PC heyday.

Things have moved on since then, but even in our new ADHD millennium the snail-paced adventure-cum-puzzler genre has survived in the form of games like 3D Methods's Cryptic series on iOS and Android.

Although the latest - Kingdoms HD - breaks no new ground, followers of Myst and its tepid puzzling ilk could do worse than mull their way through its lengthy story.

A lost king with a silly name, Telvonus, needs your help to find three shards of strength, spirit, and honour to reunite his shattered kingdom. It sounds like a recipe for an action-packed RPG, but what you'll actually be doing is tapping back and forth between a procession of well-illustrated yet strangely static locations fiddling with fiddly contraptions.

The main goal is always progress, and a handy in-game map for each stage shows you just how many spots you'll need to move between.

There's a frisson of hidden object-ism as you tap on every piece of scenery to see if the camera zooms in to illustrate a puzzle or something shiny to pick up, although the absence of that genre's subtle glints on interactive objects means you frequently miss important items.

Few puzzles can be solved on first sight - you invariably need to potter around the other locations first to find clues, such as patterns in a book, and store them either mentally or as screenshots for reference later.

There's no puzzle that feels startlingly original, and the majority are busywork rather than brainteasers. You spend your time bouncing between castles and cottages rotating daises, matching shapes, and following simple number sequences to uncover the next pathway.

Meanwhile, apart for the annoying tinkling auditory reward for completing any action, Cryptic Kingdom HD's gentle soundtrack and sharply detailed backgrounds do a reasonable job of lulling you into a soporific state.

If gentle puzzling is what you're after then you could do a lot worse, but those looking for a real adventure won't find it behind Cryptic Kingdoms HD's many locked doors.