Tibetan Quest: Beyond the World's End is a Hidden Object style video game developed by Brave Giant. In it, you have to brave through the snowy mountains in Tibet as you search for your niece, all the while fending off natural and supernatural forces that threaten to get in your way.
The story begins with you, a wealthy woman in her later years, wishing farewell to your niece who is about to start a voyage of discovery alongside her explorer boyfriend. You worry about them, especially since you do not trust that man, but you go back to your daily routine.
After three weeks without news you begin to worry, and this is when a dreaded letter arrives. Both your niece and her boyfriend were lost in a snowstorm, and nothing was heard from them ever since. You decide to prepare your bags and head to their last known location: a temple in a remote area of Tibet. The journey is hard and arduous but you make it, and here is where the game starts.
Yet it is not where the surprises end, since this area is filled with strange magic and creatures. As you solve puzzles to open gates, mythical creatures come to your aid and unlock doors with their powers. And as you get closer and closer to your niece, a strange smoke keeps getting in your way; a smoke that not only is a dragon in disguise, but much more.
Gameplay follows the basic gist of the genre. The areas are divided into sections, and each one has plenty of objects to collect, and plenty more that need to be unlocked. You do this by getting the right object for the job, or solving a puzzle to get it. Sometimes you have to do both.
You keep trying to match the object with the interactable area until you unlock a new section. Some objects can be combined with others, while other objects need a set amount before they can be used.
The puzzles you need to solve are very varied and challenging, and if you get too stuck you can wait for the “skip” button to charge so you can move on with the story. How fast said button takes to charge depends on the difficulty setting chosen at the beginning of the game, which is also the case for the “hint” button that tells you where to go next in general gameplay.
The only recurring puzzle is the “list”, where you are given a list of items to find in a very cluttered scene. You just need to click the item listed on the list, yet some of them might require more interactions, like opening a drawer. If you get stuck here, you can choose to use the previously mentioned “hint” button, or opt out from the “list” gameplay altogether and play a round of mahjong instead.
Whatever you choose, your reward is a single item to use elsewhere. Sometimes these areas can be revisited to gain other useful items, so keep in mind where you found them.
The game’s art style is really pretty. The color palette is very bright with lots of red and gold, even though we are in quite the dire situation. This is because, while remote, the areas we visit are decorated temples of worship. This makes it an ideal locale for the game’s genre, since it gives a perfect excuse for the plethora of items we find and puzzles we solve.
Characters in this game are fully voice acted, and they even lip sync the lines with a little mouth animation. They are made to look realistic, and their clothes are very detailed, giving each character their unique personality. If you are not interacting with them but they can be seen on the screen, they have little idle animations that make them feel more alive, improving the game’s immersion.
Tibetan Quest: Beyond the World's End is a thrilling adventure through an often forgotten part of the world. The gameplay is solid enough, especially for fans of laptop games, yet it truly shines on its setting and lore.
Each new area is full of surprises, making you want to go deeper and deeper in order to find out just what did happen, and what other horrors lie hidden within the mountain peaks.
If you enjoy these free games, you will love this list of our 10 Best Hidden Object Games!
