Secret Island of Dr. Quandary, The





If you like puzzles, then this is the game for you. Starting as a relaxed visit to a carnival, you become acquainted with the ingenious Dr. Quandary (aka Dr. Q), the Quintessential Quizmaster, who offers you a free game of Toggle. The prize: one of three "very life-like" dolls, each presenting a different level of difficulty in the game you’ll be playing. It’s not long before you find out that whichever one you choose will actually become your body until the end of the game. After making your choice you are transported to Dr. Quandary’s Island with the task to complete all his quizzes. Also, you will need to collect items you’ll need for making the magic potion that will get you off the island and back into your own body.

This is the introduction to a very imaginative and interesting game. You wander around the island trying to solve the puzzles that you come upon. Finishing puzzles will grant you items for the magic potion. Mixing the potion is a puzzle in itself, since the recipe for the magic elixir is different depending on the level of difficulty, and the ingredients are described in a funny way. At the end you’ll have more items than you need and you will have to figure out the exact combination.

The island is filled with a variety of puzzles. All of them are fun and interesting. Completion of the game will require various skills like logic, math, memory, speed and reflexes etc. Some puzzles are original, but most of them are based on older known games with a new design (Towers of Hanoi, Tangram etc). All in all, this game should sharpen different kinds of skills, while simultaneously providing an adequate dose of amusement. However, it can also be challenging and therefore is probably only suitable for kids older than 10.

The game can be played with a keyboard and mouse, but you can use just the mouse if you want. Everything is simplified and comes down to a mouse click. At the top of the screen there are drop-down menus where you can turn the sound ON/OFF, save and load (loading is possible only at the beginning of the game), run away (quit the current puzzle) etc. Also there are options to look at the island map and your inventory (hotkeys F5 and F6). There is also no way to get stuck in the game, unless you can’t beat a certain puzzle that is. Graphics are very cute although a little rough and there are various short tunes to fit the atmosphere.

This game is recommended mostly for teenagers. Play it if you want to test yourself with different kinds of puzzles in one game. If you think that you are "too grown up" to play a "kids game" like this one, try to get off the island of Dr. Quandary on the difficult level, and you will be surprised.

It works in Windows XP without any sound. It will also work flawlessly with VDMSound, and should work fine with DOSBox too, but it may require some toggling.