There have been a lot of hidden object/adventure games to come out for iOS devices over the past few years, and quite frankly, it’s gotten to the point where a game has to be really good to stand out. Unfortunately, Crossworlds: The Flying City doesn’t really fit the bill.

The best thing I can really say about Crossworlds’s visuals is the design of the locations. You will be transported to several strange worlds, one that is a robot ghost town, one a city in the clouds, and one that seems to be out of an elven village in The Lord of the Rings. Then there is the rest of the game.

I typically found myself frustrated during the hidden object screens because Crossworlds leans towards the least clever form of hidden objects. Most of these screens have you looking for objects that are completely the wrong scale and simply don’t make sense in the room, or worse yet, are plastered randomly on the screen but with a transparency level that makes the shape a ghost of what you are looking for. Couple that with objects hidden behind other elements on the screen so you can only see a little bit and you have a hidden object game that begs you to hit the Hint button at least once-per-screen. Simply put, it feels cheap.

The game’s generic music doesn’t do much for the feel of the game. While there seems to be some differences in the feel of the music when you are in the different areas, I found the music to be rather annoying after a while. Needless to say, I prefer playing Crossworlds: The Flying City with the sound off.

Crossworlds: The Flying City’s story feels like little more than a way to bring together the three worlds. You play the daughter of an inventor that suddenly disappears. You discover a device that he apparently used to travel to a different world. So, you hop in and try to find him.

Crossworlds: The Flying City’s biggest problem is simply a lack of direction. For most of the game, you have no real idea of where you are going or what your eventual goal is. Sure, you want to find your dad, but there is no indication that the tasks you perform will actually get you there. Most of the game has you interacting with some object simply because you can, and you will eventually fumble your way through the game’s story.

I’ve already described the game’s hidden object screens, but there is also an element of adventure game to Crossworlds: The Flying City. You will pick up inventory items, both from hidden object screens and from around the world, and there are a few times when the solution to a problem is fairly obvious, but there are also plenty of puzzles that have solutions I wouldn’t have thought of had I not read the in-game hint text, but I think this particular issue is more a result of the lack of direction than anything else.

Crossworlds: The Flying City’s difficulty comes in trying to figure out what you should do, or where you should go next. There were times when I had a clear idea of what I was looking for and how that would get me past the immediate problem, but those stints were often short and led to another bout of going through the screens trying to find something I had missed.

Crosswolds does offer a basic hint system to keep you going. If you are in a hidden object screen, pressing the button will highlight one of the items in your list, and if you aren’t, then it will show you which direction you should leave the screen to get to the right location. If you happen to be in the right location, it will highlight whatever part of the screen you need to interact with.

You’ve probably already guessed what I believe hurts Crossworlds: The Flying City the most. It’s the lack of direction and guidance. In any adventure game, knowing where you can go and what your goals are (both short and long-term) is a key component to making the game enjoyable.

Crossworlds attempts to help with one of these issues by giving you a button that will point to each of the exits, but the bigger issue here is the fact that the player doesn’t simply know where he/she can go. It seems to me that providing that button is more of a solution to the symptoms than the problem. Unfortunately, everything else can be forgiven to some degree, even the cheapo hidden object screens, if it wasn’t for this particular problem.

As it stands, I can’t really recommend Crossworlds to anyone unless they are truly hooked on this type of game. If you are, then you might want to try out the demo some before actually buying Crossworlds: The Flying City.