Puppetshow
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Puppetshow is a series of Hidden Object Games produced by ERS Game Studios and published by Big Fish Games. The story tells of a detective following around and solving mysteries involving the Puppetmaster of Joyville (in the first game) and his daughter (in the second, third and fourth games).
The first game: Mystery of Joyville, tells how the detective is asked by an old man and his daughter to find a young boy named Simon, who had gone missing for days. Piece by piece, the detective slowly finds clues that lead them to the mastermind of the plot.
The second game: Souls of the Innocent takes place some time after the first. An epidemic has arrived, with children asleep for two whole days. There's a connection between the children and a new doll store in town, and the detective soon finds themselves with a familiar face.
The third game: Lost Town takes place in a city named Moonstone. Secret tunnels have been found, but it becomes dangerous after a giant golem steals little Suzy from her mother.
The fourth game Return to Joyville takes the detective back to the day that Felicia was caught in the fire and tries to figure out a way to set things right.
- Aerith and Bob: The hotel owner in Mystery of Joyville is named Egidio. His daughter is named Sarah and her son's named Simon.
- Always Night: The third game is the only game to take place completely at night. All other stories take place in the day or at sunset.
- Apocalyptic Log: In the first game, the detective finds the diary of the Puppetmaster. It reveals what happened to the old man after the theater burned down and why there are kidnappings at night.
- Bad Future: The Collector's Edition of Return to Joyville shows that even though the detective saved Felicia from her fate, Joyville has become even worse than it was in the first game with people gone missing and a strict curfew being placed on the town.
- Continuity Nod: The detective finds posters of Egidio and Sarah in the Bad Future in the Collector's Edition of Return to Joyville
- Creepy Doll: All over the place.
- The Doll Episode: More like the Doll Game.
- Featureless Protagonist: While the character is never seen, the first game notes that Egidio has prepared 'his' hotel room.
- Ghost Town: All three of the cities are like this. The first one is due to failing business (the Puppet Theater attracted lots of people, not so much when it burned to the ground) and even more so in the fourth game if you play the Collector's Edition. The second is because the parents are at the side of the soulless children. The third is just plain abandoned with the robots replacing human jobs when a mysterious disease hit them years ago.
- Haunted House: The Puppetmaster's house. It even has a theater inside it!
- Hidden Object Game: In spades. One of the only complaints is that you have to collect multiples of some items (Some justified more than others)
- Infant Immortality: Averted hard. Kids being kidnapped or harmed is what starts off each game.
- Karmic Death: The Puppetmaster's soul is sucked into one of his own dolls. But since his daughter removed the screws to the joints, he collapses and dies.
- Kick the Dog: Felicia will do a LOT to get her beauty back.
- Lonely Doll Girl: Felicia.
- Replacement Goldfish: In Mystery of Joyville the Puppetmaster is trying his hardest to make a doll body for his daughter. It succeeds.
- Ridiculously-Human Robots: The subject in Lost Town. Many of them have replaced humans in jobs (whether they be barbers, cashiers, pianists or plain guards.) This is because they replace the people who died long ago to a mysterious disease.
- Rule of Three: In Souls of the Innocent, once the soul of a child is taken away, they only have three days before they're in comas forever. The detective arrives two days after.
- Scars Are Forever: Felicia, the Puppetmaster's daughter, still has burns from the fire years ago.
- Scenery Porn: Everything's hand painted--except for the moving dolls--and it is gorgeous.
- Set Right Once Went Wrong: The subject of the 4th game, Return to Joyville.
- Spider-Headed Dolls Are Scary: There's always a doll on top of mechanical spider legs following the detective in every game. They were made by the Puppetmaster to be companions for Felicia.
- Suddenly Voiced: Many of the characters become this beginning with Lost Town.
- Town with a Dark Secret: Subverted. They were all nice and happy towns until the dolls came in and screwed up everything.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: All the puppetmaster wanted to do was help his daughter regain her beauty and ability to walk. He even states that Simon would be his last victim... until he gets defeated.