Christminster

A social visit to Biblioll College, Christminster turns to an exploration of alchemical secrets and centuries-old conspiracies when you discover that your brother is missing. A well-developed environment with vivid characters and some quite suspenseful moments. Although not billed as a mystery - and although whodunnit is pretty obvious - much of what the player does in this game is very detective-like. The whole game is very closely tied together; once you've gotten past the front gate, neither the plot nor the map is easily divided into segments. A nice mix of puzzles, including several optional ones. Some puzzles appear to be time-based, but closer scrutiny reveals that time only advances in response to plot events triggered by solving puzzles, so that's nothing to worry about (although there are a few small, local time limits.) One of the few games with a female protagonist. Has a built-in hint system that dispenses hints, not solutions. One item, a map, uses character graphics, but this can be ignored.