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Pickers HD
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Graphics & Sound:
Pickers HD has a fun aesthetic. While I'm not a regular watcher of the show, it's easy to see that the developers were going for a very authentic feel to match the show. You will have 12 different locations to visit, but they will open up as you progress. Initially, you will only have a select few from which to pick items. The folks that run the picking sites are as eclectic as the items they have to offer and run the gamut from a gaming nerd, to a creepy guy obsessed with horror movies and artifacts, to a lovely Irish lass, to an elderly lady that makes one think of doilies, and on and on. Each person has their own attitude and some are easier to deal with than others, but more on that later. All of the areas are simply loaded with items and at times, it can be difficult to pick out the good stuff from the junk, but hey, that's the idea. Items are all sized appropriately and look like they should, so there's no trickery there, but sometimes an item will be careful hidden behind other things.
As far as background music goes, it's fairly minimal and stays in the background where it belongs. You'll hear tones when you pick items up, and tones to denote where a seller is happy or angry based on the price that you offer, etc. Sometimes you'll hear the chirp of your cell phone signaling a special area where a buyer is willing to pay top dollar for items, so you'll want to pay attention for those. Lastly, whenever it is time to head back to home base to sell your finds, you'll hear your cell chime in again to let you know. If you choose to auction your items because they didn't sell so well, you'll also hear an amusing auctioneer's call. While you can't understand much (just like at a real auction), it adds a little something. I always found myself cheering for the price to go up, even though I knew the A.I. odds were stacked against me.
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Gameplay:
Your goal in Pickers HD is to become the top picker in the country in 30 days. After each round consisting of a "day," you can see where you stack up as compared to the rest of the pickers. Hopefully, as you peruse the wares of the various sellers across the country, you'll buy low and sell high. On each day, there will be three "hot" categories and if you are able to score items from these categories, you can earn more money for them and even a bonus depending on how many items are from these categories. To accomplish your goals, you have several tools at your disposal. You have seven slots to hold items, so once you have filled all seven spots, you can bargain with the seller. When you select an item, the seller will indicate how much they want and you can offer more or less by increments like $5 or $10, and sometimes higher ranges for high-priced items. If you offer them too little, they will become offended and the happiness meter will go from green, to yellow, to even red. You can regain some respect by offering them a little more on another item though. Sometimes, if you are not sure of an item's worth, you can use one of your "Ask an Expert" tools, which costs you $75 and you only get three per round, but will give you the estimated value of an item. This is a crap shoot, however, because if you use this on an item that has a low value, you'll have a tough time getting your money back out of it. Sometimes, you may see floating gold dollar signs in an area and these indicate those spots where a buyer will be offering you top dollar for items. These are basically standard hidden object scenes where a list of items appears at the bottom of the screen and you gain $50-$150 per item. Once you have obtained all of the items on the list, you will get a free item that just so happens to fall in the hot category.
Once you get back to home base, you are then given an opportunity to either price your items or auction them off. If your item is from the hot category, you can often ask more than it is worth and get that price. If not, you probably won't get money over its estimated value. Items that you picked up for free from the hot category are good candidates for either using Ask an Expert or auctioning off because you have no monetary investment and can often make a good profit. |
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Difficulty:
There are four difficulty levels in Pickers HD. Zen is the casual mode which allows you to work at your own pace with no competition. Regular is your basic mode where you strive to be the best Picker in the 30 day time period. Advanced and Expert pit you against the best of the best, respectively.
As far as the difficulty of the game, it all boils down to your ability to spot an item that will bring a huge profit, while also paying attention to the attitude of your sellers and not insulting them too much while haggling. In most of the areas, the items aren't hidden, they are simply scattered around so it's mainly a matter of picking the best items, since there's plenty of trash mixed in with those treasures.
There is a built-in Hint system for use in the hidden object scenes (not the areas where you are simply picking items to sell) that refills over time and when you click it, it will ask you which item in the list you want highlighted. However, you can touch an item in the list and its silhouette will appear in the Hint screen to help you locate it and you can do that without penalty or using your Hint. |
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Game Mechanics:
Everything in Pickers HD is about, well, picking and having a good idea of what items will yield the most profit. Sometimes you'll pick up something that you think might bring a lot of money and then once you Ask the Expert, you find you have already paid more than it's worth. At other times, when you Ask the Expert while negotiating a price, you'll discover the seller was asking way more or less than it is worth and they will adjust their price accordingly, still allowing you a profit margin, just not as great or little as before. You can choose to exploit hidden object areas in each location over and over again until they are depleted of goods, knowing that completing each run will yield you a free item that is guaranteed to be worth a good sum. Just know that the locations that open up are designed to provide you with an item in the hot category that you are working, so if you skip around and only do these hidden object areas (the ones with the golden dollar signs), you could end up getting an item at a time that its category isn't "hot" and you won't yield as much profit.
Some items that you come across will have a + symbol indicating that they are incomplete. If you find the companion item, you will have a much bigger profit margin. However, you only have so many slots back at home base to hold items (although you can purchase a few extra slots), so you can find yourself with an inventory jam-packed with items looking for mates, which can cause problems. Do know that if you can't find the mate, the item will still bring profit, just not as much. If you do find a mate, when you are back at home base, you can drag them to the combo area, placing one on each side and then tap the + button to combine them. While some of the other items you pick up along the way may need restoration (which costs money, naturally), your combined items never do and will always be ready to sell once combined.
I did find that sometimes when I would click on an item close to the edge, it would pull me out of that location or out of a deeper area in that location, which could get annoying. While it didn't happen often, it happened more than it should have. Also, at times in the hidden object scenes, I would tap a number of times on an object and I couldn't pick it up, but if I clicked on the Hint button and it became highlighted, all of a sudden I could then pick it up. Lame. Lastly, the game has Achievements you can earn and a special room where you can see them all. They vary and include awards for certain items purchased, completing scenes in under certain time frames or without using hints, buying and selling items from hot categories and things like that.
Overall, Pickers HD is a different sort of hidden object game, one that doesn't simply call for the player to find objects on a list - you have to use your brain to figure out what items work the best for the buyers who will be coming that day. It's different, fun and challenging. If you are looking for a basic hidden object game, this isn't it, but if you are looking for a completely different twist on hidden object with a palette of wacky characters and locations, give Pickers HD a try. |
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-Psibabe, GameVortex Communications AKA Ashley Perkins |
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