An Adaptation
Going into this, I didn't know who Mary Kay Andrews was. I thought that was the name of the main character. How wrong I was! Mary Kay Andrews is an author and The Fixer Upper is the name of the book that this game is an adaptation of.
In Mary Kay Andrews: The Fixer Upper, you play as a lobbyist named Dempsey Jo Killebrew, who is recently fired from her job when her boss is caught in a serious political scandal. Having nowhere to turn and not a lot of funds, she takes her dad's offer to return to Guthrie, Georgia to fix up Birdsong, the old family house. Its current state is far from pretty, but her dad is sure that with a little hard work it can become the nicest house in the area and make them a good amount of money.
It's a Cluttered World
As Dempsey, you'll have to sort through messes and find objects just as part of your everyday life! You'll have to pack your suitcase for your trip to Guthrie, but that involves finding everything first. When you go to see the lawyer that has the key to your house, he isn't there. You can ring the bell to get his attention, but you can't find that either. Like a lot of similar games, you'll have a list of objects to find, but only one or two of them will be important to the story. The rest are just filler, but as long as I'm having fun, that's fine by me.
Hints play a big part in the gameplay, as they do in all hidden object games. Your hints are limited, so you can't use them to find everything. You can earn one additional hint in each level by finding the hidden house icon. You'll know it when you see it. Hints aren't always necessary though, because if you mouse over an object on your list, you're shown the silhouette of the item, which may be all the help you need.
A Mature Story
It really shouldn't come as a surprise that this game is based on a novel, because the story is what impressed me the most. The gameplay may not lend itself that well to the subject matter - finding objects has little to nothing to do with the plot - but it's engrossing all the same. A political scandal is pretty serious, mature subject matter and it's refreshing to see something like that in a computer game.
Having said that, even if you don't know the first thing about politics or scandals, it's not going to harm your enjoyment of the game.
A Worthy Entry in the Genre
Mary Kay Andrews: The Fixer-Upper is a game that you need to try. The story is fantastic. The gameplay is fun and solid and overall you'll be entertained, which is what people are looking for. If you're looking for something a little more serious, I think that you'll enjoy what this product offers.
