Seekers Notes is a hidden mystery type of game. When the game starts, the player is given the title of “Seeker”. There is a mystery to solve about the Curse that has afflicted Darkwood.
Part of the game involves finding hidden objects. The people of Darkwood discover that some of their items have gone missing, and the Seeker must play through the various locations in the game in order to find what has been lost.
There are also puzzles to solve, clues to discover, plenty of quests, and some holiday content. The Halloween fest appears in October. Players must finish the quests before the festival ends. It does not appear to “roll over” into the next year.
Players must reach Level 11 before they can start the Halloween quests. Those who reach Level 11 unlock the Mill. The majority of the Halloween content requires players to find hidden objects at the Mill.
An unrelated quest sent me to the Train Station, where I found a strange looking key with a jack-o-lantern in it. This is the key that unlocks the Mill. Players cannot start the Halloween stuff until after they find this key.
Finding the key to the Mill automatically results in the completion of the “Entering the Mill” quest.
Mayor Smallcat: At first glance, this place doesn’t conceal any danger, but it would be best to thoroughly examine all its hidden corners. I’m counting on you, Seeker!
One of the ways that the storyline is conveyed in Seekers Notes is through a Journal (written from the viewpoint of the player character.) Complete different quests, and two pages are added to the Journal. It always includes a nice drawing and a page of text.
The screenshot above shows a little bit of what the Mill looks like. I’m not including any screenshots of the Mill itself, so as not to accidentally give hints to players about where to find hidden objects (or what those objects look like).
Unlike other “find the object” games, Seekers Notes moves the hidden objects around, making it impossible for players to simply memorize the location of each. It makes the game more interesting. Players can, essentially, level up each area – which increases the difficult of that area.
The journal entry about the Mill says:
The old Darkwood mll has started working by itself and given the townspeople quite a scare. Its blades spin even in windless conditions, and its millstones relentlessly grind invisible grains. What made it come back to life? Are the incredible legends the townspeople whisper true? I have to examine the territory of the mill and try to sort out truth from fiction.
Helen: Seeker, you’ll need Festive Lollipops to explore the Mill. Here are 10 access passes for now.
Players must use up some energy in order to play in a certain area in the game. Some areas require energy and special access passes in order for the player to enter.
Helen gives the player 10 access passes (otherwise known as Festive Lollipops). When those are used up, the player must play through other areas and collect more of them.
The player is presented with this decorative pumpkin item to open. Seekers Notes is an app game that I am playing on my iPad Mini. Players must tap the screen to open the decorative pumpkin.
Inside the decorative pumpkin, there is a fancy looking Halloween card.
The back of the fancy Halloween card says: Seeker, you’re invited to the scariest Halloween party ever! Follow the scent of baked pumpkin…
This little girl is Amy. I know absolutely nothing else about her. On my way to Level 11, I met several of the other NPCs (non-player characters) in Seekers Notes. Amy wasn’t among them.
The screenshot I took of Amy caught her in mid-blink, which is rather unfortunate. She looks sleepy.
Amy: Seeker, were you invited to the celebration as well? I received the very same card!
Seeker: Yes, I was. But where should we go?
Amy: I know where the scent of baked pumpkin should lead! Straight to the abandoned mill. I can take you there; it won’t be so scary if we go together.
Amy looks much better in this second screenshot than she did in the first one!
There are interesting prizes to be won by players who complete the Halloween content. Players who reach the rank of Virtuoso in the Mill location will get two event avatars. The avatars are the two people in the above screenshot that are dressed in purple.
Players can use any of the avatars they collect, and can change them at any time. The game doesn’t care what gender the player happens to be, so the player can use avatars of either gender. In other words, those who earn this reward don’t have to choose one or the other avatar – they get them both.
Players who complete all the event quests get a Forbidden Treasure chest and a unique Wondrous Coach Jewelry box as a reward. There are six stages of quests to complete.
Get a Playful Luck talisman and a unique Gang of Despoilers picture for banishing event creatures!
There are three creatures that can be banished by players as part of the Pumpkin Nostalgia event. For now, all you need to know about them is that the items that you use to banish these creatures can only be obtained by completing the “find the hidden objects” quests that take place in the Mill.
I’m not entirely sure how this part of the Pumpkin Nostalgia event works. It is clear that players must banish the creatures that connect to the event many times. Banishing them is how players obtain the… I’m gonna call it a “Candy Corn Crystal” item. My best guess is that there is a banishment leaderboard.
The next Pumpkin Nostalgia quest is presented by Amy. It is called “Who Lives in the Mill?”
Amy: I’ve heard the tale of the Halloween celebration from my grandfather many times. Could someone have decided to turn this tale into reality? If so, they would have already started preparing.
Players must enter the Mill (and use up some Festive Lollipops). The goal is to find all the hidden objects on a list before the time runs out.
Ideally, the player will end up “finding” the item they need to complete the quest. Successfully locating and clicking on all the items does not always result in “finding” the item the player came for. This time, the player must find a Cauldron.
Players must use the key with the jack-o-lantern to unlock the Mill. Once used, the key disappears. That’s fine, because the player only needs to unlock a new area once.
Off to the side, there is a group of items that the player might “find” if they successfully locate all of the hidden objects. The Cauldron is one of them.
I unlocked the Mill! Sparkly fireworks appear whenever the player unlocks a new area.
I found the Cauldron! I also found some nets that were used for a limited-time event that was not part of the Pumpkin Nostalgia event. (Players used the nets to catch stars – in the hopes of collecting enough of them to earn prizes).
Amy: It seems like there’s no one in the mill. But this huge cauldron is perfect for serving drinks at a celebration!
I get the feeling that Amy believes that the invitation that she (and the player) received means that there is someone secretly working on throwing a Halloween party at the Mill. I have completed the “Who Lives in the Mill?” quest.
The next quest in this series is called “A Halloween Party”.
Amy: Grandpa used to tell me about how the old miller would organize scary fun parties for Halloween. The entire territory of the mill would be decorated with artificial cobwebs and all sorts of fun stuff.
The player must return to the Mill and hope to “find” a paper garland that looks like bats. Eventually, the player will run out of Festive Lollipops. The way to get more is to play through other areas of the game – which uses up the player’s Energy.
It’s a lot of back-and-forth, and waiting for Energy to be restored (in real-time). I don’t mind, because I really like the creepy storylines in Seekers Notes.
I found the paper bats!
Amy: This paper garland is just right for the party from the story! From a distance, it seems as if eerie bats are flying at you, but if you look closely, they are very cute and silly.
I have now completed the “A Halloween Party” quest. The next quest is called “Laughter vs. Fear”.
Amy: In addition to paper garlands, the miller would make dozens of other decorations. There wasn’t nothing he didn’t have: mermaids, black cats, ghosts… But I hope there are no real ghosts in here…
I found the colorful ghost candles!
Amy: Haha! What funny ghosts! I have never seen candles of this shape. Now I’m not even a little bit scared!
Unfortunately, this screenshot caught poor Amy with her eyes closed. I haven’t quite worked out how to screenshot around the NPC’s blinks. It’s not that big a deal, but does look a bit strange.
I have now completed the “Laughter vs. Fear” quest. The next one is called “Tall Tale or True Story?”
Amy: A cheerful masquerade was always arranged at the party. Grandpa told me that Halloween masks would be found at the mill not only in October, but all year round.
This time, the player is sent to find… what looks to me like a decorated box full of Halloween masks.
I found the Halloween masks!
Amy: No way! There truly is a chest stuffed with masks! Is my grandpa’s story not a legend, but a true story?
I have now completed the “Tall Tale or True Story?” quest. The next one is called “The Sweet Smell of Pumpkin”. All of the quest chains in Seekers Notes have five quests. Each quest requires a player to find a specific item.
Amy: I thought grandpa’s story was a tall tale. After all, there was a magical pumpkin cake, which you could try only once a year – on All Hallow’s Eve. Hmm, do you also smell something sweet?
“The Sweet Smell of Pumpkin” cake requires the player to find… a pumpkin cake.. at the Mill.
I found the Pumpkin cake! This is the last item in this quest chain. When I unlocked the Mill, I started at the Novice level. Now, after searching for and finding hidden objects in the Mill many times, I have leveled the Mill up to Amateur level.
Congratulations! You completed the stage challenge and get Lightning in a Bottle as a reward!
Lightning in a Bottle is an item that helps the player find several hidden objects at once. It is very useful, and disappears after the player uses it once.
Amy: It’s batter! It’s so orange, like a whole patch of ripe pumpkins have been added. Let’s try it… Pretty good, but our Mr. Antoine makes it better! Could it be the batter for the legendary cake?
I have now completed “The Sweet Smell of Pumpkin” quest. It turns out, the item I was sent to find was pumpkin cake batter – not a ready-to-eat pumpkin cake. Either way would explain where the sweet pumpkin scent was coming from.
Players who finish this quest chain will have found all of the items that are part of the Celebration Venue collection. The next step is to complete the collection by combining the items that are in little boxes.
The only way to obtain these Halloween items is to banish the three Halloween creatures that appear as part of the event. If I remember correctly, I had to banish some of them more than once in order in order to get what I needed to finish the Celebration Venue.
Click the “Combine” button, and the game uses up some of the required items. (Extra items sit there and wait for the player to finish the collection again). A little ribbon award appears, and the item at the end of the row that was greyed out is now in color.
Amy: Wow, this is a sweet calendar! Grandpa gives me similar one in December to count down the days until the winter holidays, but this calendar is for Halloween! Hooray! It means the party is going to happen!
Amy: Oh Lord! What is that horrible laughter coming from the mill? It’s an evil witch for sure! Or a ghost!
Run home
Congratulations! You completed the stage challenge and get Flying Time as a reward!
The Flying Time item helps players by giving them extra time to find all the hidden objects in a location.
I have now completed Stage 1 of the Pumpkin Nostalgia quests. There is a purple line that has been filled in up to where the Flying Time item sits. The next thing to do is complete the Stage 2 chain of quests.
Seekers Notes: Pumpkin Nostalgia Event is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites.
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