Release date: 2026
Version played: PC (via Steam)
From Zadbox Entertainment, the developers of Quern comes another first-person exploration puzzle game, Dimhaven – The Lost Source. Controlling one Emily Ravenstone, a museum curator, players arrive on the remote island of Dimhaven in search of her missing uncle. Armed with Emily’s trusty camera and photobook, players must explore the former tourist hotspot turned nearly abandoned and isolated environment, photographing any and everything important, unique… or suspicious.
+ most importantly for any puzzle game: the puzzles are excellent. They could all be solved using the environment around you in a way which was carefully hinted at felt fair. These puzzles ranged from quite literal jigsaw-type puzzles, a series of logic gates, or games of deduction, such as who was seated where at a past dinner party. Notably, one puzzle did involve audio cues, and the game had a ‘hearing impaired mode’ which would transcribe those sounds into unique onomatopoeia which kept the puzzle solution as one to be earned but allowed for everyone to experience it. I do not believe there were any problematic colour puzzles (noting my colour blindness, which has caused issues in the past) unless I solved them without realising, in which case go me
+ this game features a fantastic in-game hint system. It is not groundbreaking in concept, but its execution is flawless (however, do see below). Players must directly click the hint button, then confirm, and these suggestions on where to go start small (“Perhaps I’ve missed something in the kitchen…”) to slightly more direct (“Could this [obtained object] be used elsewhere?”) to in some cases even outright answering the puzzle. I only required this final step once in my playthrough, which made me feel smart — which the best puzzle games should
+ graphically, this game looks gorgeous. From a distance, things are crystal clear, but as you get closer the pixels are rendered in 3D — if I have my terms right, this is called ‘voxel graphics’. The different locations are unique, and the important parts always stand out be it from in-universe lighting, highlighting colours or simply being the most extravagant part of the environment. I adored the way this game looked, including things like running water and various obtainable item clues
+ the story itself is certainly basic, but not bland. “Missing family member” is not groundbreaking in itself, but there are enough twists and turns to keep things interesting, and there are a few revelations along the way
– the biggest negative is simply that the game teases a lot which it doesn’t pay off. Be that locations visible from a distance which you never visit, or unanswered questions, or even unused rooms/objects in a which feel like they should be relevant. These don’t quite fit the definition of a red herring to me. In a puzzle game as carefully crafted as this seemed to be, I am curious if these were once intended to be relevant but this was scrapped
– there was one puzzle at the end of the game which I had absolutely no clue how to solve, and after exhausting the in-game hint system to the point it assumed I would get the answer… I did just look it up. This single puzzle still makes no sense to me. Similarly, at a few points I found myself with a few different puzzles in progress and no idea which one was ‘next’. There was little cohesion between the order in which you were to do the puzzles
– the story went on one beat too long, and then seemed to wrap up far too quickly when the ending finally came. I think the early segments of the game were better than those which came later, and one extended segment involved travelling up and down an elevator of sorts, which was more time-consuming than anything
> much like my much beloved (but unreviewed) Blue Prince from earlier last year, I was compelled to make real life, physical notes in a notepad as I played this game, and that immersion made it far more enjoyable than so many others of the genre
Should you play this game: Unaffected by the very minor negatives above, I absolutely adored this game in every way. This challenged my brain and then made me feel smart when my thought process was proven correct. For any fans of first-person puzzle games, this was one of the best I have ever played, and far and away one of the best puzzle gaming experiences I have had in a very long time. Strongly recommended.
MoshFish Reviews 