Next up we have Romance of Rome. Now, before you dismiss it outright as just another Hidden Object game, hear me out. There are a couple of things that set this one apart from its cousins.

First, you play a young man on his way to Rome. There is a little more story to this, but it doesn't develop too far in the demo. What does come across is that for each section of the game, you'll meet different characters, each of which give you a quest to locate some specific item to bring back to them. Doing this won't just make them happy; you'll also get points to fill up your Status meter. Filling it up grants you increasing pull with the characters. This may be an arbitrary thing, but it's nice to watch the meter fill up.

Second, as you search each screen full of items, you'll mouse over something that will outline itself in yellow. These items may be interacted with by using other items that you'll find in the scene. For example, you may not be able to open a chest until you find the key that fits it. Furthermore, these "secret items" don't necessarily work on the outlined objects in the scene you find them in. Sometimes you'll pick up a hammer, for instance, which will break a pot in a completely different scene.

As an aside, sometimes these Hidden Object games are a complete hodgepodge of things -- a tuba might share space with a fish, hanging from an eyeball. In RoR, everything belongs in the scene itself. Furthermore, the objects truly are well-hidden. Sometimes they're much smaller than their representative pictures shown at the bottom of the screen, or their colors are slightly different. Also, you can only get the items in your six-slot list; clicking on something you know for sure is an item won't put that item away unless it's actually in your list.

Third, there is an in-game economy. Not only will finding items give you points, but there are also any number of gold coins to pick up as well; these things allow you to purchase items that will allow your character to grow in social stature, from better clothes, to a nice home, to a puppy to keep you company.

Fourth, the game will tell you when you've picked up everything you can without the use of other special items. This is a great help, as you'll then know to move on to another scene to grab the knob that opens the chest. There are also trophies and achievements to collect, which are always a nice enhancement to a game.

Additionally, while the artwork is very pretty and painterly, the voiceover work is uneven at best, with some truly awful characters being heard. Despite that, you'll want to pick up Romance of Rome if you're a fan of the genre at all, just to see how the whole thing ends. Check it out right here on Big Download for both Mac and PC.