Step Aboard the Orient Express

Photo Courtesy of Krikketgirl

Ever wish you could solve the mysteries you read about in a more hands-on way? You can with some of Agatha Christie's most famous stories.

The Adventure Company has converted three of Agatha's (yes, Agatha and I are on a first name basis) books into video games: Murder on the Orient Express, And Then There Were None, and Evil Under the Sun. As a player, you actually get to explore the setting to look for clues and meet the characters.

The games have a similar set up to the books with a few twists. For example, in Murder on the Orient Express, you play via a new character who is Hercule Poirot's assistant. Fortunately and unfortunately, the games also have multiple different endings that deviate from the original stories. This makes sense because why would you want to solve a mystery you already knew the answer too. However, part of the reason I like these so much is usually the ending. I still think I'll try to check it out, especially because And Then There Were None is coming to Wii!

On a related note, I just watched the 1974 version of Murder on The Orient Express. I know its supposedly a classic, and I do like the original mystery, but I was actually sort of disappointed by it. Perhaps my ADD got the best of me, but I had trouble staying focused, and my boyfriend even fell asleep during it. There were some interesting 70s style lighting that added a nice eerie/retro layer to the film and the acting was good (Lauren Bacall, Sean Connery, and Ingrid Bergman, oh my!). However, I thought the dialogue was stilted and often confusing and the pacing didn't seem to convey the sense of urgency and tension that the book does. I think I'm going to netflix the 2001 version.