Magical Maintenance Mystery review

Easy to learn gameplay
Tricky puzzles
A whimsical, imaginative narrative

What was meant to be an ordinary maintenance job at an apartment building soon takes a strange turn in the new text-adventure, Magical Maintenance Mystery. You take on the role of a maintenance worker tasked with fixing various problems throughout the building. Between battling fierce tentacles, cracking codes, and aiding a sentient exhaust fan, this cosy adventure gives the term odd job a new meaning.

Meet the Strange Inhabitants of Magical Maintenance Mystery
The gameplay is pretty easy to pick up. To start, you’ll have access to several apartments where you’ll encounter intriguing tenants like Simon, the artist; Minister Willa; her beloved rifle, Kevin; and child prodigy, Helen. Each apartment offers its own tasks for you to complete, which range from typical maintenance work, such as fixing pipes, to battling a giant cockroach.

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Select an apartment from the list and enter it. You’ll then see a description of the room along with tasks to complete. For instance, after entering Helen’s apartment, you’ll need to enter the correct code on a keypad to unlock her room. This is where your Investigation skills come in. 

Searching someone’s apartment when they’re not home may be creepy, but it’s also necessary if you want to collect clues and learn more about the tenants. The higher your investigation level, the better your chances of successfully completing a search. 

Stuck? Magical Maintenance Mystery will Clue You in
If, after searching around, you are still struggling to solve a puzzle, go to puzzle hints under the menu, and you’ll be taken to a website that lists all the puzzles. Select the puzzle you’re stuck on, and you’ll see a list of all the clues, with the final clue outright giving you the answer.

When a tenant is home, you can gain experience, learn new information, and even gain attribute buffs by talking to them. The outcome of a conversation attempt depends on your Empathy level. It’s worth checking back every few minutes as occupants will frequently come and go.

You’ll also come across tasks that require you to use your combat and engineering skills. Don’t feel intimidated if your chances of success are low. You can make multiple attempts, so eventually, no matter how low your chances are, you’re sure to succeed. 

Completing Projects Takes Time
While simple tasks like talking to one of the tenants or scouring an apartment are near instantaneous, you’ll also need to complete projects if you want to uncover the truth about the building, and these tend to take more time. Pay attention to the number on the project counter, as it gives you a rough idea of how long it takes to complete.

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Many early projects have a count of 1,000. However, later projects can require counts of 20k or even 50k. Unlock simple tasks, projects never fail, and completing one will net you a good amount of experience, which you can use to level up your attributes.

Magical Maintenance Mystery delivers exactly what it promises: a whimsical, spooky text adventure. If a charming narrative is all you need to immerse yourself in, then it’s definitely worth a download.

Bear in mind that the graphics are limited to text on a solid background and coloured buttons for interactions. However, the quirky narrative is more than enough to get your imagination going. While it’s free to download, you can unlock extra locations and receive double the experience by making an in-app purchase.

Magical Maintenance Mystery is a Charming Text Adventure
Magical Maintenance Mystery is an enchanting little text-based RPG full of charmingly strange characters, creepy combatants, and imaginative locals. While some of the puzzles are very challenging, the built-in hint system gives you a way forward should you get stuck.

With a zany, engaging narrative and super simple gameplay, Magical Maintenance Mystery is a great text adventure experience for genre experts and newcomers alike.