Mystery and adventure await you in this challenging book/game adaptation of the extremely popular Agatha Christie book series. The plot, closely following the original sources with a few twists, presents a top-ten countdown of murder when an unsuspecting party experiences some startling events on Shipwreck Island, set in England. You play this third-person adventure/puzzler through main character Patrick Narracott, who has different reasons for throwing his hat into this decent whodunit.

You navigate using the Wii remote (no use of the Nunchuk here), which remote handles well, especially with a proper setup. Other activities like turning door knobs, digging, and safe-cracking provide a nice variety of movements amid the occasionally tedious and meticulous investigations you must complete. Navigation usually consists of sweeping each room, talking to each character, and double-clicking the A button to examine or even swipe various items.

Once you’ve got movement mastered, then your item inventory becomes a key element. Players have considerable challenges in logic, pinpointing, and overall management. After discovering an item’s use, searching for these occasionally hard-to-find items begins another challenge. Some items can be dissembled into smaller pieces or combined (considering pieces that seem out of place individually helps with match-ups). This method involves some trial-and-error play where you‘re get guiding comments from Narracott when you try different combinations.

As Narracott, you have stacks of suspects to wade through who usually have a cache of three responses to your various inquiries, which can be necessary for hints and a general sense of the current action. The linear aspects of the plot can be frustrating, especially with limited assistance, but this one-player game has self-satisfying rewards of progression for players who conduct a meticulous investigation, including multiple endings. The initial ten suspect characters provide a variety of reactions and possibilities, then the plot twists come as the numbers dwindle.

The voice acting, complete with “matter of fact” commentary on each current situation, is good while the excellent music score really enhances the game, which has a classic style that requires patience and problem solving. Players can choose the subtitle text option for the character dialogue for assistance.

The game could use some more visual polish such as bigger icons, more detailed face movements (not mention better lip synching) and, most of all, a smoother environment layout. The multiple endings provides some replay value while possibly enticing players who have the PC version, originally released in 2005, to try this one out. Players could potentially see more future Wii titles as well. The engaging puzzles and exploration/sleuthing should keep most adventure fans happy; just don’t try to complete this game in one day.

Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None is rated T (Teen) by the ESRB for Mild Violence. This game can also be found on: PC.