Modern Tales: Age of Invention does a good job of supplying a point-and-click hidden object adventure that provides an interesting narrative, plenty of puzzles to get stuck into and a decent selection of scenes to scour for items within. The only real problem is that it doesn’t deliver anything innovative and instead lacks in fresh ideas.

If you’ve played any title from Artifex before, you’ll know exactly what to expect here, warts and all. Due to its poor voice work, its shoddy writing, and its laughable animation, it can be hard to get truly invested in the story that Modern Tales: Age of Invention offers. It’s a shame, because underneath these rather frustrating drawbacks sits an interesting setting that’s really only upheld by the game’s intelligent puzzle design and its gorgeous artwork.