Motorhome Trilogy Preview: Three Family Road Trips and One Raccoon in a Coat
There is a raccoon in this game who wears a coat. I need you to know that up front, because once you know he is out there, hiding somewhere in a canyon or behind a diner counter, you will never look at a hidden object scene the same way again.
He is the unofficial mascot of the Motorhome games, a cozy series about a family who packs up a camper and drives across America, stopping at national parks, ski towns, lakes and beaches, and finding things. Lots of things. Motorhome Trilogy puts the family's first three road trips together in one package, and it might be the best value on our shelf for anyone who just wants to sit back and search.
Three Trips, One Very Long Drive
Inside are the first three games: Motorhome: Traveling America and Traveling North America 2 and 3. Together they add up to 114 hidden object scenes and 108 puzzles and mini-games, which is a lot of road. The first trip takes in the kind of postcard stops you would expect, the Grand Canyon and Yosemite among them. By the third, the family is driving all the way from Portland, Oregon to Key West, from snowy mountain passes down to sunny coastline.
The story is gentle and stays out of your way. The family chats about where they are going, the kids are excited about the next stop, and every so often you pull over to help someone, like an elderly couple whose vehicle has broken down. It is less a plot than a mood: the feeling of a long summer drive with the windows down.
More Than a List
What keeps 114 scenes from blurring together is how many ways they ask you to look. Some scenes give you a classic list of words. Some show you silhouettes instead, so you are hunting by shape. Some ask you to find ten seashells or a flock of birds scattered across a beach. Some hand you a riddle. And little sparkling spots let you zoom into a smaller scene tucked inside the big one, but only sparkle when there is something on your list in there, which is a small, smart kindness.
Every scene also hides a few extras that are not on your list: a camera, a couple of items shown as pictures, and, of course, the raccoon. Finding them is optional. Not finding them is impossible to live with.
Souvenirs, Caps and a Family Album
This is the part that turns searching into collecting. The trips reward you with souvenirs from the states you pass through, and in the third game you collect a baseball cap at every stop and snap Polaroid-style photos for the family's road trip album. Watching that album fill up is a surprisingly warm feeling, like flipping through someone's real vacation pictures.
Between scenes, mini-games break things up: checkers, sudoku, sliding-block puzzles and pipe-connecting puzzles among them. They unlock as you travel, and if one is not your cup of tea you can skip it and keep driving.
Worth Knowing
This is a relaxed game, built to be enjoyed rather than raced. The hints are generous and there is a Skip button for puzzles, so nobody gets stranded at a rest stop. If you prefer a dark mystery with a twist at the end, this is not that game. If you want something to unwind with in the evening, it is exactly that game.
Is It Worth the Trip?
Absolutely, especially if you have played one Motorhome game and wished there were more. Three full trips in one download is a lot of pleasant evenings, and it all comes from AviGames, the same studio behind Sweet Home: Look and Find and the honeymoon cruise of Cruise Adventure: Hidden Journey, so you know the style: bright, tidy scenes and no stress.
When you reach the end of the third trip, the family's adventures continue in Motorhome: Traveling North America 4, where they join a motorhome rally. You can find every trip on our Motorhome collection page, and if cozy searching is your thing, see what Dream Day fans play next.
Try the free trial, pick a direction, and start looking for that raccoon.
