Thanks to Ratalaika Games for the code for this review!

Trails and Traces: The Tomb of Thomas Tew is a fun point-and-click game. The plot involves searching out the Tomb of Thomas Tew and begins with your main character hearing a cry for help in the street and being asked to help a person who is trapped in his basement. The main character begins with asking if he should call the police, and then the second character explaining "errr, no, I've kind of been living in here!" From here, the adventure begins.

TaT (Trails and Traces) operates by the old point-and-click method. As it starts, you can move the cursor to various objects in the setting, and the game even spells out what they are for the player. Examples include 'Door', 'cardboard box', 'poster' and 'steel drawers.' As the player points and clicks, Thomas will make comments that help the player progress. For example, the first task- ordering the key- Thomas will say 'It's a sturdy door. Unless I find the key- which is unlikely- I'll need to find something to force it open." This gives the clue to the player that the next objective is finding a key. Similar clues are given that help the player progress in a fun and easy manner that still keeps the momentum of the game going.

The graphics of this game are somewhat between 2-D and 3-D; a fun combination of the old and the new. Trails and Traces moves like the old DOS detective games- think the original Carmen Sandiego. But Thomas looks more like a Sims character as he moves and goes about his business.

The voice acting is well done. Trails and Traces gives the player a choice between voice and text acting both, text only, or voice only. I found this an interesting touch, and a good option more games should consider. Some players like reading the voices themselves and interjecting themselves into the game; this was one of my fondest memories growing up on the NES and SNES consoles, and some accents could be annoying or displeasing to certain listeners. Other players may prefer voice only since they prefer to not read. Still others may like to both hear the voice and the text so they are best able to follow along with the clues and play the game. I did find the voice of the character Thomas is helping very annoying, and as such, muted the game whilst he was speaking. But this was just a personal preference, and did not detract my enjoyment of Trails and Traces at all.

What is the moral score? Nothing is 100 percent clean; ever. It's rated T for Teen but I didn't really find anything that would be too scary for older kids except maybe the backstory of piracy. I would not give it to very young kids simply because of the difficulty level with the sleuthing and the backstory could possibly frighten them. Due to the crude language (sh*t) I also would avoid it giving it to younger gamers.

I can recommend Trails and Traces with caution, albeit still a clear conscience. I would certainly keep it away from gamers under 10.