Casual game developer Merscom is celebrating the next collaboration between director Martin Scorsese and actor Leonardo DiCaprio and their upcoming psychological thriller, Shutter Island, with a hidden object game based on said movie.

Reportedly, the Shutter Island game will follow the plot of the film, which itself is based on the 2003 Dennis Lehane (Mystic River; Gone, Baby, Gone) novel of the same name.

Players take on the role of a U.S. Marshall as they attempt to find a number of patients who have gone missing from a creepy psychiatric hospital (for the criminally insane and everything) while unraveling the disturbing secrets within. To achieve these ends, players must find hidden items strewn about 7 levels and 20 environments and participate in some mini-games for good measure.

"The plot of the Shutter Island film lends itself very well to a hidden object casual video game," said Paramount Digital Entertainment VP John Kavanagh. "We look forward to bringing Shutter Island to casual gamers and fans of the film this Fall."

The Shutter Island game is slated for release on October 2, the same day as the film.

While core gamers may scoff at the casually cerebral nature of a hidden object adventure, the Shutter Island game looks to build on Merscom's experience in creating successful commercial casual games based on major media properties. Specifically, Merscom's joint productions with Lifetime Network's Blood Ties and with Starz Media's Righteous Kill were two of the most successful hidden object games of 2008, with each title proving not only popular with fans of the TV and movie properties, but also the broader casual games market.

"Shutter Island represents a great opportunity to bring a property that will already be leveraged over multiple media, particularly books and film, to the casual game market," said Lloyd Melnick, Chief Customer Officer at Merscom. "Launching the game just prior to the theatrical premiere will help the game benefit from the strong marketing for the film, and at the same time introduce gamers to this thrilling movie."
 
 

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