The Queen's Tales is a duology of hidden object games published by Blue Fish Games.
The first game, The Beast and the Nightingale, is loosely based on the German fairy tale The Singing, Springing Lark, collected by the Brothers Grimm. A wizened queen tells bedtime stories of her youth to her daughter: when she was 18 years old, her father gave her a magic nightingale as a return present from a voyage. Turns out, a Beast threatened her father with a choice: either he comes to serve him, or his daughter comes in his stead.
Compare Dark Parables and Mystery Legends: Beauty and the Beast, other series of hidden object games that adapt fairy tales.
The first game in the series contains the following tropes:
- Beast and Beauty: But of course, since the tale is a German variant of the French tale Beauty and the Beast.
- Beauty Equals Goodness: Implied. Although we never see the heroine's face when she is young, both Dorian and the Beast comment about her kindness of heart and beauty.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Turns out Varga corrupted Dorian and turned him into her puppet to stop the heroine.
- Celestial Deadline: As soon as the heroine gets the nightingale, the Beast warns her she must come to his castle until midnight. After she reaches the castle and meets the Beast, he tells her he must marry a woman before midnight strikes, otherwise he will be in cursed beast form forever.
- Chain of Deals: During a certain part of the game, the heroine has to find a gnome and take from him a sea-maid's harp, give it to the sea-maid, and in exchange obtain a fairy's magic mirror.
- Distressed Dude: The Beast is actually the Prince of Flowers, cursed by sorceress Varga. Breaking his curse is ultimately the heroine's goal. And in the bonus game, after he is disenchanted, the sorceress encases him in a block of ice and he needs saving.
- Evil Sorcerer: Two: the evil sorceress Varga and the heroine's childhood friend, Dorian.
- Fertile Feet: Fertile song, you mean. According to the heroine's father, the nightingale's song can make "plants grow, bloom and bear fruit".
- Framing Device: The stories of the main game and the bonus chapter are told by the heroine years later as bedtime stories to her daughter.
- Fungi Are Plants: To solve a puzzle, the heroine uses the nightingale's song — which can make plants grow and bloom — on some tree fungi so that they may enlarge.
- Ring of Power: The heroine uses the magic ring to teleport from her house to the Beast's castle.
- Sliding Scale of Gameplay and Story Integration: As explained by the heroine's father, the magic nightingale has powers related to nature and plants. This integrates into the game by the player using the nightingale to solve some of its puzzles.
- Sweet Tooth: In the first game, the heroine must bribe their house goblin with "something tasty" to advance. It ends up being a candy.
- When Trees Attack: On her way to the Beast's castle, the heroine's path is blocked by two evil-looking trees.
