This quartet of freeware games are good examples of how to make horror games using amateur tools, though they also show some of the pitfalls. They use well worn tropes (haunted house, monster on a spaceship, mad cults summoning their god) but the details liven up the story and imbue them with mystery and atmosphere; with one exception I will get to shortly.
The graphics are simple, but well stylised and expressive. My main problems with the art are how well-lit everything is (some shadows would suit the mood) and how everyone's stiff posture when talking can make conversations look unnatural.
The stories improve greatly over the series. 5 Days A Stranger has a lot of silly stuff, starting with the protagonist, but a strong mystery makes it work; it's just more a pulp adventure than horror. 7 Days a Skeptic is the real weak link: the plot relies on rampant stupidity, there's no mystery to solve, and the ending is nonsense. Trilby's Notes however learns from past mistakes and uses clever gameplay to create a genuine feeling of dread. Then 6 Days A Sacrifice neatly ties them all together.
The interface and puzzles are where my frustrations come from. Every click opens up a clunky menu. Some clickable objects are only a pixel or two wide; use a mouse, not a touchpad. Dialogue flashes on the main screen in an odd font, which can be difficult to read, and can't be scrolled back. Each game but the last will spring surprise deaths with no warning to save. And I had to go back and forth across the maps many times, often with a lot of tedious clicking, as I searched for the next usable item. Interestingly, I found the text parser of Notes to be no worse than the point-and-click interface of the other games.
Above all, the puzzles. They can be very clever, and the final puzzle of Notes is sheer genius. But each game at some point had me scrambling for walkthroughs. There is always a logic at work, but it can be very obtuse. It would help to have more guiding hints, say in dialogue. Other freeware puzzle games like Ib avoid these flaws.
Overall, they are worth playing. But do so in release order, not that of the download folder.
Tense and engaging, if frustrating
This quartet of freeware games are good examples of how to make horror games using amateur tools, though they also show some of the pitfalls. They use well worn tropes (haunted house, monster on a spaceship, mad cults summoning their god) but the details liven up the story and imbue them with mystery and atmosphere; with one exception I will get to shortly.
The graphics are simple, but well stylised and expressive. My main problems with the art are how well-lit everything is (some shadows would suit the mood) and how everyone's stiff posture when talking can make conversations look unnatural.
The stories improve greatly over the series. 5 Days A Stranger has a lot of silly stuff, starting with the protagonist, but a strong mystery makes it work; it's just more a pulp adventure than horror. 7 Days a Skeptic is the real weak link: the plot relies on rampant stupidity, there's no mystery to solve, and the ending is nonsense. Trilby's Notes however learns from past mistakes and uses clever gameplay to create a genuine feeling of dread. Then 6 Days A Sacrifice neatly ties them all together.
The interface and puzzles are where my frustrations come from. Every click opens up a clunky menu. Some clickable objects are only a pixel or two wide; use a mouse, not a touchpad. Dialogue flashes on the main screen in an odd font, which can be difficult to read, and can't be scrolled back. Each game but the last will spring surprise deaths with no warning to save. And I had to go back and forth across the maps many times, often with a lot of tedious clicking, as I searched for the next usable item. Interestingly, I found the text parser of Notes to be no worse than the point-and-click interface of the other games.
Above all, the puzzles. They can be very clever, and the final puzzle of Notes is sheer genius. But each game at some point had me scrambling for walkthroughs. There is always a logic at work, but it can be very obtuse. It would help to have more guiding hints, say in dialogue. Other freeware puzzle games like Ib avoid these flaws.
Overall, they are worth playing. But do so in release order, not that of the download folder.