Lovecraftian Games on the IF Archive
Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 3:26 pm
Anybody else fanatic about H.P. Lovecraft like me? As important as his work was to the horror genre in literature, it always surprises me how few games there are that tribute Lovecraft. The best known commercial examples in the interactive fiction world are probably Infocom's The Lurking Horror and Eldritch Games' The Hound of Shadow, both of which have solutions here. However, over the years there have been a few very high-quality games posted on the IF archive:
Anchorhead, probably the best of the bunch. I still haven't finished this one, but it has a deep plot, excellent writing, faithful Lovecraftian atmosphere, and extremely well-designed characters. I've been very impressed with this one, and I'm absolutely refusing to use a walkthrough to solve it.
The Awakening, another very good one. The review at that link is correct: any fans of Lovecraft will figure out this game very early. Nevertheless, it didn't interfere with my enjoyment of the game. It's short and sweet, and rich in atmosphere.
The Temple. There is no review at that link, but I found this game to be very enjoyable and extremely atmospheric. I like the dreamlike quality of the game, how it reminded me of many different Lovecraft stories without being inspired by any particular ones.
And the Waves Choke the Wind, also very short, as this game is supposed to be the prologue to another game which, as far as I know, still hasn't been made. Thus, the the cliffhanger ending is basically a disappointment. Still, it's pretty good for just being a demo, and worth checking out.
Any of these games is worth checking out if you're fans of horror, and definitely if you like Lovecraft. With the exception of Anchorhead, they're all very short and not at all difficult.
There are a few other Lovecraftian games in the IF Archive (HERE is a list of most of them), but the ones I've mentioned are the good ones that I'm familiar with. There is another, Ecdysis, which I haven't really tried, but looks very intriguing. I don't know why Nevermore is on that list, since it's a Poe adaptation, although a good one, from what I hear.
Marco.
Anchorhead, probably the best of the bunch. I still haven't finished this one, but it has a deep plot, excellent writing, faithful Lovecraftian atmosphere, and extremely well-designed characters. I've been very impressed with this one, and I'm absolutely refusing to use a walkthrough to solve it.
The Awakening, another very good one. The review at that link is correct: any fans of Lovecraft will figure out this game very early. Nevertheless, it didn't interfere with my enjoyment of the game. It's short and sweet, and rich in atmosphere.
The Temple. There is no review at that link, but I found this game to be very enjoyable and extremely atmospheric. I like the dreamlike quality of the game, how it reminded me of many different Lovecraft stories without being inspired by any particular ones.
And the Waves Choke the Wind, also very short, as this game is supposed to be the prologue to another game which, as far as I know, still hasn't been made. Thus, the the cliffhanger ending is basically a disappointment. Still, it's pretty good for just being a demo, and worth checking out.
Any of these games is worth checking out if you're fans of horror, and definitely if you like Lovecraft. With the exception of Anchorhead, they're all very short and not at all difficult.
There are a few other Lovecraftian games in the IF Archive (HERE is a list of most of them), but the ones I've mentioned are the good ones that I'm familiar with. There is another, Ecdysis, which I haven't really tried, but looks very intriguing. I don't know why Nevermore is on that list, since it's a Poe adaptation, although a good one, from what I hear.
Marco.