An English Haunting: Game Review
Hello there, dear reader! It feels a bit weird to be getting back into the habit of blogging, but also good?
Since it’s been a while since my last review, I thought I’d do a game review! It’s so rare that I find a game I am willing to sink time into to finish so this was exciting!
Before diving in, wanted to remind you that I keep all spoilers beneath the spoiler line so you have fair warning to avoid them!
Also, if you haven’t yet — don’t forget, I have a done of free to read fiction here on my blog! You can check them out here. I also have a ton of published stories and novellas available in my Published Works section.
Now onto the review!
Background
An English Haunting is a point-and-click, pixel art cozy horror game that was released in May of 2024 and was developed by Postmodern Adventures, which is an indie company run by solo developer José María Meléndez, award-winning adventure game designer. Besides this game, Postmodern Adventures has released Nightmare Frames, Billy Masters Was Right, and Urban Witch Story.
Currently this game is only available on PC.
Plot
“An English Haunting is a memorable experience, revealing an intricate, gripping story, elaborate and varied locations, plus stimulating puzzles that are not mind-bogglingly difficult.
4.5/5 ”
“A madness for spiritualism has gripped London in 1907. Séances and theatrical shows where spirits make contact with their living families are all the rage, and there are a legion of investigators trying to discover the secrets of the supernatural. Among them, Professor Patrick Moore stands at the forefront, and he is now at a crossroads ‒ he's got 72 hours to prove the existence of the Great Beyond or else his Metapsychic Investigations Department will shut down forever.
Racing against the clock, with the help of a fake medium named Beatrice Shaw, he must complete a prototype of the Box of Revelations, an artefact devised by his missing mentor that enables seeing dimensions hidden in our reality. Building this device will take him from the foggy streets of London to the steep shores of Scotland, and finally to 34 Benwell Street, known as the most haunted manor of England.” — An English Haunting Steam Page
Review
I absolutely love point-and-click horror games and they get extra points if they are pixel art. I think I found a recommendation for this game on Reddit and I am so glad I saw it.
I wanted to call out how amazing it is that this game was created by a solo developer. It’s a super polished game and the developer’s passion really shows.
The game is based on the Victorian craze for the afterlife and the main character’s quest to find his friend and prove the existence of ghosts.
Overall the story was really strong, with excellent pacing, and puzzles that weren’t too difficult that I needed a guide or anything. I ended up finishing it in two nights because I didn’t want to stop playing it (about six hours of gameplay.)
It was a horror game but definitely leaned more to the cozy side so I never really felt super scared or even tense to be honest. Still, the soundtrack, art, and content really helped build the atmosphere.
It also had some cute extras like you can watch a silent film or answer a horror novel trivia quiz for fun.
The characters were really fun too. The cast even featured real figures from the period, such as the medium Florence Cook, physicist William Crookes, illusionist Harry Houdini, and even writer Arthur Conan Doyle (who you get to play as in one of the chapters!)
The ending really wrapped things up successfully as well. In the end, I felt that the storytelling, music, and art of the game created a super satisfying game to play. I’ll definitely be checking out the developer’s other games!
10/10
x PLM
SPOILER LINE! YOU’VE BEEN WARNED
Diving into some more detail here!
I really enjoyed the ending! You end up at a key location (haunted house) where the evil spirit possesses one of the characters and, using the amplification powers of the artefact you found, is ripping a tear in time and space.
I loved the nod towards Lovecraft (at least that’s what it felt like.)
Then, the ending has the possessed character sucked into the void to close it. It feels so bittersweet. However, the main character goes back to his class and gets a signal from the beyond. His friend trapped in the afterlife writes a final message on his chalkboard.
It was so perfect, so eerie. *chef’s kiss*
Truly such a satisfying end to a game. If you’ve played it, let me know what you thought in the comments below!
