The Excavation of Hob's Barrow

What a wonderful game this is. The gameplay was swift and the pixel-art beautiful. Its gameplay reminded me strongly of King's Quest VI, only Hob's Barrow has a much darker script. Although it doesn't set out that way. Well thought out dialogues are both pleasant and dark alike. The voice acting is great, the music as well. The storyline sucks you right in. I wanted to keep playing to see where the story would take me. If you like horror that is not too gory (is that a word?), this might be a good fit. It's up to you to decide if the story is hogwash, or not. This adventure game is quite easy going in terms of playabilitiy. By that I mean that I didn't get stuck often. For me it had the right balance between using your head versus 'just following along'. I liked her eloquent curses. :) It doesn't get 5 stars because in some parts of the game, I would have liked to be able to do a bit more myself: some dialogue is a bit long-winded. But other than that: great work from the studio!

Excavation is atmospheric adventure game with aesthetic graphics, fairly simple puzzles and interesting story. I'd say the puzzles are too simple for any P&C veteran (there are mostly "what item should I use" puzzles and some more logical challenges towards the end), but could be a good starting point for people beginning their adventure with p&c adventure games. The ending is botched IMO, not because there's no happy ending (sad finale fits here well), but because of unnecessary exposition that takes out any surprise or uncertainty how all this is going to end and Thomasina just plainly ignores every warning sign that something's wrong along the way. Even though, I think the game is worth playing.

A really well made, well presented modern horror point and click adventure game. The sound and music are great, the music/ effects really contribute to a moody atmosphere and the voice acting was a high light for me. The visuals can shift from mundane to beautiful to haunting, and if the colours are a little muted, it fits the tone and can be jarring in the right moments. The interface and controls are very straightforward and simple, good for newcomers and veterans alike. The story prefers slow building dread, not really any jump scares here. While I didn't love every element of the story, if you like horror, you'll enjoy this. I'm not really a horror fan, and I found a lot to like here. One of the best modern point and click adevntures I've played.

There's a decent game in here, somewhere. The setup is nicely done, with the bleak Yorkshire village and countryside providing the background to the ominous overtones and a preparation for some kind of finale. I think, in literature, it's fine to have a character fall into a fateful path that leads to a dark ending. I mean, Daphne du Maurier is an expert here. However, in a point and click game, it feels get wrong being trapped into performing a sequence of actions you know to be harmful; a cut scene where the character does something stupid, sure, but don't make the player act that way. The better game crying to get out would have had three endings: - She sacrifices herself to save her father - She sacrifices her father to save herself - The status quo is maintained In summary, the good: - Voice acting is excellent - The sense of being in the Yorkshire Moors is spot on The bad: - The finale is suddenly like being in an Indiana Jones game - Players shouldn't be forced to make bad choices The ugly: - Sprite scaling breaks the pixel art theme

Yes.