The Horror at Highrook

I give my review with a heavy heart because I wanted this game to be what it wasn't in the end. I can see the hard work in it but sadly I can't recommend it. Pros: - what you see in the demo is accurate and it's not overselling. - the game has a story, although nothing you wouldn't expect - characters are nice an unique compared to each other - the game has side content - interestingly enough the lore section is the most developed through notes that you can read and sometimes it can be more than just exposition - atmosphere is on point, visual style, audio, all good - I didn't encounter any bugs. shows that execution wasn't done to 90% so that it works with some glitches but it was cared for Cons: - the game doesn't develop much further from what you see in the demo. during the game you will pretty much face the same challenge with a variation of higher difficulty or an added obstacle. I don't want to go into too much detail in case you decide you want to play - side content is shallow - most likely it changes part of the ending but that doesn't come close to the effort you put int them - the game doesn't really test you, there are no puzzles, if you pay attention to cards that are unique through the game and focus on them, you are set for victory. I don't really see how you could fix this issue and I wouldn't want to start a discussion here. - too much farming. mostly in relation to how much other stuff you are doing - character status system. this goes back to the previous point. most of the time needing to send someone to sleep is just a nuance that you have to do at times. and if you want to feed someone, you execute a 3 step action to go back to normal. and you do this throughout the game for the sake of doing it. necessity collision is not a real issue. - this point is personal since I like to be very precise with my timing after cultist simulator and book of hours - the UI tends to pause when I stop time. after some event happens and I would need to click a card and I had to let the game run and keep clicking. I would ignore this if not for the rest but this way it's just adding to the negative experience I finished the game mostly to see the end of it, did all side content but at some point there was nothing new in the game, just the continuation of the story. If you want more than a linear farming game, I don't recommend this for you.

I'm on the fence about this game, its not a awful game just pretty disappointing. The gameplay is pretty simple, cards are assigned specific rooms in the manor and you send investigators to complete activities in each room using the cards. There's not a huge amount of complexity to it, each room has it own buff cards that you need progressively more of as the game progresses and the core gameplay loop focuses around getting more of the buff cards by completing tasks in other rooms. It gets very repetitive because regardless of the story reason for what you're doing, it is always the same collecting buff cards to move forward. Theres no puzzles or alternative ways of solving problems, cards have to be used in the exact place that they specify and while each of the characters have their own little side stories, you achieve them by just doing more of the collecting buff cards. The sidequests aren't harder, you don't have to do anything different, it just takes more time. Despite the game being classed as a horror game, it really isn't. The setting is great and the story is fun but its kinda ruined when the demons and the entities show up and they don't really effect you at all. If anything they are more like minor annoyances or just things you need to repeat the exact same gameplay loop on to defeat. Most of the entities show up for a small amount of time then leave to haunt elsewhere in the house, being in the same room as them causing your investigators to slowly become mad or become injured. Its not nearly fast enough of an effect to have any issue, the game has a several ways of completely healing your investigators of madness and injury, its very accessible, you can usually keep 1 or 2 cards to heal yourself in stock at all times and even if you didn't have those cards stocked, they are very easy to obtain. The other investigator stats of fatigue and hunger have the same issue, very quick to resolve. I initially micromanaged the characters health meters, keeping them as close to perfect health as possible and keeping them as far away from the entities as possible, but mid way through the game I just stopped, because it didn't really matter. As long as the bars don't reach 100, there is no debuff or negative for damaging the investigators. The entities aren't a threat, if anything they just use up an extra card slot in a room, which is just a bit annoying late game. There aren't really consequences for playing badly and you never have to weigh up risk vs reward for anything because of how linear it is. There's also so many small interesting things in this game that get introduced and then just dropped or ignored. One of the investigators has the alcoholism trait, which involves them becoming injured every in game day unless they drink, but if you keep them sober long enough them they can recover from the trait. Alcohol being the only thing in the game that reduces madness so I thought this was a cool mechanic. Similar to the entities of the house, the withdrawal injury is so minor and easily mitigated that it takes away any issue, I did have to take some care to avoid inducing madness for the character but it didn't require me to change much about my gameplay to be honest. I expected some kind of buff or story beat after the character recovered as it was the harder path to take but there wasn't anything so it all felt pretty pointless. To note, this is the only trait any of the investigators have, the only thing similar is a sickness later in the game that some of the entities give, where they are damaged over time but again its very slow and cured easily. It would have been nice if the investigators had different traits at the start or if the entities inflicted some unique modifier on the characters that meaningfully affected the game, the investigators do have different cards they get buffs to but they all play pretty much the same. There's a levelling up mechanic that the game forces you to use for 2 chapters to level up each character twice, you are given enough resources for each investigator so there's no deliberating over which ones you level for strategic purposes. You have to level all of them to continue the story so it all feels a bit pointless, you don't really have to put any effort in, the investigators might as well have levelled up in a dialogue scene or just automatically between chapters. The level ups don't change the game in any meaningful way, the characters just get a plus one to their skills and the difficulty of the cards get a plus one as well in the same chapters so nothing changes. I kind of wish this was an early access game because there's a lot of interesting things about it, the setting and art is really fun, its a great concept, and there's potential for it to be a really good game. But it's far too easy, there's no sense of horror or dread and the game play doesn't really evolve past what you get in the first 15 minutes.

A fun little story that takes about a day to complete. Fun puzzling, engaging story, well-written characters that are consistent. One minor gripe: It seems nearly impossible to beat this game without every character becoming an alcoholic. That being said, there is basically no downside to alcoholism. So why is it in the game? [spoiler]It would make sense if there was some story/ending change/achievement, but there isn't.[/spoiler] Otherwise fine game, not something I would want to replay again and again though.

Being a fan of anything Lovecraftian, this was easy for me to enjoy. I really enjoyed the new take on a card game and especially enjoyed the story. It was fun to progress through each chapter. The art style was nice too. Loved the visual depictions of the "demons". If there were any criticisms, it would be that you can get lost in what to do next, but this easily resolves by using your tools as hand - some steps take using the tools multiple times to get the forward step you need. Great game.

I've been obsessed with card-based management games ever since Cultist Simulator, and this game hit just the right spot of similar but different. It's way more linear, more forgiving, less mysterious, shorter, and more narrative-driven than Cultist Simulator. I didn't enjoy Cultist Simulator until I started using guides and wikis because I like timer management but not having to trial-and-error game mechanics. I played this game start to finish without even being tempted to look up anything. I probably will never fully comprehend the dense, layered lore of Cultist Simulator, but in this game, I feel like I got all the story in my one run. It's not too challenging, and not the most replayable, but it was an experience that was enjoyable and engaging, and probably one that I'll return to every few years when I've forgotten most of the finer details.

Played the demo, and I decided this was for me. I was correct. It's mostly a very straightforward game where you sometimes have to puzzle out how to progress. Most times, it's fairly simple, but the gameplay loop is fun, and I actually liked the characters in it. Nails the vibe of being like a board game, and it's about as long as it needs to be. There are sidequests (one for each character) that you can work on as you progress. These are just for some extra story bits for each one. Overall, I really enjoyed the experience. I don't see much replay value here, aside from if you missed some sidequest stuff, but the price is right for the quality and length here, in my opinion. At the very least, check the demo out. If you enjoy that (it takes you through the first chapter), you will probably enjoy the rest of the game.

I really enjoyed the game. I would love to experinece more adventures in this world, and explore other places.

I really want to like this game, it has so many pieces of things I should enjoy. I will say that I CAN recommend this to you if you are interested in cultist simulator's mechanics but get overwhelmed by it, and you catch it on sale. It's a cultist simulator fangame in all but universe. Which is to say, that comparison is almost always going to be unflattering for you if you aren't literally the people who made cultist simulator. Incredibly ambitious shoes to try on. I kept waiting for the characters to reveal more depth as the story went on, or for the gameplay to challenge me, or for the survival needs meters to be relevant. None of these happened. The little snippets of lore regarding the eldritch stuff itself are nice, but the writing is so starkly different from the rest of the game's writing that it feels like it was written by someone else. The choice at the end is nearly pointless, imo. We don't know enough about the girl to really care about her other than general sympathy for an innocent bystander, and we have no strong reason to want to help the man of the house. I completed all of the characters' sidequests (because it was easy, you'd have to go out of your way to avoid doing it otherwise) and the endcards (the only outcome from the sidequests) really didn't make me feel anything at all, because I had no emotional attachments to the characters. Honestly, I was referring to them by their professions rather than their names, even up to the end, because that was all there was to their characters. I really wanted to like this one, but it's an "eh" from me.

Highly recommend this game if you enjoy games such as cultist simulator or book of hours. Its very much like play a story style board game. The story itself is rather self contained with a lot of text tucked into item and action description. Its really worth clicking and reading through everything, and just soaking in the atmosphere of the game. its rather short, but that is not a detriment. It takes you through the story lasting long enough to do so but not dragging on. One of the biggest praises I can give a game with a major story focus, is i'd like more. The setting intrigues me and I hope we get to explore more in a future game.

I played this game because it initially looked like a Cultist Simulator-esque game with a Darkest Dungeon-core artstyle. And it is! It feels VERY Cultist Simulator, except smaller scale and without failstates. Also noticeably less stressful, leading to a simple but enjoyable puzzle gameplay with a decent (although slightly predictable) story to go along with it. After putting in 7h, I have completed the game with all the achievements. I would rate it a 6.5/10 - not a must-play, but if you enjoy resource-management story games where you have to play around a bit to find the answer due to very little tutorial, then you will enjoy this. All in all a decent little game, and I feel pretty satisfied.

I really wish I could blindly support this game. The pricing, pacing, writing, and difficulty are very lacking. [h1] A simplified Cultist Horror Simulator [/h1] [list] [*] + Easy to understand UI [*] +/- Zero punishment for grinding or incentive to not grind [*] - Severely lacking in replay-ability and player skill expression [*] - Buggy cutscenes and unintuitive inventory management [/list] The game starts slowly and gradually builds up to more challenging scenarios, but there was never a point where I felt challenged. Even the game's final challenge to the player was just at worst a time waster. I was always managing my characters well to the point of almost perfect condition constantly, but at the end I just stopped caring and nothing stopped me despite this neglect. The lack of punishment for grinding or putting actions later meant that there was never a reason in-game to go fast. I have completed the game and I feel no reason to replay the game. The path to the end will be very much the same, and my "reward" for replaying the end part is a screen of text. I didn't even have to go to a second playthrough to 100% the achievements because of how the game saves, and honestly, I was so glad that I could just reload before the end to do so. Only auto-saves and exit to menu saves was certainly a choice. On top of that, there are moments in the story where it is mandatory to look at a particular module, and I would say about 90% of the time the UI just broke and would not let me advance without exiting to main menu and resuming again. For $20 (or even like $10) you can pick a game that does more than this. You don't even need a super huge discounted $40-60 game. Off the top of my head, there's Cultist Simulator and Sultan's Game. They will provide something similar with a bit of randomness or different endings to go for. Games don't have to have branching paths or whatnot to be good, but this game isn't a game that left a huge impression on me. I hope I'm able to come back to this review one day and say, "hey, they updated the game and it's so much better!" I'm not holding my breath, though.

Finished the game in just under 15 hours and enjoyed every bit of it. Game is very well done, good narrative, not one problem or bug. Good work!

8.4 hours for full completion 1 missable achievement based on end of game decisions, make a backup save before you choose. You'll know it when you see it. You explore rooms to gain cards and those cards are either One-time story based, permanent items, or items you can explore the room again to regain if you use them or they expire. Fairly easy to beat as fail states you're warned about and there are easy to access fixes. Fail states are injury, fatigue, madness, and hunger. Towards midgame you have items that will cure 3/4 (not injury) for all characters if they're in the same room so it's easy to manage. Fairly familiar eldritch based story told through exploring a dozen or so rooms. Low/zero replayability, especially if you made a backup save before your end of game decision.

It's great. It plays like a narrative board game with lots to explore.

I absolutely love this game. Do you like the novel concept of Cultist Simulator, but don't like dying a 100 times before making any progress? What if there was a game which actually honors your playing time and doesn't require you to start over a dozen times to make progress? A game in which you don't need to invest 20 hours on the 10th attempt before RNG throws you over cliff once again? Yes, it's a rather linear experience, but that's completely fine with me. I don't have hours and hours of gaming time on my daily schedule, and I don't intend to find ways to unlock all the 27 endings of CS. Highrook has a superb graphical style, a really cool story, it scratches that Lovecraftian itch really well. With minor exceptions, pacing is really good, it offers a well-made balance between maintaining mystery and providing transparency of why things are happening to the player. You'll see how the gameplay is working out very well during the demo, but the mechanics and story continue to evolve in an excellent manner. Nullpointer games, I hope you get rich and make many more games like that.

A great board game well leveraging the benefits that come with it being in virtual form. Not too demanding, great title to decompress to after a long day. (++) The decision to keep it very board-focused works well; comes with its unique art style derived from this perspective; straight forward how to play the game (put a card on a gameboard slot). (+) Very good, inquisitive story premise and the story itself that is not too much in the way (+) Hits the mark on the not-too-difficult/not-too-dull scale (+) Decent art direction (--) Half-way down you will fall into a rut; a very repetitive gameplay loop. (-) Relies too much on the incremental design (-) Feels a bit "cheap". With a bit of polish from some game design point of view + some eye and feel candy + QoL aspect it could be a really memorable benchmark in the genre. (~) The core mechanics are heavily inspired by the Book of Hours. Not a bad thing as that is a great game BUT if you've played it, the wear of the core game loop will creep on you very soon.

Seems kinda like Cultist Simulator or Book of Hours inspired, either way its pretty much an adventure game just with cards instead of point & click.

I enjoyed the atmosphere quite a bit. The lore was fun to read. Just enough spooky goings on for someone like me (I don't like to be disturbed, only intrigued). Sound and visuals were fine, actually better than I had expected going in. Easy to tell one thing from another and what is going on. The game does a great job of teaching you how to play it. I never needed to look anything up online to understand it. I have only finished 1 playthrough and it looks as though it would not be possible to get all achievements without a 2nd run, for your information.

This game is well put together and tells an engaging story, but I think the price point is a little high for what it is. This experience is sold as a single player mystery board game, and it is that, specifically Betrayal at House on the Hill, if that game had only one ten hour long mega-haunt. As a board game and mystery enthusiast, I love this concept! Each of your four characters has expertise in certain skills they'll need to explore and uncover the secrets of the estate. Meanwhile you'll need to manage four meters: health, exhaustion, sanity, and food to make sure your characters don't.... I'm not actually sure. I never had anyone get particularly close to maxing out any one meter. That's a bit of the problem for me. There's not much difficulty clicking around once you get the hang of things, so it at times feels like a visual novel where the characters occasionally refuse to say their next line of dialogue until you hunt some meat on the cliffs, then prepare it in the kitchen, then eat it in the dining hall. Other times you just need one of the semi-random tasks to give you the resource you need so you can progress, leaving three of your characters to twiddle their thumbs or take a nap while Atticus goes digging up the courtyard again. This is where price point becomes a problem. Compare Horror at Highbrook to Darkest Dungeon, a game this one takes inspiration from, especially in the art (though many Lovecraft inspired games have a shared visual style, so this isn't a knock against). For $5 more for DD you get 5x the game length, some voice acting and more sound effects, a more in-depth and satisfying gameplay loop (though it is combat, so not for everyone), and more character templates that you also have more control over. I won't compare the sale prices, since Darkest Dungeon is ten years old at this point and therefore has much higher discounts, but I think there's a pretty steep value gap here. But all in all, it was a fun, if unsurprising, story and a few of the characters really grew on me by the end. And it is still satisfying to peel back the layers of this onion. There's a lot to like! I recommend it. Buy it on sale like I did.

Really enjoyed the more unique elements of this game, also a big fan of any kind of Lovecraftian mystery. This was the kind of game I could jump in and out of and be quite relaxed while playing - enjoyed all the different cards, tasks and managing the survival of the investigators.

Decent game. Gameplay is a bit repetitive, but the story is well told for the format, and the game doesn't really drag so the repetitiveness doesn't really feel like grinding. Not much in the way of replay value as far as I can tell, but it was fun while it lasted. Warning: Pay attention to how much of something you can have at once; excess will simply not be produced. This is particularly relevant because you can only make so many dream droughts *total* so if one vanishes because you already had two when you made it, you can no longer progress in the game. This is the only such glitch I've found.

The game is not without its quirks - I rolled a bad draw of cards six times in a row near the end (Moon Mirror, a curse on ye!), but overall it's a nice, atmospheric game. Not my favorite, but not the worst of its kind that I have tried.

I really enjoyed this game, the atmosphere and visuals are definitely big high points. It took me just under 9 hours to do everything including the side missions, so be aware of the time vs cost if that isn't a ratio that is worth it for you personally. I'm a huge fan of board games like Betrayal at House on the Hill, and this definitely scratched that itch.

Good fun, and a much more accessible take on Cultist Simulator's "cthonic solitaire', but it also feels too short for the price...I was expecting something like 15+ 'chapters' instead of 8, adding to our party of 4 as time went on, or there to be more sudden-but-inevitable betrayals. If the dev kept their code in decent shape, though, I could see them banging out an entire series exploring the setting with these mechanics over the next couple years. tldr: try the demo, the game is probably around 5-20 hours long depending on how much of it you read/pause for, but it is good enough to show friends and hope for more in the future!

The Horror at Highrook is a mystery investigation game that plays more like a puzzle than anything else in my opinion. The progress is linear and the game can be completed in around 10h with no missable achievements (if the autosave at midnight is taken into account before committing to final choices). I enjoyed my time with it, I liked the aesthetics, I loved the card based gameplay, unlocking new support tools and cards always felt great as it opened up parts you could not reach / access before. Openening more and more of the manor also was really nice. All characters got their moments to shine by having their unique traits and even characters I disliked first got more personality over the course of their personal quest and the context of the events, including ending slides. If anything I would have wished for narration in the style from the trailer in which the characters are introduced as it would have benefited from narration or voices akin to darkest dungeon with the vibes of the mansion and rituals gone askew. So thumbs up from me! :D

A great little game, it took me about 12 hours to finish it but if you're smarter than me you could do it faster. there are no jump scares just, creepy music art and writing. If I had to complain Id say it isn't very hard, but this is hardly dark souls.

really fun mystery so far, i feel like im very close to beating it. Super worth playing

Really enjoyed this game, except for that damn cat....the amount of times I couldn't feed a starving character because we can't possibly move the cat was annoying. But other than that it was fun trying to figure out how to advance in each chapter. It would have helped if I had paid more attention to where the support cards were made from but that's my own inattention not the game's fault

I thought this game was great, if you abuse the Pause game button it can be easy but playing in real time can give some more challenge. The story was fun and interesting until the end The whole thing really felt like managing a team of investigators who are so obsessed with finding answers that they will forget to eat, sleep and drink if you let them. So the game becomes mostly about finding the pieces you need to complete tasks without also getting so distracted that you forget to make them take a break to eat and sleep.

a crow and a cat help you overcome the horrors of the other world, essentially you are a 20 year old millennial woman trying to quit nicotine

Very cool game so far with a great atmosphere

A bit frustrating at times but worth the investment

A bit grindy at times, but enjoyed this one quite a bit!

A wholesome story that gives you some cards to fiddle with.

I am having fun playing this game.

Good story.

Fun

Mr Tubbs my beloved

i loved it so much