The Horror at Highrook is an interesting Eldritch mystery with an interesting card mechanic.
The Horror at Highrook is an interesting creation made and published by Nullpointer Games and Outersloth. Being Nullpointer Games’ second released title, the game seems to have taken the studio up a peg, showing audiences have better received them as of this writing.
The studio’s first title, Into the Pit, is a fast-paced retro-FPS roguelite. The game’s outline will have the players playing as a member of a lore-hunting family of mystics. The player is summoned to the cursed village, having heard rumours of a demonic portal investing the village with dark magics, leaving it up to the player to be the saviour by growing power as they go into the pit.
Although the game seems to have a mixed bag of reviews on Steam, after examining comments and other reviews, I found that the opinions fall under player preferences and don’t cast the game in a bad light.
The latest title, The Horror at Highrook, is an interestingly captivating game with a unique tabletop feel and almost an old-fashioned Dungeons and Dragons setup. The game will have the players entering the game with an interesting approach, cards portraying the details of the mystery that the players will have to investigate.
The first information given to the player will consist of HighRook Estate: Highrook is described as an aristocratic “eyrie” of cold rock and rain. The Horror at Highrook’s descriptions of information read like poetry in a way, giving subtle details, along with a visual in the form of a painted-looking tarot card portraying the estate in all its glory. This approach continues with the other detail provided to the player.
The player is informed of the Ackeron Family, a once highly respected family held in high regard by the city elites; this explains the family’s fall from grace to becoming nothing more than the subjects of rumours and snide remarks.
It also hints at the patriarch of the family, Lord Ackeron, and his interest in collecting books and an even more growing interest in the occult. This path did not sit well with those in the line of academic practice, and they shunned him for it.
As the player carefully reads through the information on the family’s history alongside its involvement with a mysterious group shortly before the family’s sudden disappearance. Despite the family’s fall from grace, the disappearance of the once noble household could not go unexamined. Promoting the mayor of Blacksands, Lord Aliston, to commission an investigation by a cross-guild team.
When the player is shown the game’s layout, The Horror at Highrook’s Game Guide is shown to the player, welcoming them and explaining how the game works. When the player leaves the menu, the game begins with epic-looking characters the player must control during the game’s runtime, each sporting their edgy looks and personalities. Alongside their fitting design, they each have their uses and talents, such as the scholar Vitali.
The specific traits and professions of each character will be the biggest aspect of The Horror at Highrook’s overall mechanics. The game is explained within the functions using only six pieces of advice shown in the bottom left corner of the screen.
These consist of moving the view (camera) around, zooming in and out, pausing and unpausing the game’s time, opening a supply crate, heading to the “cliff tops” to forage for random drops and supplies, and finally eating a basic meal.
After that, the player is essentially left on their own to learn and investigate, using the group of investigators and sorting them into the places they are needed. The estate consists of 16 rooms, of which the player will only have access to the first 7 locations in the beginning. Using these locations, the player must investigate using the characters with the dominant perks to work in those locations.
Vitali, the scholar, is best used to investigate the lord’s archives using other tools, such as cards like the library codex. When making the characters and locations do the work, it’s mostly time-based, normally a few seconds or so. When you start the game, in the top right-hand corner, there is what looks to be a dial that indicates night or day and a clock that takes down the “hours” within it.
It’s good to remember that when starting The Horror at Highrook and reading what’s being given, pausing to give yourself some time for critical thinking is the safest bet. The Horror at Highrook is straightforward; it requires the player to pay attention, read carefully, and remember details as a real investigator would.
The game wants the player to think inside and outside the box, sometimes even abandoning the box entirely. Besides, it’s a high mental requirement of the players; it’s not just reading and making people work for the story. The game also throws in the mix survival mechanics and enemy entities, which could make things a little more difficult.
As the player progresses and gets more information, they encounter echoes/apparitions that randomly appear in certain locations, which is all well and fine. They are a bit creepy, but not a major thing keeping the characters from being exposed for too long. Though, where things become creative is where things become creative.
As mentioned above, The Horror at Highrook has a survival mechanic that needs to be monitored constantly, as it will determine the fate of the investigators. Elements such as hunger, fatigue, madness, or physical damage are all things the characters the player has or gets can be affected by, some having higher hunger requirements, such as Atticus Hawk, the strength of the group he is used with at the cliff tops, or for heavy lifting.
Each character has its uses and weaknesses, but there is no unbalanced feeling within the group’s dynamic. In addition to the basic concept that every person has a “room” to work in or use, the game gives extra cards sporting their own unique effects.
These cards are marked with symbols on the corners indicating passive effect cards or active narrative. Key points: “Usable cards,” as once they are used, some get taken out of use, others are reusable, or they just stay in the respective locations of use. Their use can range from an adorable grumpy cat that boosts requirement factors for certain tasks in specific rooms.
The uses and attributes of those cards are indicated in the card’s info list, making it easy to know where to use them. As mentioned before, the game consists of 16 locations of the estate, 7 of which are open to start with; as the player progresses and gets more tools and information while also keeping the investigators rested, fed, sane, and free of harm, the other rooms will open up, inviting the player to explore more and dive deeper into the Aldridge mystery.
The Horror at Highrook’s gameplay is pretty straightforward; besides the thinking, remembering, and reading, it’s not overly complicated. The player will play more for the story than the actual mechanics. The investigation in itself keeps the player locked and interested in the next reveals, along with the sound and atmospheric design. It did well setting the mood and building the overall mood for the game, sporting sounds like rain, crows, and other finer details that set the scene.
Although the sounds and atmospheric designs do a great job of setting the tone and mood and giving the game a little bit more life, it does feel a bit empty. Don’t get me wrong; it’s good, but it does feel like it’s missing something to push it over the edge and let it fly.
The Horror at Highrook occult gem that could benefit from something more, maybe some voice acting, not for the whole game, but maybe for some really important parts of the story. It’s no secret that in today’s modern day of gaming, no gamer is a stranger to reading detail and getting context in gaming lore; however, even in reading novel games, there are some aspects of voiceovers or even slight cut scenes to break up the constant need for reading.
The Horror at Highrook is epic, and the theme even more so; there aren’t many games that touch these themes, and it is really worth giving a shot. However, the game is heavily reliant on the player’s capacity for reading, which again isn’t a bad thing; however, it could detract from the overall experience for some players, who may struggle with reading large and long bouts of information obtained during the game’s investigation.
The Horror at Highrook is true in what it offers the players: a thrilling investigation melding multiple mechanics and looks to make it an attention-locking game for any horror mystery investigators. The visuals and effects of what the player does with the cards are epic and really tie the game together with a fantasy flair.
It is my hope as a fellow gamer that we get to see more games of this theme, mysterious “eyrie,” eldritch in nature, with good character building and lore. The only thing about The Horror at Highrook that knocked off some points would be the amount of reading that goes into the game.
For players with dyslexia or other reading disabilities, this aspect could make things take longer, be a little harder, or just downright frustrating for people who have this issue, making them put it down rather than play it for its true enjoyment of the investigation.
Overall, The Horror at Highrook is an epically awesome top-down eldritch horror investigation card builder with an epic story to tell and many challenges to face. The game does a brilliant job of telling the story from clues to character interactions and comments. The Horror at Highrook really is worth a try, although it’s not for those who are fresh to the puzzle investigation scene and are easily frustrated by not catching what must be done next.
Other than that, The Horror at Highrook is an epic game and could be the fancy of many cultish fans, for some even a gem for those who love a good story and dark themes. Unlock the estate of Highrook’s rooms and secrets while managing to survive its harrowing challenges and unseen madness if you dare.
