Games worth discovering
Journey to a quaint village with a dark secret - Should you play The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow?
21K View2022-10-11
What is this game?
The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow. It’s a folk horror-themed adventure title from developer Cloak and Dagger Games and publisher Wadjet Eye Games, both of whom have made quite a name for themselves in breathing new life into the point-and-click adventure game genre.
What’s it about?
The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow follows a young woman named Thomasina Bateman, who has journey to the small village of Bewlay in the British countryside. Her goal is to excavate the titular Hob’s Barrow, which is located somewhere nearby the village, but she soon discovers many strange characters and some sinister forces that seem to be pushing her away.
What did you play it on?
The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow is only available on PC right now. I spent most of my time with it playing on my new Steam Deck, which is quite the lovely way to experience this game.
How much did you play?
I played approximately four hours, which took me through all of the prologue and day one, and just into day two of the game’s story. From what I’ve found online, there are three days in total, so I’m just over one-third through the game.
What’s awesome about this game?
Pretty much everything! The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow represents a return to old-school adventure game conventions, which means lots of walking around, examining items, and asking lengthy lists of questions to NPCs. While most of the game is just dialogue and light puzzle-solving, the dialogue is fully voiced by an excellent cast, and those puzzles strike the perfect balance between being challenging but not bending logic so much that they’re impossible to figure out.
The best thing about the game, though, is its fantastic art design. The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow employs old-school pixel art that looks beautiful and highly detailed, but at certain moments in the story, it cuts to extreme close-ups using rotoscoped animation. This stylistic choice makes these big moments stand out, and it really emphasizes how creepy some of the characters (and creatures) that you meet on this journey look.
What sucks about this game?
Not much! Unless you’re looking for something action-packed, that is. The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow is an unapologetically old-school adventure game. It features moments of horror and tension, but it’s a slow burn for sure.
Should I play this game?
If you have any particular affinity for adventure games, story-based titles, or folk horror, then yes, absolutely! This is one of the best adventure games I’ve played in years, and I can’t wait to finish it up.
💬 Let me know in the comments if you're planning to check out The Excavation of Hob's Barrow for yourself!
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Comments
The Excavation of Hob's Barrow
Thrilling Victorian point and click adventure
Is this game a masterpiece? It is a damn good example of an accessible point and click adventure. As long as you are not looking for a difficult game, this is a masterpiece.
The story is thrilling and well-presented, you really want to know what is inside the mysterious barrow. It is also (relatively) easy and (rather) short, I finished it without any cheating in 2 days (about 8 hours playing time). All puzzles are logical and make sense (maybe apart from the final part in the barrow, where I used a bit of trial and error). It has a goat (or two), but the puzzles to get around are not that hard. The story has a happy ending... there were two men laughing and going to church in the end, so what?
Sven Evil2K2023-01-16
This dark adventure game looks like a Tim Burton movie - Children of Silentown Quick Review
PLAY IT OR SKIP IT?
Children of Silentown is totally worth playing, especially if you enjoy cozy adventures games or the Tim Burton aesthetic, as seen in films like Corpse Bride and Frankenweenie. Children of Silentown doesn’t break new ground, and its puzzles can be overly simplistic, but the overall vibe of the game earned it a lot of goodwill as I played.
TIME PLAYED
I’m currently three and a half hours into
Kef42K2023-01-17
The game is easily up there with something like Plague Tale.
It's a good game, has a good story, and the action is pretty good too. But don't come into this expecting something like GoW.
Where this game absolutely shines is the characters and character depth. Even the side missions have very well planned and designed characters.
The investigations are pretty cool and offer a real break from the gameplay as you uncover secrets and mysteries and learn about more hauntings. Even doing something like reading a book or a note can offer some real depth to a character.
The Steve662024-02-25
View desktop siteTapTap looks better
on the app 
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