Dreams in the Witch House

Dreams in the Witch House is an open world horror adventure game. At first glance, the game gives off an almost charming vibe, as if you are about to join a fun and lighthearted adventure. This optimistic start quickly descends onto a dark and moody path full of twists and turns.

The story follows Walter Gilman, as he prepares to face the dreaded May-Eve witch ritual in the haunted city of Arkham. Walter is a student at Miskatonic University, and at first, simply goes about life innocently enough.

Balanced Gameplay

Dreams in the Witch House combines point-and-click play with survival and stat balancing. You are given common stats everyone is familiar with such as hunger and warmth, but also some pretty unusual stats like Math and Sanity.

Sanity is a particularly devilish stat because you need sanity to help you survive some of the future puzzles, but it’s not always the easiest to come by. Hanging out with friends can boost your sanity, but a poor night’s sleep can reduce it.

Failure in the game is punished severely, with harsh horror elements. The game sometimes admonish you with things like, “Perhaps I should not have studied so hard,” when Walter fails.

A Detailed World

One of the richest parts of Dreams in the Witch House is the combination of its graphics and sounds. By day, Arkham city is a charming world full of life and detail. At night, those same features are shadowed in ways that make it look truly difficult and horrible.

As the game progresses you also get to play the dream sequences the game hints on, and these are a great and refreshing burst of the strange and horrible. If you’ve ever played Dark Seed, it’s the same sort of living, playable dream.

Each dream sequence is progressively more difficult to keep your sanity in, and though the graphics are pixelated, they still do a good job of conveying the horror.

Well Balanced Gameplay

Dreams of the Witch House does an amazing job of balancing a variety of gameplay. Without the adrenaline inducing dream sections, the sandbox style gameplay gets a little dull. Learning to cope with a progressively harder life is only satisfying with those great successes. The game mixes all sorts of game styles that wouldn’t seem like they go together, and the result is very satisfying.

This game is an odd mix of several different styles. It offers point-and-click adventure at times, open world exploration, and many other game styles. Despite this mix, it never feels out of place or badly put together.

Pros:

• Retro style artwork
• A mix of different game styles
• H.P. Lovecraft style horror

Cons:

• Finding study material can be challenging