House of Hell
Description
An adaptation of the #10 gamebook, first released in 1984, of the Fighting Fantasy series, extraordinarily set in present-day Earth -- and as the title suggests, unfolding according to conventions of the horror genre.
The player begins, as in Uninvited and the Rocky Horror Picture Show, with their car broken down in a rainstorm before a mysterious manor. Entering in search of help, the player soon determines that the house is filled with various kinds of horrifying monsters, and while wandering through rooms named after demons from medieval grimoires, uncovers a coven of devil-worshippers. The dangerous player-led circuit through the house, following choices presented in lists, culminates in an encounter with The Master, a demonic force who must be overcome by the application of a magical Indonesian kris knife.
This being Tin Man Games' second Fighting Fantasy adaptation, they have forgone the modern streamlining of their prior contemporary horror work and returned to the classic SKILL and STAMINA stats to calculate to-hit and hit point odds (when compounded with simulated die rolls). Additionally, this game incorporates use of the FEAR metric, which indicates a point of terror beyond which the player character cannot meaningfully proceed.
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Credits (Android version)
36 People (28 developers, 8 thanks) · View all
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Reviews
Players
Average score: 3.6 out of 5 (based on 2 ratings with 1 reviews)
Haunting gamebook, especially for a children's book, one of the best in the series
The Good
Very haunting atmosphere, the dark, the rain, the death. Was probably stretching the boundaries of "suitable for children", when originally released in 1984. The colourized illustrations definitely add to the book, of course they mean that blood is now visible in some of the scenes. The twist at the end wasn't brilliant, but a nice touch (there was actually a short preview version of the book, published in a WARLOCK! magazine, without the twist).
The Bad
I think there are a little too many dead ends, literally dead ends, you die if you end up there, no backtracking.
The Bottom Line
One of the best gamebooks, made better by being turned electronic.
Windows · by Andrew Fisher (699) · 2018
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Pseudo_Intellectual.
Additional contributors: GTramp.
Game added March 1, 2013. Last modified March 5, 2023.