Riddlewood Manor

We are blessed with old-school survival horror clones, pixel art violence, and other awesome horror game vibes. But when it comes to the 1990s point and click adventures, these are a handful at best, especially when it comes to those old, 3D, haunted house style ones, like The 7th Guest. Great games, even if I wasn't a massive fan of them personally (more of a Monkey Island/Broken Sword kind of guy), but they were popular and had many fans. So, it's nice to see a homage to that genre, be it in a more cartoony, darkly comedic format, which makes it stand out even more.


What is Riddlewood Manor?

This point-and-click puzzler has a dark sense of humour, and a striking, inky visual style that feels like something ripped from a comic strip. Blending a healthy mixture of lateral elements, from key hunting, solving riddles, concocting your way out of death traps and more, Riddlewood Manor offers a short, but quite charming puzzler that’s perfect for Halloween.

You are sent to Riddlewood Manor, a beautiful mansion, once home to the lustrous Riddlewood family, whose home harbours many dark secrets. The place is clearly haunted, shadowy figures roam the halls, creepy dolls watch your every move, and there are lots and lots of inconvenient puzzles to solve. Worst of all, the spirit of the young daughter, Suzi, just so happens to be a demonic doll that creeps its way throughout the house. While there are plenty of puzzles, there are also quite a few death traps, many of which come from nowhere, but all are avoidable in some way, shape, or form.

You point, you click, you get a jumpscare, solve a puzzle or two, and make your way to the heart of the mystery that lurks in Riddlewood Manor … Joy!


Riddle me this!

Now, one of the standouts for many point-and-click adventures was the writing, with strong narratives, great characters, and a nice mix of drama and humour. Riddlewood Manor has some good dark comedy, but not much else in terms of writing. It’s not a bad thing, and the plot, along with the history of the manor, is serviceably fine. It’s genuinely nothing new, with a dark family history, a sinister mystery that results in death and carnage, and everything in the house points towards evil, with a clear gesture from the possessed evil doll that laughs at you.

What is more, the standout is the presentation, as I loved the overly stylised art style, reminiscent of a demented 1930s inky comic book. The thick chunky lines, the oversaturation of colour, and blending in 2D and 3D elements so beautifully well did make this a visual treat. The sound design is also cracking, with a disturbing eeriness throughout, enhanced by the ambient noises and creepy scores played as though not to disturb the dead. But it’s all done in a way not to be overly dramatic, or dread-inducing, as there is still that sense of quirkiness with various character designs, animations, and over-the-top jump scares (which you can set warnings before they happen, nice touch).  

There’s a great range of environments, even if they're typical of any haunted house game, they all look amazing, and lovingly crafted, from the library, sewers, gardens, and so forth. And being able to look around freely (which helps in clue hunting as well) is a super nice touch.  

All in all, Riddlewood Manor looks and sounds the part, and with a couple of important quality of life inclusions (i.e. jump scare alert), is a highly approachable one too for newcomers.


By the logic of the moon!

But the most important thing in Riddlewood Manor is, of course, the puzzle solving, and for the most part, they’re challenging and highly rewarding in all the right ways.

Generally, how Riddlewood Manor plays is by presenting a series of escape-room style situations, where you’re usually trapped somewhere, within a small area, and have to pick together clues from various adjoining rooms, piecing together information, and solving small puzzles that together resolve the much larger issue at hand.

Be it making breakfast for a ghost, you can obtain an important key, or solving a series of small problems in a large library, from hoovering a ghost, to solving a tricky piano puzzle, to progressing to the upper parts of the manor. Everything starts simple enough, easing you into the world with its rhythms and reasons. It’s a thorough detective game where a keen eye and logical thinking will get you through most of the mystery. I did appreciate the learning curve and complexity of the puzzles never went off the rails, although be it some of them became very quirky, yet still enjoyable for the most part.

There was usually a weird, surrealistic take on puzzle types we’ve all seen done to death before, and there was just that right amount of search and discovery that it never lingers or one area becomes tediously long. There is a good balance between the puzzle formats, often combining several elements seamlessly into one larger problem-solving event, and with the excellent pacing for the most part, Riddlewood Manor was a thrilling ride that knew when to wrap things up and move on.

My only gripes, while minor, do detract from the overall rating of Riddlewood Manor. These being that some puzzles are a little too long in the tooth, mostly towards the end of the game, where the pacing fumbles a little bit. And as this game features multiple endings, looking to unlock all of them requires lots of needless backtracking and finding some particularly annoying items. It can be quite easy to forget certain points of interest, as some puzzle solutions, and points of interest found early on may not come into play much later on.

And the concept of dying in a puzzle game is a compelling one, especially when something interesting could be used mechanically upon death. But it just results in backtracking, redoing what you just did, and nothing more. It can be quite easy to become lost at times, and although it's not a long game, certain puzzles can feel a little drawn out. But honestly, these are quite minor; they don’t hold back what is otherwise an enjoyable puzzler.

Overall?

Riddlewood Manor captivated me with its striking visual style and kept me glued to my seat with its brainteasing puzzles, which were often a joy to resolve and conclude. The dark charm, inky art style, creepy and comedic vibes, and engaging sense of challenge and reward are enough for me to highly recommend it to everyone who loves a good lateral adventure, or wants to relive the 1990s gaming scene, as I’m sure we all do!

++ Great selection of puzzles and brain teasers
++ Fantastic art style and presentation
+ Good sense of dark comedy

-- Dying is an annoying setback
- Some puzzles are a little tedious
- The story is not that interesting


The publisher kindly provided a review code of Riddlewood Manor