Ratings and Reviews by MathBrush

This game follows a small group of young adults as they investigate mysterious occurences for the school newspaper.

The hint system is supplied in the form of notes, assembled by a young man on behalf of the female narratot. I STRONGLY recommend reading as many of the hints as possible, as they pai t a fascinating picture of the young man, the narrator, and their environment.

There is a second, subtle hint system that soon becomes apparent to anyone getting stuck in the game.

I would recommend this to newcomers based on the two help systems and for experienced IF players based on the rich storyline (including the hidden scene detailed in the Author's notes).

By far the hardest interactive fiction I have ever played. It is just a series of puzzles, represented by characters. Puzzles include Euclidean geometry, wordplay (similar to cryptic crosswords), and a maze.

Some of the puzzles are bewilderingly difficult (such as the name of the Mark of Water). I don't think that it was ever intended to be solved without cheating. Using a decompiler gave a few answers that I could not otherwise get.

This is a pure mental-exercise game with no plot. I've brought up some of the puzzles on Stackexchange and Reddit, and it provoked some good discussion, so this is a good game to mine for interesting puzzles.

Review for Steam Edition:

Anchorhead is a masterpiece of interactive fiction. In this well-illustrated Lovecraftian game, you have to piece together the history of your husband's family as you move to a new town with a dark history.

This edition fixes a lot of the worst puzzles from the first edition, especially the very difficult mill section. It adds some new puzzles, too, some of which I found quite difficult (such as the dinghy), and others less so (the new opening sequence).

The illustrations are very well done, and go a long way to making this worth the purchase price. I love this game, and I'm glad to see it in such good form. I also appreciated the change in the orderly's magazine, which made me laugh. Some of the older texts in the game contain echoes of Lovecraft's racism, and they seem to be written new for the game, not old texts quoted, so I thought I'd mention that.

Earlier Review:

Anchorhead can completely draw you into its world. The writing and atmosphere are classic Lovecraftian horror, beginning as merely dismal and developing slowly into madness. Early scenes take on far different meanings on a second playthrough.

That said, this is a very hard game. I'm not sure how anyone could solve the (Spoiler - click to show)telescope lens puzzle on their own.

However, the depth of the game and the quality of the writing is such that it is still enjoyable even if you have to resort to hints from time to time. Many of the best moments are also the easiest puzzles.

Curses is the first game I think of when I think of interactive fiction, together with Anchorhead. Sprawling, light-hearted, with a compelling backstory and cast of supporting characters.

For me, the beauty of the game is in the development of the plot, with a continually increasing sense of wonder. Another wonderful aspect is the open sandbox feel; this is a very non-linear game.

Although the game is very difficult (I've played through it three times, and had to resort to a walkthrough every time), there are so many puzzles that you will still solve quite a few on your own. Many puzzles have multiple solutions, or can be bypassed completely.

*Amusing things: There are three characters that have interesting reactions to all ten of the (Spoiler - click to show)rods. Those characters are (Spoiler - click to show)yourself, the knight, and Austin.