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Are you afraid of the dark?, September 29, 2013This game continues the author's "anonymous detective" series.
As the previous instalments, this IF is quite short and based on a Lovecraftian setting. Also, there are some references to those past IFs, like for example (Spoiler - click to show)a picture in one of the stands which recalls a similar item in "The vanishing conjurer".
The puzzles are few and not that difficult, being this a plot-driven IF; those puzzles are hinted well enough if the player speaks to most people and explores throughly, as every sensible player does anyway.
The first plot elements are available since the start, inside a folder in the inventory. After that, the plot is mostly delivered through dialogs, which are organized in a list of topics; such list varies during the game, and is shown when an NPC is speaked to the first time. Later, the "topics" command can be used to recall the available topics that can be discussed with the last NPC we talked with.
A thing I especially liked is a (sort of) easter egg: the (Spoiler - click to show)bandage aid and the (Spoiler - click to show)black book, which can be found in the same room, the (Spoiler - click to show)director's office. The former may help a bit during the end game, and the latter marginally adds to the plot. Although none of them is necessary, they are some kind of (minor) reward and polish anyway.
Reading the help may be useful, although not really needed if the player has gone through at least one of the previous games in the series.
Overall, the execution is good, at about the same level of the rest of the series, perhaps slightly more.
If you are looking for a quite atmospheric although short (with a walkthrough, it can be finished in half an hour or less) game, this one may satisfy you.
Disclaimer: I betatested the game