Download

No download is required. Hallowmoor is playable in a web browser.
Hallowmoor​_103.zip
Contains hallowmoor.html
The full game is included here for offline play. A "source" subdirectory also contains the Twine and Twee source code for Hallowmoor.
(Compressed with ZIP. Free Unzip tools are available for most systems at www.info-zip.org.)

Have you played this game?

You can rate this game, record that you've played it, or put it on your wish list after you log in.

Playlists and Wishlists

RSS Feeds

New member reviews
Updates to downloadable files
All updates to this page

Hallowmoor

by Mike Snyder profile

Fantasy
2013

Web Site

(based on 14 ratings)
2 reviews

About the Story

Your quest: infiltrate Castle Hallowmoor, find the potion, and make it out alive. This is a Halloween-themed adventure -- hypertext interactive fiction playable in most modern web browsers.


Game Details

Language: English (en)
First Publication Date: October 25, 2013
Current Version: 1.03
License: Freeware
Development System: Twine
Forgiveness Rating: Polite
IFID: Unknown
TUID: 65ifglmwo3f2otj

Tags

- View the most common tags (What's a tag?)

(Log in to add your own tags)

Member Reviews

5 star:
(1)
4 star:
(12)
3 star:
(2)
2 star:
(0)
1 star:
(0)
Average Rating:
Number of Reviews: 2
Write a review


3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Impressive puzzly Twine game, October 24, 2015

Hallowmoor stretches the capabilities of Twine to their limits, containing a complex world model, an inventory, a compass rose showing possible exits (though these can also be accessed by clicking keywords), an automap, and puzzles that are not necessarily easier just because you don't have to type in the solution.

The puzzles are the high point of the game: there were several times when I let out an impressed "really?" upon trying some combination and finding that it was indeed implemented. The central conceit for many of the puzzles may not be completely unique, but is rare in IF, and particularly unexpected in a choice-based game. (Spoiler - click to show)You need to switch between two host bodies with different abilities and weaknesses. However, their paths may not cross, or the unpossessed one will kill the possessed one on sight. There are of course also other puzzles, involving the use of inventory items. In some ways, it reminded me of the old graphical adventure Shadowgate.

So in terms of implementation and puzzle inventiveness: full marks. Unfortunately, the story and writing don't quite live up to the technical fireworks on display. While the plot is reasonably original (you are a ghost searching for the potion that will restore you to bodily life), the setting is extremely generic fantasy standard: armies of skeletons, witches with gnarled hands, dungeon cells. I admit to a soft spot for old-school fantasy settings in games, but I never warmed to this setting: some rooms did give a satisfyingly edgy feeling of infiltrating a dark castle full of enemies, but for the most part, the world felt gross and filthy rather than frightening.

As for the writing, it's perfectly fine and does a good job laying out the rooms without making them too overwhelming for puzzle-solving; however, no passages really stand out. It's serviceable, rather than exquisite. (Also, I caught an annoying misspelling: "ode de" should be "eau de".)

The Twine format is good, and the colour scheme fits well with the theme.

Deserves to become a classic.


1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
An extensive Halloween Twine game with inventory , February 3, 2016

This is the biggest exploratory Twine game I've seen since the Axolotl Project. Play as a spectre capable of shifting hosts who is seeking a black potion in the bowels of Castle Hallowmoor during a battle between witches and skeletons.

The game has 2-3 times the usual amount of links, with many of them descriptions only, so it is harder to cheat by clicking everything. There is an inventory button allowing you to dynamically use items throughout the game.

It took me about an hour, with some rather tricky pieces. Recommended for everyone.


If you enjoyed Hallowmoor...

Related Games

People who like Hallowmoor also gave high ratings to these games:

Zork, by Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels, and Dave Lebling
Average member rating: (29 ratings)
Also known as Dungeon.

The Dreamhold, by Andrew Plotkin
Average member rating: (169 ratings)
The Dreamhold is interactive fiction — a classic text adventure. No graphics! No point-and-click! You type your commands, and read what happens next. The Dreamhold is designed for people who have never played IF before. It introduces the...

Impostor Syndrome, by Dietrich Squinkifer (Squinky)
Average member rating: (17 ratings)
You're giving a talk at a big important tech conference. But do you really deserve to be here, or were you selected just to fill a diversity quota? Originally published under the name "Georgiana Bourbonnais".

Suggest a game

Recommended Lists

Hallowmoor appears in the following Recommended Lists:

Short Games for Beginners by Kerzenwachs

my favorites by namekuseijin
Everyone got theirs, here are mine. They're in no particular order and feature varying difficulty and/or size. Every single one is great. I also have my favorite authors and I'm biased towards their IF. Good thing this is my favorites...

Twine games with free range of movement: A personal list by Kinetic Mouse Car
Free range of movement means the gameplay has parser qualities without the parser part. It allows you to wander around and interact directly with objects or talk to characters in your environment. This list does NOT require games to have...

See all lists mentioning this game

Polls

The following polls include votes for Hallowmoor:

Mise-en-abīme by Sobol
Mise-en-abīme is a technique of having a play within a play, a painting within a painting, etc. Let's list those interactive stories where the characters play interactive stories.

Choice-based puzzlefests by Spike
I enjoy games with lots of good puzzles, but so far nearly all the ones I've played have a parser-based interface. This poll is to help me find good choice-based puzzlefests.

Twine-bending Twine Games by Mostly Useless
Twine games that do something you found unusual and interesting, not in terms of story, but visually or mechanically, or both.

See all polls with votes for this game




This is version 16 of this page, edited by Merk on 13 November 2013 at 10:53pm. - View Update History - Edit This Page - Add a News Item