Anchorhead

There's little I can say about Anchorhead that someone hasn't already beaten me to. All the hype is true. This is not just one of the greatest IF's but possibly one of the greatest pieces of contemporary mythos fiction.

When I first played Anchorhead, the First Day and part of the Second earned a few eye rolls from me, as much of them seem like no more than a Lovecraft Greatest Hits reel. Gentry is not subtle with his inspiration, and there's several moments where you'll encounter a character or location, and go, "Ohhh okay we're doing 'Shadow Over Innsmouth' now." Or "Ohhh okay the monster from 'Dunwich Horror' is here." Etc. It made me worried the game was going to be very predictable, standard Lovecraft pastiche.

I was wrong. Anchorhead takes these preconceived elements from Lovecraft's stories (and at least one Robert E. Howard story, 'The Black Stone') and carries them into wildly unpredictable, shockingly dark directions. And it does so very effectively. The protagonist is well-defined and likable, and you really fear for her as she finds herself in increasingly over-the-top horror scenarios. And while the story does go a little off the rails, it stays very stylistically grounded, and the puzzles stay dangerous, so you're never able to stop feeling that pulsing fear as you type in your next action, unaware of what cruel fate Anchorhead has prepared for you next.

I really wanted to like this game. As a Lovecraft reader and a resident Massachusettsan I relished reading a story about the man-made horror beyond comprehension that is Massachussetts small towns. But there really is nothing going for this game that would justify its position as #2 on the IFDB Top 100.

The writing comes off as juvenile to the extreme. It violates the holy rule of "show not tell" which is especially essential in a horror game, and it just leads to a complete lack of atmosphere. It felt like the "horror" was being forced upon me like "are you scared yet?? how bout now??". The dialogue is awkward and stilted, and none of the characters seem human (even the ones who are actually human).

The gameplay is tedious. The map is just large for the sake of being large. I also spent more time inputting tiresome commands (like needing to unlock the door every time you want to open it, getting out of bed first before grabbing an item etc). This should have been implemented automatically.

All in all, a very disappointing experience. Its an ok game, it just doesn't deserve to be so highly rated when there are so many newer IF games that do a better job.

In 2019 I finished The Lurking Horror. The experience was bumpy. But I had a great time. TLH was my first IF game that I finished. With it came a learning curve. Four years passed and I find that I'm burned out on modern games. Maybe it's because I'm older. Maybe it's the endless exploitation of the consumer. Either way, modern games don't spin my disc drive like they used to.

Returning to IF I knew I wanted Lovecraftian. In 2019 I did finish a handful of smaller games after TLH. But I wanted something long to sink my teeth into. The critically acclaimed Anchorhead called my name. I started with the original release. Overcome by a nagging feeling, a feeling of spoiling my first experience, I picked up the steam release. And there's no regrets here.

In the twenty hours it took to finish Anchorhead I didn't use hints. Mind you... I was paranoid.

1. Saves

I saved 111 times during my playthrough. Something that paid off several times. Without the saves I'd have found myself softlocked frequently starting with the third day. I don't consider this a flaw. When playing a dangerous game, you stack the deck in your favor.

2. Mapping

I learned from the error of my ways after The Lurking Horror. Using Tizbort I created a detailed map. Creating this map created a detail layout of the game space. Something that made solving puzzles less difficult.

3. Notes

Notes. Notes. Notes. Some with notepad. Some by taking pictures of the screen. Not going into spoilers. But this came in clutch.

Michael S. Gentry crafted something special that will stand the test of time. And I mean that. This is a timeless experience. The writing is strong. The puzzles well-balanced with good clues. The author respects your intelligence. But knows when to stop dangling the carrot. There isn't in jokes. Or "clever" pun-based puzzles. Overall, this is a stronger experience than The Lurking Horror.

And what we have here may be the ultimate Lovecraftian horror game. With Bloodborne coming in second. Gentry understands how to work in the constraints of the genre. Again, I don't want to spoil things. But the ending put a smile on my face. For all the wrong reasons of course.

Note: This review is for the original 1998 version. I only found out the other day that the author had created a special anniversary edition, which I now have and intend to play.

I first played this game over twenty years ago, as a messed up teen. A friend told me about this after we discovered that we both had enjoyed some interactive fiction games over the years, and really built up my expectations, letting me know that, although we didn't know each other well, she thought this was the sort of game I would really like. Lovecraft's name was mentioned in the conversation, and yes, that probably got my interest up, since I'd been a fan of his stories since the age of twelve or so, but hadn't yet discovered other of his weird fiction contemporaries or any of the practitioners from more recent times who imitate his work with varying degrees of success.

Well, she was right. I played this game through one night in, I think, '98 or early '99. It got pretty intense by the end and I was immersed in a game the way I don't think I'd been since I was really young. While I'm not that experienced of a player, and can't go out on a limb and claim that this is the best game out there, it's the one I have the best memories of playing. I was too young to get into Zork et al in the '80s, and my poor Apple II E with comparatively primitive text to speech capability couldn't handle much. I believe even the Apple II version of Colossal Cave or whatever that one's called had a nasty habit of crashing into the monitor if you made a typographical error, and Eamon, while really fun, was a bit flaky.

Anchorhead is a cursed town. Not in the conventional sense of a curse, but in the sense that it's got a sort of old, malevolent character to it. The author conveys this really well with the text, and it's easy to get a haunted feeling that begins pretty early on in your play and only grows as you continue. There are things that will instantly remind you of Lovecraft stories, if you have read him, particularly "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" and "Shadow over Innsmouth" -- but there are other reminiscences as well. A fun thing to do, if you are weird like me, is to find as many of the various ways your character can die horribly as you can. There are a lot of them, and of course you should save often.

That said, and maybe it's in part because of my familiarity with this kind of storytelling, I didn't find the game particularly difficult as such. Oh, there were moments, but I found all the puzzles to be extremely logical and most were easy to guess, except for one thing near the beginning which had me stuck for a while -- the solution maybe should have been obvious to some but simply wasn't for me at the time. There are unsettling character interactions aplenty, and changes that occur in the environment and situation over the several-days-long period during which the story takes place, which are interesting and troubling in equal measure. There are a few time-dependent things near the end and those things can be maddening, but again, if you save often, you should be able to quickly handle them once you figure out what you need to do.

I've noticed this is a really popular game, with many reviews on the site already, so I don't expect mine to make much difference. I'll just say that I think the praise for this one seems justified, although I can't really call myself a dedicated IF-player and so don't quite know what other games to compare it to. Not only is the gameplay itself very smooth, but the writing is great! Extremely atmospheric and chilly, which is what you want from a game like this, but you also get glimpses into the sort of melancholy thoughts of the character you are playing, and I think this makes some of us more invested in trying to beat this thing so that she comes away unscathed. Of course, being a game inspired by an author who wasn't too inclined to give most of his protagonists a happy ending, there is a certain amount of troubling ambiguity even if you succeed, and that's also as it should be.

Really looking forward to playing the 2018 edition soon and experiencing the Anchorhead nightmare all over again.

Do you like suspense? Do you like horror? Do you like supernatural mysteries? Are you able to handle some explicit violent scenes, as well as some (non-explicit) references to sexual abuse in the story background? If you answered "yes" to the above, then look no further; this is the game for you.

You'll be treated to excellent writing, a painstakingly detailed world, an atmosphere so immersive that it gets under your skin, characters that you truly care about, and an intricate plot so captivating that you'll forget what real life is.

The map is huge, and every location has details you can interact with. The length of the game is also satisfying. The puzzles are generally good and make sense, though in my opinion there were a couple of exceptions (but I don't want to spoil anything). Some of them have alternative solutions, which also helps. There are unwinnable situations in the game, but if you have any experience in Interactive Fiction then you just need to be careful and you'll avoid those completely.

A must for every self-respecting Interactive Fiction fan.

Anchorhead is a gothic horror (weird fiction) text adventure inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft. The story focuses on a couple who inherit a house in a spooky little Massachusetts fishing community and slowly uncover the town's dark secrets. It's considered a classic of interactive fiction, and with good reason. The setting is atmospheric, the scenarios are memorable, the writing is effective, and the puzzles are mostly of high quality.

The story takes place over the course of 3 days, with each day escalating the difficulty. Day 1 is a breeze, mostly exploring and learning about the town and the house. Day 2 is complicated, with a lot of things to do and puzzles to solve, but with little to no threat of botching anything permanently. Day 3 is much more tense, mistakes have consequences, and it is very possible to get something wrong. More about that...

Anchorhead may be a masterpiece, but it isn't perfect. It possesses some of the flaws stereotypical of adventure games: verb-guessing, reading the author's mind, some poorly signposted objectives, timed puzzles where you can trap yourself in a fail-state, and even the possibility of losing or misplacing a key item that is needed to complete the game (so SAVE your game often, especially once Day 3 begins). Thankfully, tips and walkthroughs are readily accessible on the internet.

Most of the game isn't that taxing, however, and I'd argue that Anchorhead is worth the potential trouble in order to experience the incredible narrative (which is one of the best in any interactive fiction I've played). This is a must-play title for fans of Lovecraft, horror, and interactive fiction more broadly. Just be sure to play it with your "90s adventure game" goggles on.

(this is a review of the original game, not the remastered Steam version)

now, i'm not the type who tends to get through games without resorting to at least a FEW hints and walkthroughs. there are different kinds of puzzles that a person can get stuck on. sometimes a verb must be guessed. sometimes there were non-obvious inventory items that were missed. sometimes a game is unfair. and sometimes puzzles are completely logical and even intuitive. there's really nothing like the feeling of being stuck on a puzzle for a couple of hours or overnight and then suddenly having the light dawn: you try it, and it works.

Anchorhead gave me that last feeling many, many times.

i believe i only had to resort to hints a couple of times -- once early on when i was having trouble tripping a specific flag to advance the day, and the later sequence (Spoiler - click to show)in the mill that many had problems with.

more to the point, the horrifying story kept me riveted. there are games where one kind of trundles along, hits a puzzle where any progress seems impossible, and gives up (frequently because the author put their e-mail address under HINTS instead of giving a link to actual hints or a walkthrough on their webpage). but there are games where you hit a brick wall puzzle -- in this case, (Spoiler - click to show)sabotaging the summoning at the lighthouse -- but you're so committed to the character and so immersed in the world that giving up is simply not an option.

i solved that puzzle myself. and it was the greatest feeling.

that said, there are some things that bear warning about and could potentially trigger people's PTSD. the plot relies heavily on (Spoiler - click to show)the villain's history of incestuous rape and, while figuring that out yourself is a wonderful puzzle that gives you that slow, creeping sense of dread as you realize what's been going on, people who've gone through the real-world equivalent may not react well.

Anchorhead is probably my most favorite IF game ever, and I’ve been playing text games since the days of Zork. It’s got great writing, a compelling story and more or less realistic interactions (vs abstract), and there’s no sense of feeling annoyed, pressured for time, feeling lost or overwhelmed, etc. it’s the closest thing to a perfect IF game in my opinion.

So I played the original Anchorhead the year it came out, and then just finished the 2018 Steam release on my Mac ten minutes ago. It's a GREAT game in the Lovecraft mythos. So much so that I never forgot it, and was pleasantly surprised to discover the reboot. Plotwise, this is a strong game, with excellent pacing and deep details to discover. The main character is somewhat anonymous, compared to the thorough exploration of her husband's entire family, but this game is more about the player's effort than any characterologic development. The game is very, very well written and the parser has been thoroughly programmed, with only extremely rare "guess the correct verb" moments (Spoiler - click to show)Don't "hit" the web with the broom.

What stuck with me in 1998 was how hard this game was. I mean, I may have been just 20 but I was a smart cookie with extensive IF experience, and I could not finish Anchorhead Original without significant help. Anchorhead 2018 is . . . easier. Not by much, and certainly not in such a way that players of the original will feel cheated, but there's a gloss on the game that made the denouement and ending feel a little perfunctory. Several objects and locations serve no purpose except to move the game towards the finish line. (Spoiler - click to show)What is the point of the flute, except as a handy tool for banishing the final enemy? Hell, why have an altar at all with thousands of corpses underground when the apparent threat is in the water? Tell me more about that Zodiac. And so on.

That said, I loved playing this again in my 40s and I'm so, so glad IF refuses to die. If you have a Lovecraft fan as a friend, introduce them to this game!

My introduction to H.P. Lovecraft, and frankly, well-written horror, Anchorhead remains one of my favorite games ever made twenty years later. While the free version stands on its own, the 20th anniversary edition is well worth the ten dollar price tag if you liked the original or are a fan of thriller/horror games.

You play the role of apprehensive wife who has uprooted her life after her husband inherited a spooky house in a spooky New England town. Naturally, as you explore the house and the town, you begin to unravel horrors better left uncovered; except your husband’s life is at stake and so the motivation to press on remains ever present. Gentry does a superb job of encouraging the player to go at their own pace as key events have to be triggered by solving key puzzles. This allows his masterful atmospheric writing to draw the player into his world (not surprisingly as it won Best Setting at the XYZZY awards). I have played this a few times now, and each time I have felt on the edge of my seat despite knowing what’s coming. Even reading through old newspaper clippings or library books intensifies the mood here. The writing is that good.

In fact, there is a sequence about halfway through the game (Spoiler - click to show) (well/mob/church) when things start to get real that was sort of a coming of age moment for me in interactive fiction. It remains one of my favorite areas of any video game, graphic or otherwise.

My only real criticism of Anchorhead is the puzzles. In the 20th Anniversary Edition, Gentry cleaned up several puzzles that were done hastily. The wine cellar puzzle is infinitely more interesting now, and your acquisition of keys seems to be more organic. But there are still too many puzzles that seem to present only for puzzles' sake (Spoiler - click to show)(including one near the end with a broom), and some that practically require you to die in order to learn what you need to do (Spoiler - click to show)(the lighthouse puzzle comes to mind). The game is also cruel at times, allowing you to progress in an unwinnable state because you didn’t find an out-of-the-way object you didn’t even know you were supposed to look for (Spoiler - click to show)(a needle in a haystack, as it were). Thankfully, the nature of a horror game means you’ll be saving often, and even the worst walking dead situation doesn’t require to restore back too far. Still, when atmosphere is king, these types of issues can pull the player out of the game. I admit I used a walkthrough near the end of the game, not because the puzzles were too hard, but rather because I was too engrossed in the story to want to solve them.

It would be hard to introduce someone to the world of interactive fiction without recommending Anchorhead. While it’s not easy, the game’s parser and design are so user-friendly (thank you trench coat and key-ring!) that it rarely becomes frustrating to play. As of this writing Anchorhead is considered the 2nd highest rated text adventure of all-time, and most of those ratings came before the new edition which enhances the playing experience while also adding some appropriately horrifying graphics.