Anchorhead

After many years of IF abstinence, I've discovered the re-release of Anchorhead. It was my first time with the game so I can't compare it to the free version. I've managed to play to the very end with two hints from a kind community member and here are my thoughts. Pros: + exceptionally well written game + captivating plot and strong feeling of a real place + huge attention to detail and variance (environments, events, etc. etc.) + lively characters + the plot doesn't parasite on existing Lovecraft tales, but it draws the inspiration from lovecraftian universe + I enjoyed the illustrations + most of the time, enough clues were given + undo command Cons: - very, very unforgiving! Many dead ends requiring partial replays so save often! (think Dark Souls :) ) - the game doesn't communicate you are in an unwinnable state, forcing you to roam around aimlessly - sometimes the descriptions are too vague given how critical the outcome is. [spoiler]entrance to the old foundation workshop[/...

Usually I'm not a big fan of parser IFs (it's too much like managing *nix server. Btw, I managed to close game by pressing Ctrl+W when trying to delete a word, good thing it has autosave), but this is pure classic. Also it's Lovecraftian and has nice illustrations (which remind me Sunless Sea for some reason).

Anchorhead is my favorite interactive fiction game, my favorite Lovecraftian game, and one of my favorite video games, period. The atmosphere and setting of Anchorhead are unparalleled in their immersive strangeness, and this is thanks to the wonderfully evocative prose and both the limits and opportunities of parser-based interaction. Text-based storytelling works especially well for this genre -- graphics can never do justice in representing Cosmic Horror. I'm very happy to see Anchorhead now on Steam with what look to be apt illustrations (they hint more than spell out with too much-ness) and apparently genuinely *remade* from the cobbles up (Michael Gentry's preface to the game was fascinating in its own right on such questions, and well worth reading). On the technical side, I'm especially pleased that the game allows for multiple settings for changing fonts, margins, zoom-in level, and colors. I always play text games, when possible, with black background and lighter letterin...

Very enjoyable old school text based adventure with illustrations. Save a LOT, because this game has timed elements where you need to execute multiple moves in sequence in some areas, and it will let you break the game if you lose items or fail to pick them up when you need to. Great writing and atmosphere.

This game becomes functionally impossible if you don't take your husband's university ID on the morning of Day 2. If you have any interest in playing this game blind, take that bit of knowledge onboard right now. Remember it, and DO NOT let yourself progress past the morning of Day 2 unless you have that ID. Do not read further. If you're still here, I'll assume you're willing to risk spoilers. So - as I said, Anchorhead becomes impossible to complete if you don't get that ID on the morning of Day 2. Now, that's not automatically a problem, you might say. This is a game - it's got fail states, it's got things you have to do before you can proceed. No problem. Thing is, you will not discover this or realize this until you get stuck halfway through Day 3, and resort to google searching where you got stuck. Is the game well-written? Without a doubt. I loved it from the beginning, and I loved it even more as it ramped up to higher levels of intensity from Day 3 on. And everything, and I ...

Anchorhead is a great example of the IF genre, and is truly Lovecraftian to its core. Interacting with the world and exploring is interesting and I found the pace of the story developments to be just right. The atmosphere is excellent and when played together with some minimalist dark ambient it really comes alive for me. I recommend this game for anyone into dark and interesting storytelling. Also do save a lot while playing the game.

Anchorhead is a very well-written text adventure approximately the size of an Infocom game. I found the puzzles to be well-clued, sometimes by multiple sources so it's harder to miss one. Although I got stuck on one puzzle and ended up having to ask for a hint (mainly to narrow the search area), upon finding the answer I realized that it _had_ been clued - I had just missed it. The game seems reasonably resilient to walking dead scenarios. You can, of course, choose to throw obviously critical items into the ocean and lose them forever - but I'm assuming you won't do that. I didn't exhaustively test, but from what I can see, the general worst case is that a puzzle becomes harder by precluding a potential solution (due to a missing item), but not impossible. If you like text adventures, I highly recommend this one.

Very well writtened horror text adventure game. Don't feel bad about using a guide, however - its one of *those* games where its not always clear what you're doing may softlock or straight up kill you due to misdirection. Take notes, make a map, and get lost in this creepy and wet ass town.

A very well-written text adventure with plenteous references to Lovecraft (numerous story elements and tropes combined from several stories). The puzzles are sometimes hard and sometimes easy; with even a minor hint they can usually be solved, though some require thinking outside the box a little (not just using the obvious items in the obvious ways). The story is quite good, as is the writing and the sense of building excitement as the game progresses. Being a big weird fiction/cosmic horror fan, I can say this is one of the most faithful (maybe THE most faithful) game out there which draws on that literature. It's definitely worth the price on Steam.

Great text adventure with excellent writing. The puzzles are demanding but never illogical or frustrating, at least if you take notes during the first third of the game, or so. The game is known to be unforgiving in that you can run into dead ends without being warned immediately. However, if you keep this in mind and are a bit careful, it is not too hard to avoid. It mostly means not destroying items without need or leaving them behind in places you cannot return to. Also, saving often and under different file names is a good idea. I'd highly recommend this to anyone with even a remote interest in text-based games and the setting, even without much prior text adventure experience. In the latter case, however, I'd suggest keeping a clue list at hand. There is a great one available on the interactive fiction forum: https://intfiction.org/t/anchorhead-2018-invisiclues-hints/49044