I want to be mean to the GOG Forum community but I won't.

Let's just say that *I* don't spam every strategy game release thread with "this game sucks and so do the people who like it."

Seriously, you guys need to swallow that chill pill ASAP.

who is saying the game sucks and so do the people who like it?

I just don't know what the F the game is at all, it has nothing to do with genre

It looks so nice and retro ^_^ I love that speccy loading the screen :)

Thanks for mentioning it, I almost cried of joy watching that part =)

It's actually a sad case. We discussed here it quite a bit when it first came out, mainly because they were pushing it so hard and visually it was very compelling.

The big, big, BIG problem was that the text parser was absolutely awful. Apparently, the developers hired an English professor from a local college, whose abilities (while still probably good for a non-native speaker) were still nowhere near that of an actual native English speaker. Instead of apologizing for the problems and trying to fix them, the parser issues remained unfixed and the developers stubbornly insisted that there were no problems at all.

The game has been largely abandoned now; their forums are offline and we haven't heard anything about bugfixes or future support for the game. It's a real shame as their hearts were in the right place and the game was packaged very, very well.

I'll wishlist it for now. The description is useless and the video tells you next to nothing, but text adventure!

Honestly, it just reminds me that I need to watch Stranger Things.

Out of curiosity I found some gameplay of the first chapter. If you don't mind some spoilers you can check it out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGvehUkWuFs

Now, he "finished" the chapter in that it unlocked the next one, but based on his comments, and his having played the original, he seems to feel there is more you can do if you do it right. A utility room to examine, if you can find the key. Things like that, but once you get to a particular spot you are pretty much at the end and seemingly can't change what is happening and have to just let it happen.

I'm a wuss though so probably a bit too ooky for me. ;-)

The first part came out last year and was for free. The full version here for part 1 plays pretty much the same, there are a few enhancements.
There are some issues with the parser but I am loving it. I find it very immersive as I adore text adventures.

Here is the free part 1
https://jonnocode.itch.io/the-house-abandon

Utterly stuck on the glyph puzzla in story 2. Can't solve it so looks like I have a long wait for someone else to solve it and then say where the hell I am going wrong :)

Utterly enjoying every second ot it. Fantastic game. Not sure how far in Story 2 I am.....over an hour in so far and now I am stuck.

The first part should take you approx 15 min or so.

Love it so far !!! (bar getting stuck). :)

I didn't play the second part yet but could it be that the parts are interconnected with each other?

For example I found some glyphs in the first part and a door in the kitchen with an red X on it which can not be opened. It sais "not now".

Completed first 3 parts.
WOW !!!!! I am just speechless.................. :O I ao need to tweet the devs ! The immersion is just fantastic, at least for me.

Just a note parts 2 and 3 are not like part 1. ie, the whole game is not just like part 1 where you type in instructions like a text adventure. When I finished 2 I just wanted to do a little of three and before I knew it POW I'm right in............

The game eases you in.

I'm good with codes and ciphers so I found Part 3 the simplest but there are a LOT of surprises, it always makes you wonder what is next.

Leaving part 4 for tomorrow. This is just SUCH an amazing experience, I adore this 100%.
Best money spent. Whatever these devs do next or if there is more of this, I am SO in !!!!!
I don't want to spoil anything so I better not say a thing. All I can say is WOW ........... this will not be everyone's cup of tea but I can't praise this enough.

It will be sad when I finish part 4. I wish there were at least like 10 parts. :)

WHAT IS THIS GAME?!?

Here comes the answer - *no* spoilers:

I had no idea what this game is about. Heck, I didn't even have a clue what KIND of game this is. Seriously, this is the worst gamecard info EVER. And the screen shots don't tell you nothing.

So, I played the free demo, kindly postet by "styggron": https://jonnocode.itch.io/the-house-abandon.

And because I really like the demo, I will tell you what the game is about. And I try to avoid any spoilers.

Well, first of all it IS a text adventure. That means you do have to enter "written" commands via your keyboard to "move" your game character.
If you don't like this kind of game, please, don't play it!

There are no "real" graphics like the old Magnetic Scrolls games ("Jinx", "Guild of Thieves", "The Pawn" or "Fish") had which depicted some of the scenery. Instead you are looking at a desk with an old computer and a computer monitor.
Thus, basically you are playing a sim-like game of someone playing an old text adventure without any graphics.
(Reminds me a bit of the setup of "Her Story" where you are staring at an old police computer screen.)

> Game series get cancelled all the time. But something surrounding the cancellation
> of Stories Untold makes you uneasy.

This absolutely confused me. The series got cancelled? So it is not finished or what? Are we supposed to play a some leftovers?

After having played the demo I got it: The "cancellation" is already part of the story. The game card pretends to be real. The whole thing is a bit "Blair Witch"-y:
You (respectively the invisible on screen character) are playing in the game a game that is called "Untold Stories". For some reasons it got cancelled, and you/the protagonist got a copy and start(s) playing it. The first episode is called "House Abandoned" and was previously released as a free game and you/he/she play(s) a remastered version.

This sound terribly self-referential and pseudo-spooky - but it isn't.
It is not just a cheap "gimmick", but the concept totally makes sense.

The fifteen or twenty minutes of the free game convinced me to get the complete game. I really like the premise and while I first was annoyed to look at an old and flickery computer monitor (instead of actually playing the game fullscreen on my monitor), I was soon hooked and sucked into the gameplay.
I even got scared.

I totally like the atmosphere and story.

What I don't like is the parser.
Man, it's so stupid: There is no "PUSH" or "PRESS THE BUTTON" to turn on a light switch, you can only "USE BUTTON". To get around the house you can't just "GO BEHIND HOUSE", you have to "GO YARD", because "the yard leads behind the house".
Parser-wise it is dumb, but still everything that needs to be done can be figured out within reasonable time. For me it felt like part of the puzzles. You need to look for a hint in the text to trick the parser into doing the stuff you want it to do.
Don't expect the parser to be of Infocom quality.
It isn't.
But it DOES work and when you know how to handle it does its job.

SUMMARY:
It's a spooky text adventure with a very limited parser. It is scary, and it is arty and a bit "concept-y".
But if you are into into indie games, like to try out something different and are not put off by having to type in commands (once again: it is a text adventure!), then you might like the game.
Whether you are willing to spend the ten bucks (or how much GOG is asking you to pay in your country) or you want to wait for discount is up to you.
After having played the demo, I was willing to get it right now.

One final suggestion: wear your headphones while playing the game.:)

wow, love this idea, and the fact that its such a small team, insta bought.