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Curse of the Old Gods

Curse of the Old Gods Game Cover
76%Game Brain Score
Most mentioned positive aspects:story, atmosphere
Most mentioned negative aspects:graphics, music
83% User Score Based on 42 reviews

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PCWindows
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Curse of the Old Gods Game Cover

About Curse of the Old Gods

Curse of the Old Gods is a single player action game with horror and mystery themes. It was developed by Tim Rachor and was released on December 4, 2017. It received positive reviews from players.

A mystery adventure game set in a present-day Lovecraftian universe.

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Curse of the Old Gods screenshot
Curse of the Old Gods screenshot
Curse of the Old Gods screenshot
Curse of the Old Gods screenshot
Curse of the Old Gods screenshot
Curse of the Old Gods screenshot
Curse of the Old Gods screenshot
Curse of the Old Gods screenshot
Curse of the Old Gods screenshot
Curse of the Old Gods screenshot
Curse of the Old Gods screenshot
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Reviews

83%Audience ScoreBased on 42 reviews
story6 positive mentions
  • Engaging Lovecraftian mystery with a strong investigative element and multiple endings.
  • Authentic retro visual and audio style that enhances the horror atmosphere and appeals to nostalgia.
  • Free to play with accessible puzzles that encourage careful observation without overwhelming complexity.
  • Very short gameplay length, limiting story depth and overall immersion.
  • Visual style and color palette can make it difficult to discern interactive objects despite hotspot assistance.
  • Occasional awkward puzzle design and a somewhat linear, clichéd story with limited character development.

  • story

    18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    33% positive mentions, 50% neutral mentions, 17% negative mentions

    The story is generally engaging with a Lovecraftian murder investigation set in a retro, strange museum environment, but many find it linear, somewhat clichéd, and lacking in depth or surprising developments. While the narrative holds attention and suits the game's simple presentation, it doesn't fully capture the complexity or atmosphere of classic Lovecraft tales. Overall, it provides a reasonably entertaining but not particularly innovative plot experience.

    • “I like the murder investigation, Lovecraftian story, strange museum setting, and deliberately retro presentation, and the puzzles give me enough to think about without becoming overwhelming.”
    • “A Lovecraftian detective game with a nice story and puzzles, and it's free!”
    • “The story gives some intrigue to hold my attention right to the end of the game.”
    • “I didn't like it; the story wasn't enough, gameplay was kinda boring, and the scoring system almost forces you to do whatever the designer thought.”
    • “The story was quite linear and cliché, with few twists or surprises, no development of atmosphere, and no depth or poignancy.”
    • “Needless to say, the story in this game fails to come close to Lovecraft, and indeed (like so many others) misses the whole point of what makes most of Lovecraft's stories both endearing and horrific.”

  • graphics

    18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    17% positive mentions, 66% neutral mentions, 17% negative mentions

    The graphics feature an intentionally pixelated, blurry, and retro digitized style reminiscent of late 80s to early 90s adventure games, which may not appeal to everyone but effectively captures a nostalgic cosmic horror aesthetic. While visually basic and sometimes unclear without hotspot indicators, the unique old-school look is appreciated by fans of vintage games despite some lag in the interface. Overall, the style is a deliberate, acquired taste that complements the game's atmosphere and story rather than focusing on modern visual polish.

    • “Free Lovecraftian point-and-click game, somewhat similar in presentation to the old 80s MacVenture games (Shadowgate, Uninvited, Deja Vu) with a fairly accurate representation of how digitized graphics looked in games from the late 80s and early 90s.”
    • “There is something undeniably appealing about this combination of actual retro graphics—as in, not faux-retro high-resolution pixel art but rather actually resembling early efforts at using digitized photographs in games—and simple adventure gameplay with a midi soundtrack.”
    • “Had the developer chosen either true EGA (16 colors out of EGA 64 color palette) or 256 color VGA and spent a few extra weeks on touchups, dithers, and outlines, the game's visuals could have easily matched the aesthetics of early Dynamix games such as Rise of the Dragon or Heart of China which took a similar approach of using digitized video as a baseline for in-game art.”
    • “The graphics also make it sometimes impossible to know what you are looking at, and without the highlight button for interactive spots, this would probably have been barely playable.”
    • “The inventory is laggy as hell when you open it, and the visuals are underwhelming, to say the least.”
    • “Graphics are nothing to write home about, intentionally pixelated and blurry to create an old-school look, but they're different than the usual.”

  • music

    8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    38% positive mentions, 24% neutral mentions, 38% negative mentions

    The music, primarily composed of stock MIDI tracks, complements the game's retro, mystery-horror atmosphere and adds a uniquely addictive, if somewhat imperfect, charm. While some stock music and images can slightly reduce immersion, the combination effectively enhances the nostalgic and dramatic experience.

    • “The old computer style works surprisingly well with the mystery and horror atmosphere, especially when combined with the General MIDI soundtrack.”
    • “There is something undeniably appealing about this combination of actual retro graphics—as in, not faux-retro high-resolution pixel art but rather actually resembling early efforts at using digitized photographs in games—and simple adventure gameplay with a MIDI soundtrack.”
    • “There is some stock images and music used which can lessen the immersion, but I was still pretty into what was happening.”
    • “There is some stock images and music used which can lessen the immersion but I was still pretty into what was happening.”
    • “- Some stock music and images can lessen immersion.”
    • “The music is all stock as well.”

  • atmosphere

    6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    50% positive mentions, 33% neutral mentions, 17% negative mentions

    The game's atmosphere is praised for its effective blend of old computer aesthetics and a MIDI soundtrack, creating a creepy, mysterious, and nostalgic vibe suited to a slow-paced, classic adventure experience. While some find it charming and engaging for its simplicity, others feel the atmosphere lacks depth, development, and originality.

    • “The old computer style works surprisingly well with the mystery and horror atmosphere, especially when combined with the General MIDI soundtrack.”
    • “For me, it is worth playing when I want a quick mystery with a creepy atmosphere and a very old fashioned adventure game feel.”
    • “It's not very complicated and it creates a very nice atmosphere with very little.”
    • “The story was quite linear and cliche, with few twists or surprises, no development of atmosphere, and no depth or poignancy.”

  • gameplay

    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    75% positive mentions, -25% neutral mentions, 50% negative mentions

    The gameplay is praised for its focused, simple adventure mechanics that complement the authentic retro graphics and midi soundtrack, avoiding unnecessary complexity. However, some find it boring with a limited story and a scoring system that restricts player freedom. A unique time-related mechanic offering premonitions and backward time travel adds an interesting twist.

    • “I appreciate that the game stays focused instead of adding unnecessary mechanics just to make the experience longer.”
    • “There is something undeniably appealing about this combination of actual retro graphics—as in, not faux-retro high-resolution pixel art but rather actually resembling early efforts at using digitized photographs in games—and simple adventure gameplay with a midi soundtrack.”
    • “There is a mechanic linked to time or actions you take which gives you premonitions of death, then you wake up backwards in time, which is a nice touch.”
    • “I didn't like it, story wasn't enough, gameplay was kinda boring and scoring system almost forces you to do whatever the designer thought.”
    • “Still, I appreciate that the game stays focused instead of adding unnecessary mechanics just to make the experience longer.”

  • replayability

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The game offers high replayability, encouraging multiple playthroughs to discover its various endings and strategies.

    • “You have to play it a few times to realize what to do, but the replayability is high with different endings.”
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Curse of the Old Gods is a action game with horror and mystery themes. Common tags for Curse of the Old Gods include free to play, indie, retro and lovecraftian.

Curse of the Old Gods is available on PC and Windows.

Curse of the Old Gods was released on December 4, 2017.

Curse of the Old Gods was developed by Tim Rachor.

Curse of the Old Gods has received positive reviews from players. Most players liked Curse of the Old Gods for its story but disliked it for its graphics.

Curse of the Old Gods is a single player game.

Similar games include The Corruption Within, Metaphobia, The Blackwell Legacy, From Beyond Prologue, Abscission and others.