Dreams in the Witch House

About

"Dreams in the Witch House" is a horror adventure game inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's story. As a student of mathematics and occult, you uncover supernatural events and face otherworldly creatures in your apartment complex. Solve puzzles, navigate eerie locations, and survive the nightmares of the witch house.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

92%

Audience ScoreBased on 225 reviews

story54 positive mentions

grinding14 negative mentions

The game successfully blends point-and-click adventure with survival and time management elements, creating an immersive experience.
It features a compelling story that stays true to Lovecraft's lore, with multiple endings and randomized events that encourage replayability.
The pixel art and atmospheric sound design enhance the overall experience, making it visually appealing and engaging.

The daily rhythm can feel grindy and tense, making it difficult to fully enjoy the narrative.
Some players may find the survival mechanics tedious, as they require constant attention to resources like health, sanity, and money.
The game can be challenging, with some puzzles being difficult to solve without external help, which may frustrate some players.

story
171 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
32%
67%
2%
The story of "Dreams in the Witch House" is widely praised for its engaging narrative and faithful adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's original short story, enhanced by a rich atmosphere and intriguing character interactions. Players appreciate the game's non-linear storytelling and the impact of their choices on the plot, although some find the survival mechanics can detract from fully immersing in the narrative. Overall, the game is recommended for its depth, replayability, and ability to evoke the essence of Lovecraftian horror.
- “The story builds on mystery and the game improves the source material by adding more key characters to the story.”
- “I was often surprised by the depth and the developments the story can take based on your discoveries.”
- “The game has so many elements from the story of the same name and tons of references from other H.P. Lovecraft stories.”
- “Though in my opinion after playing a while, I feel as though the game relied too heavily on the survival aspects of what the developer wanted, and I started to lose a little interest in continuously trying to grind money and missing out on more storylines because of it.”
- “When the game ended, I was surprised, because it felt like the story was just starting to take off and get interesting, and I was disappointed that I was unable to finish any of the story arcs I had started.”
- “It is important to know that with so many survival mechanics, you won’t be able to follow a story through to its conclusion without concentrating on one area and forgetting everything else.”
gameplay
82 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
73%
4%
The gameplay of "Dreams in the Witch House" is a unique blend of point-and-click adventure and survival mechanics, offering an engaging experience that combines exploration, puzzle-solving, and resource management. While many players appreciate the atmospheric storytelling and immersive mechanics, some find the survival elements tedious and disruptive to the overall flow of the game. Overall, the gameplay is praised for its depth and replayability, though it may require players to adapt to its complex systems.
- “The gameplay is effective; you have enough things to worry about that managing time and money becomes gripping. The graphics are nice, the music is great, and the characters clearly have their own distinct voices.”
- “The survival mechanics are enough to keep you on your toes without being oppressive, which allows the adventure aspect to really shine.”
- “Beyond all that, the gameplay mechanics are very well thought out, addictive, and incredibly immersive.”
- “What it doesn't show are the survival and study mechanics which make up ~80% of the game and which do not add much fun to the game.”
- “There might be a fun game here, but unfortunately it's hamstrung by a tedious survival mechanic.”
- “I certainly wanted to like this game as I love cosmic horror stories, but this story just felt impenetrable and starting another playthrough when I know how tedious these survival mechanics are greatly dissuaded me.”
graphics
46 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
43%
7%
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their charming pixel art style, which effectively captures the atmosphere of a Lovecraftian setting while evoking nostalgia for classic LucasArts titles. While some players noted inconsistencies between character designs and backgrounds, the overall aesthetic is considered beautiful and detailed, enhancing the immersive experience. The retro visuals, combined with excellent animations and a fitting interface, contribute to a strong presentation that resonates well with fans of the genre.
- “The art style is beautiful, one of the best looking pixel art games I've seen in a long time, the music and ambiance are great companions to this game and will either make you feel like you are in a whimsical world or about to get attacked and violently murdered.”
- “The pixel art style and atmosphere immediately drew me in, and the level design kept me engaged from start to finish.”
- “Graphics and especially animations are beautiful and detailed!”
- “A choice was made to use obsolete, decades-old retro pixel 'art' as a substitute for contemporary PC graphics.”
- “There's no option to change the resolution and no useful graphics tweaks.”
- “Over time my eyes adjusted to this, but especially early on I felt this was quite distracting and I wished the game had chosen one style or the other for all of its visuals.”
atmosphere
33 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
52%
39%
9%
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its ability to evoke a sense of dread and cosmic horror, effectively capturing the essence of Lovecraftian themes through pixel art and sound design. Reviewers highlight the game's unsettling ambiance, dynamic soundscapes, and clever use of space and lighting, which enhance the overall experience without the need for voice acting. Despite some critiques regarding repetitive music, the atmosphere remains a standout feature, drawing players into a captivating and immersive world filled with mystery and tension.
- “Great atmosphere; that has to be the strongest point. The producers managed to capture the dread and the evil lurking, which is not easy in a simple pixel art style.”
- “The atmosphere is spot on; you can see that the authors understand Lovecraft and his stories.”
- “The way the game uses space and architecture to build tension and atmosphere is masterful, and the puzzles are well-designed and satisfying to solve.”
- “The music really fits the atmosphere, and especially the sounds used in certain scenes are high quality, creating a tense and creepy atmosphere at times.”
- “The lighting and color choices are effective and add to the game's overall atmosphere.”
- “I love Lovecraft, read everything he has 10+ times, and this game really captures the atmosphere.”
music
25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
44%
44%
12%
The music in the game is generally praised for its ability to enhance the atmosphere, with many reviewers noting its fitting and varied soundtrack that complements the gameplay and visuals. However, some players find the music can become repetitive over long play sessions, and a few critiques mention that certain tracks may feel weak or lead to moments of silence. Overall, the soundtrack effectively contributes to the game's mood, balancing between whimsical and ominous tones.
- “The art is absolutely beautiful and the soundtrack is awesome.”
- “The game has a rich atmosphere, a captivating story, and a dynamic soundtrack that enhances the mood.”
- “The music really fits the atmosphere and especially the sounds used in certain scenes really are high quality and just fit perfectly to create a tenseful, creepy atmosphere at times.”
- “Though I found the music to be atmospheric in this game, its long playtime can make any soundtrack feel repetitive.”
- “There are a few other pieces, but they do repeat a lot and sadly get a little obnoxious, so I would say the music is the weakest part of the game.”
- “Music was a bit weak, but I tend to believe that atmosphere shines brightest when the music goes along that path.”
replayability
23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
30%
13%
The game boasts high replayability due to its hybrid RPG and point-and-click mechanics, multiple endings, and randomized elements that encourage players to explore different paths and strategies in subsequent playthroughs. Users appreciate the emphasis on learning from initial runs to improve in future attempts, as well as the challenge presented by higher difficulty modes. Overall, the combination of engaging storylines, varied outcomes, and dynamic puzzles makes it a standout title in terms of replay value.
- “The hybridization of RPG, point and click, and not having to pixel hunt for everything makes this a fantastic game if you like any of the elements it offers. The emphasis on learning in your first playthrough and taking that knowledge back to a new game to do it better next time is a great touch for replayability.”
- “With multiple endings, this game provides hours of entertainment and lots of replayability.”
- “It's a really good short (per run) point and click adventure game with a lot of replayability due to both things that are randomized per run and multiple endings.”
- “The game has some replay value as well I've read, but as of this review I haven't explored that.”
- “I should also add that there are puzzles to solve in the traditional sense when it comes to adventure games, and most of these puzzles are randomized from playthrough to playthrough to add to the replay value.”
- “Lots of stuff happen all the time (some randomized, so there's replay value here) and setting the difficulty level higher gives you new challenges to overcome.”
grinding
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The reviews highlight a mixed sentiment towards the grinding aspect of the game, with many players finding the survival mechanics and daily routines overly tedious and detracting from the overall enjoyment of the story. While some appreciate the tension these elements add to gameplay, others feel that the grind is excessive and can make the experience boring. Overall, there is a call for reworking or streamlining certain tedious tasks to enhance the game's appeal.
- “Interesting game, I like the idea and execution in general, however I find the daily rhythm too grindy and tense to enjoy the story.”
- “There might be a fun game here, but unfortunately it's hamstrung by a tedious survival mechanic.”
- “It makes the game so incredibly boring and tedious.”
humor
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's humor is characterized by its fun and charming art style, which complements its comedic moments effectively. Players often find themselves in amusing situations based on their choices, leading to unexpected and funny outcomes that enhance the overall experience.
- “The art style is fun and charming, hilarious at times, and fits the time period well!”
- “I played this once and threw myself into a bad ending the moment it presented itself to me; it was kind of funny, abrupt but funny.”
- “At times, I did find the game to be hilarious based on my choices, like getting robbed with no money in my wallet.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
50%
The game's optimization is praised for its outstanding performance and engaging visuals, but it heavily emphasizes survival elements that may challenge players' ability to manage multiple tasks under tight constraints. This aspect makes it more suitable for those who enjoy complex survival mechanics.
- “Outstanding performance in illustration and engagement.”
- “The survival elements weigh heavily on your performance and the ability to complete the point-and-click adventuring side of the game. I would only recommend this to people who enjoy survival elements and managing many different things at once, within a tight budget constraint.”
- “The survival elements weigh so heavily on your performance and the ability to complete the point-and-click adventuring side of the game that I would only recommend this to people who enjoy survival elements and managing lots of different things at once within a tight budget constraint.”
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization of this game is viewed positively, as it stands out against a backdrop of exploitative practices by larger corporations, earning appreciation for its integrity and deserving support from players.