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House of Rules

House of Rules Game Cover
76%Game Brain Score
Most mentioned positive aspects:story, graphics
Most mentioned negative aspects:gameplay, grinding
83% User Score Based on 42 reviews

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PCWindows
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House of Rules Game Cover

About House of Rules

House of Rules is a single player platformer game with horror and mystery themes. It was developed by Chii the Cat and was released on December 17, 2021. It received positive reviews from players.

Searching for a place to work, YOU(player) find an intriguing job advertisement offering an excessively high salary. Doubtful but desperate, you head to a mansion to discover a surprisingly neat...

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House of Rules screenshot
House of Rules screenshot
House of Rules screenshot
House of Rules screenshot
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Reviews

83%Audience ScoreBased on 42 reviews
story24 positive mentions
gameplay3 negative mentions
  • Engaging and emotionally rich story with surprising twists and multiple endings.
  • Atmospheric and unique art style with fitting music and sound design that enhances the horror experience.
  • Well-designed puzzles that provide a balanced challenge and contribute to the gameplay variety.
  • Frustrating chase sequences and mandatory replays cause player irritation and disrupt pacing.
  • Lack of autosave, save-anywhere feature, and inability to skip dialogue or cutscenes reduce user convenience.
  • Clunky controls, no diagonal movement, and occasional bugs negatively impact gameplay fluidity.

  • story

    40 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    60% positive mentions, 32% neutral mentions, 8% negative mentions

    The story is widely praised for its engaging mystery, emotional depth, and well-developed characters, blending elements of psychological horror, tragedy, and love. While some find the narrative classic and occasionally railroading, many appreciate its unique atmosphere, immersive storytelling, and thoughtful themes. Overall, the story is considered compelling, rich, and a key strength of the game.

    • “This is not a shallow horror game; the creator put a lot of thought and emotion into the narrative, which resulted in a beautiful story with rich characters and complex themes.”
    • “The story is amazing, you can't help but love and feel sympathy for all the characters, and the sneaking around and solving the mystery is just so fun!”
    • “I won't spoil the story but it's a nice combination of mystery, tragedy and love that had more depth than I was expecting while going in blind.”
    • “Stop holding my hand through every step; the player doesn't need a hint for every instruction or puzzle. For goodness' sake, let me make my own decisions. I see the makings of a game like Yuppie Psycho or The Count of Lucanor here, but the main thing holding it back is the developers' railroading. Give me choices that seriously impact the game and its endings. Let me choose what I want to do. Stop forcing me to go from point A to B to complete my latest quest. Let me ignore the task and do my own thing, then reward or punish me for my decisions.”
    • “I personally get the moment when it's tense, but why can't I skip the text to either continue the storyline faster or get to the action?”
    • “We (aka myself and future players) need more content to flesh out the story.”

  • graphics

    11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    45% positive mentions, 55% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The game's unique and thematic art style is widely praised for creating a captivating and creepy atmosphere that enhances immersion. While some note minor polish issues, the distinctive visuals, combined with strong character portraits and cohesive sound design, make the graphics a standout aspect that effectively supports the story and mood.

    • “The unique art style and character portraits were what drew me in at first, and the creepy atmosphere is well done; expect a few good scares and sudden noises in the first half of the game.”
    • “The art style and music both impressed me immediately when I started playing, and I found myself fully immersed in the story as it went along.”
    • “The graphics and sound design form a cohesive atmosphere without any aspects that feel out of place or break the immersion.”

  • atmosphere

    10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    60% positive mentions, 20% neutral mentions, 20% negative mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is consistently praised for being solid, engaging, and well-crafted, with a unique art style, fitting music, and effective sound design that enhance immersion. Its creepy and mysterious tone provides good scares and maintains player interest, though some criticism arises from slow text pacing that can hinder the overall flow.

    • “The unique art style and character portraits were what drew me in at first, and the creepy atmosphere is well done, with a few good scares and sudden noises in the first half of the game.”
    • “The graphics and sound design form a cohesive atmosphere without any aspects that feel out of place or break the immersion.”
    • “And the music fits the tone and atmosphere of the game perfectly, as well as being generally pleasant to listen to.”
    • “Like I stated above, the game has a horrible habit of making you watch every slow text output from the characters. I'm assuming this is to elicit the type of atmosphere for that moment, but that should be up to the person watching it.”
    • “Atmosphere in game.”

  • music

    8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    50% positive mentions, 50% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The music in the game is highly praised for perfectly complementing the eerie and tense atmosphere, enhancing immersion and mood. It is described as well-fitting, pleasant, and effectively contributing to the horror experience alongside the art and story.

    • “The art style and music both impressed me immediately when I started playing, and I found myself fully immersed in the story as it went along.”
    • “And the music fits the tone and atmosphere of the game perfectly, as well as being generally pleasant to listen to.”
    • “The eerie haunted mansion can make you nervous from time to time; the music is well fitting, and there's nothing really falling out of place here.”

  • gameplay

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

    The gameplay is praised for its clever puzzles and engaging challenges, particularly the innovative "hints" concept, which kept players interested and excited. Some users wished for more story and gameplay content, though technical issues like save file corruption were reported.

    • “I loved the 'hints' concept; beyond this, I thought the puzzles were quite clever. The gameplay kept me interested and challenged.”
    • “Yes, I would've personally paid more for additional story and gameplay.”
    • “Beyond this, I thought the puzzles were quite clever; the gameplay kept me interested and challenged.”
    • “Yes, I would've personally paid more for more story and gameplay.”
    • “I was not expecting to be as engrossed or excited by the gameplay.”

  • grinding

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

    Grinding in the game is considered tedious due to clunky controls causing repetitive gameplay, especially during chases. This leads to players revisiting the same scenes multiple times, making progression feel slow despite the game's overall short length.

  • emotional

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

    The emotional aspect of the game is notably impactful, providing chilling moments while maintaining a strong, engaging emotional connection with players.

    • “It was quite chilling at moments, but above all, I was impressed by how emotionally engaging this was.”
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Frequently Asked Questions

House of Rules is a platformer game with horror and mystery themes. Common tags for House of Rules include grid-based movement, indie, psychological, pixel graphics, psychological horror and others.

House of Rules is available on PC and Windows.

House of Rules was released on December 17, 2021.

House of Rules was developed by Chii the Cat.

House of Rules has received positive reviews from players. Most players liked House of Rules for its story but disliked it for its gameplay.

House of Rules is a single player game.

Similar games include Cat in the Box, Dead Secret, The Witch's House MV, Ann, Project Kat: Paper Lily Prologue and others.