The Ghosts of Hackney Mills

39%
Game Brain Score Based on 19 reviews
  • story
  • music
  • atmosphere
The Ghosts of Hackney Mills Game Cover
Starting at $0.48Buy now
Get on Steam

"The Ghosts of Hackney Mills" is a free-to-play horror-mystery adventure game set in an abandoned research center in Hackney Mills, Ohio. Players explore a massive open world with tricky puzzles, discovering the center's chilling secret and an eerie atmosphere with a suspenseful soundtrack. The game is developed by Sapphire Dragon Productions, following their popular mystery adventure game series.

  • Mac OS
  • PC
  • Windows
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

39%
Audience ScoreBased on 19 reviews
story12 positive mentions
gameplay3 negative mentions
  • The game features an interesting story that can be engaging if players pay attention to the audio recordings.
  • The atmosphere and music are well-executed, contributing to an eerie and immersive experience.
  • The pixel art style is cute and adds charm to the overall presentation of the game.
  • The voice acting is inconsistent, with some performances being poorly executed and distracting due to exaggerated accents.
  • Gameplay primarily consists of walking and listening to long, unskippable audio clips, which can become tedious and disengaging.
  • The game suffers from various bugs, including crashes and missing audio files, which detract from the overall experience.
  • story29 mentions

    The game's story is delivered primarily through audio clips triggered by interacting with crystals, which some players found engaging and intriguing, while others criticized it for being poorly executed and difficult to follow due to unclear voice acting and abrupt endings. While the narrative has potential and is enriched by atmospheric elements, many reviewers felt it was overshadowed by personal drama and lacked depth, leading to a mixed reception overall. The experience is described as a walking simulator that may appeal to those who appreciate a story-driven approach, despite its shortcomings.

    • “The game tells you that you will need pen, paper, and a calculator in order to progress, because many hints are hidden inside audios that you need to listen to very carefully in order to understand the story.”
    • “I found the story intriguing and the implementation pretty cool for this type of game.”
    • “The story points/crystals are great; I love picking up clues from hearing bits of old conversations!”
    • “The plot is overwhelmed by personal drama.”
    • “It feels like there was a story wanting to be told here, but there was too much left untold and too many holes.”
    • “There is an interesting story here bogged down by poor execution and sound clips that both needed direction and editing to make them clear.”
  • music8 mentions

    The music in the game is generally praised for enhancing the atmosphere and emotional depth, contributing significantly to the storytelling experience. While some players appreciate the quality and impact of the sound design, others note inconsistencies, particularly with voice acting and accents that can detract from the overall experience. Overall, the music is seen as a strong element that complements the game's narrative and ambiance.

    • “The music accompanying it makes my grief even more poignant.”
    • “With a pretty good story, good music, and nice voice acting.”
    • “O my gosh, first of all, the sound, the background music, and the voice in this game was superb.”
    • “The music accompanying it makes my grief even more punctuated.”
    • “The quality of these ranges from poor/laughable (the accents tend to obscure things, especially if there is music playing) to decent.”
    • “The quality of these ranges from poor/laughable (the accents tend to obscure things, especially if there is music playing) to decent.”
  • atmosphere6 mentions

    The game's atmosphere is praised for its atmospheric music and eerie, mysterious qualities, creating a compelling backdrop that emphasizes story over traditional horror elements like monsters. While some players may find the lack of combat and interaction limiting, the overall ambiance is appreciated for its ability to evoke intrigue and a sense of macabre without relying on overt scares. However, some reviewers note that the atmosphere could benefit from further refinement to enhance the overall experience.

    • “It might disappoint some children of today because it lacks corpses, monsters, and the like, but in my humble opinion this is what makes a good game: the story, the atmosphere, the macabre hints, the music, the player's epiphany after the climax.”
    • “I really liked the atmosphere of this game.”
    • “It's an atmospheric game that consists largely of walking around and listening to recordings; there is no combat, no interaction with NPCs, and only one (significant) puzzle.”
    • “It wasn't scary, but it has that eerie atmosphere.”
  • humor4 mentions

    The humor in the game is largely derived from the voice acting, which varies from mediocre to unintentionally hilarious, particularly due to exaggerated accents. While the story itself is considered weak, the comedic value of the accents, especially those of the Dutch, Indian, and French characters, adds a lighthearted and entertaining element that resonates with players.

    • “The voice acting ranges from 'acceptable' to 'I can't stop laughing at how bad this is.'”
    • “The story is pretty bad actually, but I found the voice acting hilarious.”
    • “The Dutch, Indian, and French accents of researchers from those countries really sound funny and cool.”
  • gameplay3 mentions

    The gameplay primarily involves exploring the environment, interacting with crystals for voiced plot and character dialogues, and finding notes, but it lacks engaging puzzles, making it easy to seek solutions online. Players note that the initial experience is slow-paced, with little action in the first 20 minutes.

    • “The gameplay involves exploring the environment, interacting with crystals to experience fully voiced plot and character interactions, and discovering spooky notes.”
    • “The first 20+ minutes of gameplay set the stage for the story, allowing players to immerse themselves in the atmosphere.”
    • “The gameplay basically amounts to walking around, checking crystals to listen to fully voiced (with no subtitles or text) plot or character interactions and checking for spooky notes.”
    • “Which is honestly not the best puzzle to base your gameplay on, because a solid, simple answer is very easy to just look up.”
    • “The first 20+ minutes of gameplay, nothing much happens.”
  • grinding2 mentions

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and dull, with some criticizing the mechanics, such as having to hold down the shift key for movement, as unnecessarily cumbersome.

    • “It ended up being rather tedious and dull.”
    • “Holding down shift to go everywhere was also tedious and a bit asinine.”
  • graphics1 mentions

    The graphics, created with RPG Maker, received positive feedback for their quality, complementing the overall experience of the game.

    • “The RPG Maker graphics were nice.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Buy The Ghosts of Hackney Mills

Videos

Similar Games