The 7th Guest

Review

by Lisa Karen Savignano

Released in 1994, The 7th Guest was a game far ahead of its time. With lush backgrounds, intriguing puzzles and a compelling story, this game was a surefire hit. The graphics of the house and game are beautiful and realistic enough to make you believe you are actually in the Stauf mansion.

The game begins with the story of Old Man Stauf. The actor playing Stauf seems overblown and unbelievable, as though acting in a silent film of the early 1900s. While that may have been what the people at Virgin were going for, it makes the introduction seem ludicrous and ridiculous by turns.

Once the introduction ends, you are facing the front door. You get to see Staff's guests enter the house and their reactions to it.

At this point, you can only enter two rooms in the house on the first floor. The Library and the Dining Room. Each has a puzzle to solve, but if you click on the book laid out on the table in the library, it will give you clues to solve any puzzle you are facing and teleport you back to the puzzle. Two clues are available. If you still cannot solve the puzzle after the second clue, it will solve the puzzle for you. But there is a price for doing so. The price is not obvious, but you do not get to see the vision of the house guests that usually accompanies solving a puzzle correctly. If you do this too many times, you can solve the game and learn nothing.

The variety of puzzles in the house is wide, ranging from word puzzles and mazes to deciphering messages and spatial relation puzzles. Some puzzles will seem easy, while others will stump you for long periods of time before you solve them. As you do, you get glimpses into the night of that last dinner party, and perhaps even learn the identity of the 7th guest.

This game is very eerie and those who are easily scared shouldn't play it alone at night. Staff's eerie voice taunts you, but he can also get annoying at times (especially in the maze area).