This concept is genius, there should really be more games of this type made, or at least in the same vein of innovation. It's a dynamic text adventure pouring with style. It bleeds tension. I really can't say enough about this game, it's probably my favourite horror game in years, due to it's aesthetic design, it's expert attention to atmosphere and eeriness, and it's ability to put a dynamic twist on a classic style that I already loved.
It's a shame it's short, but it works. I would love a series of these in different genres, with text adventures that affect your surroundings, and having to use the changing environment to solve more difficult, intricate puzzles in the text. But even it's length and pacing feel intended and fitting. it's all so perfectly designed, the creators really know how to connect with your sensibilities and take advantage of that through design, detail and genuinely understanding how fear works - and that's what so many horror games fail to do nowadays. It's simply marvellous.
Fantastic job doing something new with an old genre. The creep factor definitely got to me and the length feels perfect for getting players to experience the end even when text adventure games can be tricky for people who are not used to them.
Man this was a cool game. I've always loved the idea of text adventure games but never knew where to find them. All the meta things, especially the door, REALLY got me.
There were some frustrating things, like the fact that in some instances you had to use 'the' to make a command work, while at other times you had to omit 'the'. But overall, it was super cool.
Tried to record a video of this game, but I can't even go around back to get to the generator. So I'm stuck at the beginning of the game, and not a single command I typed would work for me.
But I never expected it to be a typing game, so it's not really my kind of game anyway.
"typing games" (Interactive Fiction) have better, more robust parsers than this that are more intuitive to. I've played IF games that engaged and scared me more than this, and they literally did not have graphics or music.
The concept of the game is quite nice as it works as an oldish adventure game and yet thanks to few animations and changes in the environment it feels much creepier ;) Atmosphere is everything in the game and is only tool of the creator to work on our imagination , and he does it well ! In one point I was watching behind my chair worried for my life or sanity. Thank you for creating this little title !
Even though It took me a while to get through the game I created a little reaction video for anyone interested. Enjoy !
A great game overall. I'm still amazed that it's just created for 3 days, wow. It is obvious that the developers have experience in creating horror games. The sound is so "crisp", the environment jumpscares got me most, then the twist at the end, legit creeped me out. Can't wait for more games :D. Also you can check out my playthrough, if you want :D
Aside from some technical issues with the text-game itself, this game was amazing. The sound effects and music were spot on, and the environmental changes as the game progressed were inspired. I don't think I've played a game yet that felt as sinister as this one did during the second half.
Rough edges: Pretty frustrating if you've actually played a lot of 1980s IF. There is no 'inventory' or abbreviation allowed. You need to get used to the extremely specific parser. There are typos where there aren't supposed to be. The distortion on the TV is a little too much.
awesome game, the only issue i had with it is i wish there was a way to hurry the text up but then again i may have missed that, but other than that awesome game, ya'll did a stellar job
I freaking LOVED this game! I'm so excited to see more text based adventures from you guys! I did a full playthrough in 2 parts for Halloween! Here's part 1 on my channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t0xkEmeSgU
Awesome text-based game with surrounding effects to the environment. I personally don't enjoy text-based games, but this game was uniquely immersive. A few jumpscares surely had my heart skipping! Very nice story, although a bit vague, leaving a little room for interpretation. Only disappointed in how short it was. 4/5 stars ****
*Rawr* Hello everyone, I have not played a text-adventure game for a LONNNNG time, it definitely did remind me of the days that I had played on the Amiga computer, those were the days. Although, old-fashion text-adventure games were anal-retentive in the demands and lack of wording-diversity, unlike many do today that are made xD. I was able to remember the thinking strategy needed and get through it. Was very immersive, I like the idea of a changing-environment to represent a mood and the changes.
Very clever and highly enjoyable - beautifully written and you created a lovely atmosphere that turned dead quickly. I like you using a text-based game approach as you made this so original. Thank you and please update is with more info 💐
Not my "style" of game... The whole text-based thing was very aggravating for me (mainly due to the fact that I'm an idiot)... But regardless! It was VERY creepy, and had some amazing scares. It was not at all what I was expecting, (and I think that might be a good thing). :)
Very impressed to know it was thrown together in only 3 days (it would have taken me 3 days to figure out the secret password "USE KEY" lmao). Great job! I look forward to seeing more games made by you guys in the future!
You're not an idiot, I spent twenty minutes trying to get into my bedroom. Opened the door about 10 times and heard the same sound of the door opening. Couldn't close the door for some reason. Finally found that I had to go into THE bedroom, not my bedroom or just bedroom. Was so pissed at the game for fucking up at what seemed like the climax that I though about just going back outside and turning the generator (thats generaTOR by the fucking way, great segue into the game!) off so that I could see if the lamp would turn off so I could complain if that didn't happen. Meanwhile the game is just bragging to me about how it changed the photos.
I am truly sorry to give so much anger and vitriole to people who worked hard on this, but when I get "sorry I don't understand" for the amount of time I put up with it - and I shouldn't have put up with it, I'm getting to that - I have to tell the person who wrote that statement, sorry, I DIDN'T understand YOU when you said that the yard went around the house, and that the yard was some kind of separate thing that I have to GO TO the yard before I can go around the house.
SPOILERS
The story reached its peak when it restarted and I was back in the car again. Loved the contrast from when the house was a happy place (although it did kind of seem excessive and almost funny how bad the house turned). But from there it just made less and less sen THE NIGHT IS EVIL AND GRABBED ME AHHHH DEATH YOU ARE DEATH AND I AM DEATH AND AAAHHHH MY WHOLE FAMILY IS DEA D AND I AM A DISGUSTING TORN APART CARCASS AAAHHHHHHH
EDIT: I just realized the story made more sense than I originally thought.
Saw this on my rerecorded games to play and had a lot of fun playing this scary type game! The noises in the games also were very spot on which I appreciate a lot and how the scenery changes slightly to what you type in the game was also super cool but scary to see. I got stuck a few times in a few places on what to type out but figured it out and really do hope that if you guys do continue to make a game or from this game then I am very eager to see more of it!
I also did a LP of the game and hope you like it~!
Good lord this game was insanely freaky to play at night. Devs, you did an AMAZING job at really capturing the atmosphere and making it the right amount of horror without needing jumpscares. I seriously can't wait for some more work from you guys!
This game was awesome. Great story, incredibly atmospheric, and actually spooked me quite a bit at some points :P Can't believe a text based adventure could be so immersive!
My first experience with text-based games before. Colour me impressed. Which leads me to the inevitable question. As a newbie, how would one go about developing a game like this? I totally loved The House Abandon, and until then, hadn't ever thought about creating a game before. Now I'd like to try, and I want my first shot to be in a similar suite to this.
Well first you can check out http://www.intfiction.org/forum/ this is a website for all things interactive fiction which is another term that covers text-based games.
Then decide on what type of games you want to make, choose your own adventure games? Check out https://www.choiceofgames.com/ and https://twinery.org/2/ Twine is honestly one of the EASIEST to use and doesn't lose out on functionality while Choice Of Games gives a simple way to monetize your games.
For full on text adventures, in my personal opinion Inform 7 and TADS are the way to go. TADS will take some learning though and so I recommend Inform it uses an English based language that then converts to code. If you want a GUI though there is ADRIFT and QUEST, I like ADRIFT more but with both of these making games is easy but if you want to accomplish more complex tasks you'll have to learn their built in language first.
But the forum is basically the way to go to get into the community.
This game was amazing. I've never played a text-based game, let alone a horror game, before so this was a cool experience. It did leave me a little confused, but most games do anyway cause I'm dumb. I loved the story and the atmosphere was terrifying. This was a different type of horror than the ones I'm used to, and it is a much appreciated change! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdUrz765ngw
I quite liked this! It was a breathe of stale, old school-styled air that I quite loved playing through :D
I hope you make more games, and I hope they become deeper. The story in this one left a little to be desired for me. Maybe I missed some secrets? Do we ever find out what I/they even did to their family? If we did, I missed it :( My favorite part was the old-school style game in the modern 3d environment and the two worlds crossed (like the door light!).
Check out my Lumps Play! Lumps Plays are not your normal Let's Play!
i signed up just so i can say how awesome this is!! i was suppose to watch a play through but half way through the beginning i stopped and searched the game and downloaded it. Going to play with my friends! i played a bit...and loving it!! hope to see more of this, kudos to you lovely people! :)
Fantastic game, great soundtrack just feels amazing to play. I was a massive fan of Isolation's design and i'm really excited to see what you guys get up to next.
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This concept is genius, there should really be more games of this type made, or at least in the same vein of innovation. It's a dynamic text adventure pouring with style. It bleeds tension. I really can't say enough about this game, it's probably my favourite horror game in years, due to it's aesthetic design, it's expert attention to atmosphere and eeriness, and it's ability to put a dynamic twist on a classic style that I already loved.
It's a shame it's short, but it works. I would love a series of these in different genres, with text adventures that affect your surroundings, and having to use the changing environment to solve more difficult, intricate puzzles in the text. But even it's length and pacing feel intended and fitting. it's all so perfectly designed, the creators really know how to connect with your sensibilities and take advantage of that through design, detail and genuinely understanding how fear works - and that's what so many horror games fail to do nowadays. It's simply marvellous.
Fantastic job doing something new with an old genre. The creep factor definitely got to me and the length feels perfect for getting players to experience the end even when text adventure games can be tricky for people who are not used to them.
Man this was a cool game. I've always loved the idea of text adventure games but never knew where to find them. All the meta things, especially the door, REALLY got me.
There were some frustrating things, like the fact that in some instances you had to use 'the' to make a command work, while at other times you had to omit 'the'. But overall, it was super cool.
Tried to record a video of this game, but I can't even go around back to get to the generator. So I'm stuck at the beginning of the game, and not a single command I typed would work for me.
But I never expected it to be a typing game, so it's not really my kind of game anyway.
"typing games" (Interactive Fiction) have better, more robust parsers than this that are more intuitive to. I've played IF games that engaged and scared me more than this, and they literally did not have graphics or music.
Absoutley terrific game. Super impressed. I'm hoping you guys take this and run.
Fantastic concept, really enjoyed playing this!
Hey there,
The concept of the game is quite nice as it works as an oldish adventure game and yet thanks to few animations and changes in the environment it feels much creepier ;) Atmosphere is everything in the game and is only tool of the creator to work on our imagination , and he does it well ! In one point I was watching behind my chair worried for my life or sanity. Thank you for creating this little title !
Even though It took me a while to get through the game I created a little reaction video for anyone interested. Enjoy !
A great game overall. I'm still amazed that it's just created for 3 days, wow. It is obvious that the developers have experience in creating horror games. The sound is so "crisp", the environment jumpscares got me most, then the twist at the end, legit creeped me out. Can't wait for more games :D. Also you can check out my playthrough, if you want :D
Aside from some technical issues with the text-game itself, this game was amazing. The sound effects and music were spot on, and the environmental changes as the game progressed were inspired. I don't think I've played a game yet that felt as sinister as this one did during the second half.
Rough edges: Pretty frustrating if you've actually played a lot of 1980s IF. There is no 'inventory' or abbreviation allowed. You need to get used to the extremely specific parser. There are typos where there aren't supposed to be. The distortion on the TV is a little too much.
Otherwise really nice.
Great game, but how do you quit from it? I tried 'end game', 'finish game', 'quit', 'quit game'. Escape doesn't work.
In the end I had to hit the Windows key, then right click the game in my taskbar and close, but I'm sure that's not the method.
awesome game, the only issue i had with it is i wish there was a way to hurry the text up but then again i may have missed that, but other than that awesome game, ya'll did a stellar job
All the "good memories" in the kid's bedroom eh? Well there's a scary thought. :)
but seriously, great game.
Absolutely amazing game, lots of atmosphere and messes with your mind.
I did a full playthrough of this game on my channel if you want to check it out:
This game is perfect. Thanks!
Here's the second part to the full playthrough I did on my channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVo25OWgcQo
I freaking LOVED this game! I'm so excited to see more text based adventures from you guys! I did a full playthrough in 2 parts for Halloween! Here's part 1 on my channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t0xkEmeSgU
Awesome text-based game with surrounding effects to the environment. I personally don't enjoy text-based games, but this game was uniquely immersive. A few jumpscares surely had my heart skipping! Very nice story, although a bit vague, leaving a little room for interpretation. Only disappointed in how short it was. 4/5 stars ****
*Rawr* Hello everyone, I have not played a text-adventure game for a LONNNNG time, it definitely did remind me of the days that I had played on the Amiga computer, those were the days. Although, old-fashion text-adventure games were anal-retentive in the demands and lack of wording-diversity, unlike many do today that are made xD. I was able to remember the thinking strategy needed and get through it. Was very immersive, I like the idea of a changing-environment to represent a mood and the changes.
It was a very short text based game. It was worth the 30 minutes of game play (mostly figuring out which words to type exactly) but it was fun.
I loved this game so much! I can't wait to see what other stories you guys release - I'm absolutely hooked!
Commodore 64 meets horror, i think this might been one of my childhood nightmares. Me a blank screen and words.
Linux version pls
http://portedfreelinuxgames.blogspot.com/2016/10/the-house-abandon.html
Very clever and highly enjoyable - beautifully written and you created a lovely atmosphere that turned dead quickly. I like you using a text-based game approach as you made this so original. Thank you and please update is with more info 💐
Any chance of a Linux version? :D
I'm port this game and others ))
http://portedfreelinuxgames.blogspot.ru/2016/10/th...
Not my "style" of game... The whole text-based thing was very aggravating for me (mainly due to the fact that I'm an idiot)... But regardless! It was VERY creepy, and had some amazing scares. It was not at all what I was expecting, (and I think that might be a good thing). :)
Very impressed to know it was thrown together in only 3 days (it would have taken me 3 days to figure out the secret password "USE KEY" lmao). Great job! I look forward to seeing more games made by you guys in the future!
You're not an idiot, I spent twenty minutes trying to get into my bedroom. Opened the door about 10 times and heard the same sound of the door opening. Couldn't close the door for some reason. Finally found that I had to go into THE bedroom, not my bedroom or just bedroom. Was so pissed at the game for fucking up at what seemed like the climax that I though about just going back outside and turning the generator (thats generaTOR by the fucking way, great segue into the game!) off so that I could see if the lamp would turn off so I could complain if that didn't happen. Meanwhile the game is just bragging to me about how it changed the photos.
I am truly sorry to give so much anger and vitriole to people who worked hard on this, but when I get "sorry I don't understand" for the amount of time I put up with it - and I shouldn't have put up with it, I'm getting to that - I have to tell the person who wrote that statement, sorry, I DIDN'T understand YOU when you said that the yard went around the house, and that the yard was some kind of separate thing that I have to GO TO the yard before I can go around the house.
SPOILERS
The story reached its peak when it restarted and I was back in the car again. Loved the contrast from when the house was a happy place (although it did kind of seem excessive and almost funny how bad the house turned). But from there it just made less and less sen THE NIGHT IS EVIL AND GRABBED ME AHHHH DEATH YOU ARE DEATH AND I AM DEATH AND AAAHHHH MY WHOLE FAMILY IS DEA D AND I AM A DISGUSTING TORN APART CARCASS AAAHHHHHHH
EDIT: I just realized the story made more sense than I originally thought.
This game scared the beegeezes out of me. Well done
Saw this on my rerecorded games to play and had a lot of fun playing this scary type game! The noises in the games also were very spot on which I appreciate a lot and how the scenery changes slightly to what you type in the game was also super cool but scary to see. I got stuck a few times in a few places on what to type out but figured it out and really do hope that if you guys do continue to make a game or from this game then I am very eager to see more of it!
I also did a LP of the game and hope you like it~!
Good lord this game was insanely freaky to play at night. Devs, you did an AMAZING job at really capturing the atmosphere and making it the right amount of horror without needing jumpscares. I seriously can't wait for some more work from you guys!
My playthrough: The House Abandon
Awesome game! Just did a let's play of this on my channel! https://youtu.be/2lKmeMcypuQ
Please release Linux version too.
This game was awesome. Great story, incredibly atmospheric, and actually spooked me quite a bit at some points :P Can't believe a text based adventure could be so immersive!
My first experience with text-based games before. Colour me impressed. Which leads me to the inevitable question.
As a newbie, how would one go about developing a game like this? I totally loved The House Abandon, and until then, hadn't ever thought about creating a game before. Now I'd like to try, and I want my first shot to be in a similar suite to this.
Well first you can check out http://www.intfiction.org/forum/ this is a website for all things interactive fiction which is another term that covers text-based games.
Then decide on what type of games you want to make, choose your own adventure games? Check out https://www.choiceofgames.com/ and https://twinery.org/2/ Twine is honestly one of the EASIEST to use and doesn't lose out on functionality while Choice Of Games gives a simple way to monetize your games.
For full on text adventures, in my personal opinion Inform 7 and TADS are the way to go. TADS will take some learning though and so I recommend Inform it uses an English based language that then converts to code. If you want a GUI though there is ADRIFT and QUEST, I like ADRIFT more but with both of these making games is easy but if you want to accomplish more complex tasks you'll have to learn their built in language first.
But the forum is basically the way to go to get into the community.
This game was amazing. I've never played a text-based game, let alone a horror game, before so this was a cool experience. It did leave me a little confused, but most games do anyway cause I'm dumb. I loved the story and the atmosphere was terrifying. This was a different type of horror than the ones I'm used to, and it is a much appreciated change! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdUrz765ngw
I quite liked this! It was a breathe of stale, old school-styled air that I quite loved playing through :D
I hope you make more games, and I hope they become deeper. The story in this one left a little to be desired for me. Maybe I missed some secrets? Do we ever find out what I/they even did to their family? If we did, I missed it :( My favorite part was the old-school style game in the modern 3d environment and the two worlds crossed (like the door light!).
Check out my Lumps Play! Lumps Plays are not your normal Let's Play!
i signed up just so i can say how awesome this is!! i was suppose to watch a play through but half way through the beginning i stopped and searched the game and downloaded it. Going to play with my friends! i played a bit...and loving it!! hope to see more of this, kudos to you lovely people! :)
Fantastic game, great soundtrack just feels amazing to play. I was a massive fan of Isolation's design and i'm really excited to see what you guys get up to next.