As many of you are probably already aware, I love a good Rogue-like. I also love a good chance to explore games for Halloween that aren’t outright Horror-focused. There are so few games in the spooky season lineup that aren’t jumpscare factories that I am always eager to look at any I find. Sadly, Haunted House is neither a good Rogue-like nor a good Halloween game.

Haunted House is a re-imagining of a classic Atari game, and it shows. In Haunted House, you play Lyn Graves (or one of her friends) as she attempts to save her uncle Zackary Graves from being trapped in his haunted mansion. When Lyn and her allies visit, they are separated and trapped inside. Lyn must rescue her friends and gather the pieces of a magical urn so she can capture the spirits holding them captive in the mansion.

Haunted House is more of a stealth/puzzle Rogue-like. You can’t really attack on your own per se. You have a flashlight/lantern that when charged can deal damage to ghosts or can be used to stealth kill in certain situations. However, most of the time you are meant to stealth past or avoid ghosts. Alternately, you’ll collect items from chests to stun, distract, or otherwise incapacitate enemies.

There are a variety of objectives spread throughout the rooms, but most involve sneaking, bypassing traps, avoiding ghosts, or subduing ghosts silently. Lyn (or her allies) can walk, run, sneak, and dodge. Each of these things produces a different level of noise and the ghosts can pick up on noise if you are close enough.

The problem at the center of Haunted House is that it just isn’t fun. I can’t pinpoint exactly why, but after losing a run for the 3^rd time I just couldn’t get the motivation to keep going. The controls are fine, and the art and atmosphere are decent enough. However, unlike most Rogue-likes It lacks the engagement factor. As you progress and gain various currencies you can upgrade your base capabilities, but why?

It isn’t like Dead Cells or any of the more popular Rogue-likes where your gameplay shifts and encourages you to have “just one more run.” On the contrary, it feels more like an arcade-style game where you put a dozen quarters in to see how far you can get. Granted, this is a re-imagining of an Atari classic, so people who enjoyed the original game will get exactly what they came for.

That is all that Haunted House has to offer though. If you enjoyed the original game, or like the stealth side of things and want to check it out, Haunted House is for you. Otherwise, I wouldn’t really recommend this, unless curiosity commands that you pick it up. There isn’t anything mechanically or technically wrong with it, it just isn’t exciting.

A Nintendo Switch Review Copy of Haunted House was provided by Atari for this review.

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Haunted House

$17.99

4

Score

4.0/10

Pros

• Simple controls
• Decent art style
• Multiple unlockable characters

Cons

• Gameplay loop isn't interesting
• Low sense of progression
• Gameplay is very repetitive
• Low fun factor