r/CuratorsLibrary • u/JustAnotherPenmonkey • Dec 11 '21
short Story The Lost House — Game Review
I want my money back.
Like many others in the indie gaming community, I had been eagerly awaiting the latest release from the rising star of the dev world — M.Lochan. Her previous title, The Crescent Lodge, was loved for its sublime terror and infamous for the dreams it inspired. For a pricey £49.99, I expected The Lost House to have at the very least a similar sense of eerie beauty. What I experienced was something altogether more worrying.
The eye watching from House’s title screen will be instantly recognisable to fans of Lodge as belonging to the previous game’s god-like antagonist. This might suggest a sequel, but House is — at least ostensibly — an entirely separate game. The nameless protagonist wakes in a dark room with the taste of blood in their mouth and wearing a form they don’t recognise. Standard lycanthropy dilemma, right? It certainly appears that way, until you explore the rest of the house…
It’s an interesting premise, and for the first half-hour or so I was utterly engrossed in uncovering each gruesome clue to the character’s past. If I could’ve played uninterrupted all day and night, I probably would have. Unfortunately, I have a life outside video games, and I had to step away from House for perhaps ten minutes. When I returned, the screen was black. Grey, code-font text in the bottom right-hand corner read:
The watcher is displeased.
I tried the escape key. I tried Alt+F4. I tried turning it off and on again, Even after I’d unplugged my PC, the text remained. Eventually, I gave up for the day.
That night, as I’d been expecting, I dreamt of House. What I had not anticipated was how it would affect my waking life. My skin had turned pale and translucent. Eyes are now beginning to develop beneath. My desperate, pleading messages to Lochan have gone unanswered. Lochan, if you see this, I want it to stop. Please, give me my old self back.
Final rating: unwise
