Intrigue At Oakhaven

Intrigue at Oakhaven is a remastered version of a game that was originally released around 2004. Because of that, the game has a retro feel, but its graphics does a good job of bringing out the atmosphere of the game’s setting. The game begins with a puzzle-solving competition between Daphne and Dominic to inherit the Oakhaven after introductory conversations. At this point, the gameplay focuses more on mini puzzles than on the story, which might make it seem like the game lacks a narrative a bit. However, as the game progresses, it shifts from puzzle-focused to story-centered, ensuring that it doesn’t remain just a simple puzzle game. The difficulty of the puzzles is generally on the easier side, and many of them are familiar types of puzzles these days. However, the puzzles that draw on the knowledge provided through the in-game books add depth and make the overall experience quite satisfying.

This is a nice little puzzle-centered story. You will play as two related characters, each of whom have to solve a series of puzzles, to see which of them should inherit the family's Oakhaven estate. Along the way, you'll learn some history of the family, and a bit of history of Louisiana, as well. At the beginning, the story is there primarily as a structure to support the puzzles, but towards the end the story unexpectedly blooms. I found myself smiling a lot towards the end of the story. I didn't even realize I was invested in these characters until suddenly I was. As mystery games go, it's definitely light overall, although it does feature a little of the Louisiana bayou, so if you're looking for something atmospheric, you'll find moments of it here, as well. On a scale of tense/suspenseful vs. light/relaxing, it's definitely on the relaxing side. The puzzles aren't hard, and you most likely won't need a walkthrough. The game takes roughly five hours to play. As far as replayability, since there aren't multiple endings you won't have the surprise element on replay, but it's the kind of game you would replay more for the mood than anything else. It would be like rewatching a favorite old movie. You know where it's going, but you're in it for the characters' story by then. Completely family-friendly game, but note that it does have a couple of references to voodoo, if that's a thing that would bother you. It's really not anything heavy, though, and I doubt it would bother anyone. I bought this the day it came out, because I enjoyed Haunting at Cliffhouse, and I don't regret it. I enjoyed this one even more than the first one. If you're a fan of the Nancy Drew games or the old Laura Bow games, you'll definitely enjoy this one. I definitely recommend this game.

A worthy, if short, successor to the dev's previous game, 'Haunting at Cliff House'. This game is for puzzle-lovers, and those who enjoy a hint of mystery to be found. You don't have an actual whodunnit, but you do have lots to learn about Louisiana and hoodoo/voodoo, plus medicinal herbs. Since I love learning, as well as solving puzzles, this was right up my street. If you don't like puzzle-heavy games, and prefer something fast-paced, this won't be for you. But for everyone else, you get nice graphics - particularly gorgeous in the swamps, when the sun sets - and a heart-breaking backstory to unravel.

A nice old fashioned point and click game where you solve puzzles. If you are a fan of the older Nancy Drew Mystery games then you will really appreciate this game.

There are two characters you follow throughout the game, Daphne and Dominic, cousins who return to Oakhaven, the estate of their grandmother where they spent many summers as children. Their grandmother has begun to realize she doesn’t have much time left, and before she dies, she wants to leave everything she owns to one of them. To decide who will inherit the estate, she prepares a series of puzzles and tests hidden around the house, the same kind of mysteries both cousins loved solving when they were younger. First of all, this is not a modern or hardware demanding game, so there are no graphical settings to worry about. The game runs at a fixed resolution that can’t be changed, which leaves small black bars on both sides of the screen. Considering the time period in which it was made, the visuals still hold up fairly well and have a certain old-school charm that fans of classic adventure games will immediately recognize. As a point-and-click adventure, the gameplay is very traditional. Your only tool is the mouse, which you move around the screen searching for interactive spots. When hovering over something important, the cursor changes into a pointing finger and displays a short description of the hotspot. Every interaction uses the same icon, whether you are traveling, examining something, picking up an item, talking to someone, or using an object. There are only two or three hotspots that don’t have a description. Since this is an older game, there’s no magical button that highlights every interactive object for you, so you have to carefully search each room yourself. Thankfully, the environments are not overcrowded with objects. Most rooms only contain two or three hotspots, and many examination points only provide dialogue once before becoming inactive. These are mostly there for atmosphere and don’t affect the puzzles. Collected items are stored in an inventory accessed by clicking the chest icon at the top of the screen. When selecting an item, you also have to press a separate OK button to close the inventory, which feels like an unnecessary extra step compared to simply clicking outside the menu. Once selected, an item remains attached to your cursor until you switch to another one. You can toggle between the active item and the normal cursor with the right mouse button. Using items is straightforward since you only need to click on the appropriate hotspot while the item is active. Every item combination is logical enough, and because there are relatively few interaction points, you will usually figure out where something belongs sooner or later. Every item interaction leads to a small logic puzzle. None of them are particularly difficult. You might need to light all the candles, shoot snooker balls in the correct order, play a memory or slider puzzle, or combine pictures to form linked words. Most challenges revolve around clicking things in the right sequence, making them easy to solve through observation and memory. The only puzzles that feel demanding are the ones that require reading and memorizing several facts, like the trivia and the library, or the garden and plants. Where the game turns the logic a bit off is with its two playable characters. You can switch between Daphne and Dominic at any moment, yet because their grandmother instructed them not to meet until the very end, they never acknowledge each other’s presence. Even if both characters are technically in the same room, they act as though the other simply doesn’t exist, which can make it feel like one character disappears from the house entirely whenever you switch perspectives. Another unusual mechanic is that each character sees different things in the same locations. An item visible to Daphne may not exist at all for Dominic, and vice versa. Because of this, you need to explore every room with both characters to make sure you collect all necessary items and uncover every interaction. The best approach is to fully explore the house with one character before switching to the other. Both Daphne and Dominic solve around ten puzzles within the estate before eventually traveling to the swamps and later reaching an island. Once a character arrives at the island, their story is essentially complete and they can no longer be controlled. The game itself is fairly short, and you won't get stuck a single time, but the ending adds much more depth to the story. You discover a diary that reveals the truth about Daphne’s mother, who abandoned everything to live with her lover in the swamps, along with the tragedy that followed and the real connection between Daphne and Dominic. It’s a surprisingly detailed conclusion that gives extra meaning to the journey. The two supporting characters you meet in the house also contribute plenty of background information through conversations. Fortunately, all dialogue is fully voiced, which makes it much easier to absorb the large amount of story revealed near the end.

Fun update to the original game.

The sense of nostalgia from playing point-and-clicks growing up was so strong! For me, someone who is not good at puzzles, the level of difficulty was perfect. Some I was able to solve fairly easily, and some had me stumped for a long time. The story that unfolds throughout the game was really interesting as well.

Really interesting story, cozy & nostalgic graphics, loved all the New Orleans history facts... Characters were static but fully voice-acted and had that 90s/2000s quality to them. My only gripe is the puzzles seemed too easy given the maturity of the story. Still, I enjoyed the pixelated atmosphere and the exploration.

I enjoyed the ambience of the game and loved the puzzles. It was not too difficult but was still challenging enough to be entertaining. The storyline was fascinating but at times a bit hard to follow. There were some minor editing mistakes in the dialog and the family tree was a bit confusing, I was also a little dissatisfied by the ending but overall the game was fun and of good value. If it had been more expensive I may not recommend it but for this price it was worth my time.

I really love the graphics and puzzles. The voice acting was fun, too. My only complaint is that there was too much of an info dump at the very end. I did like the Haunting at Cliffhouse slightly better, but mostly because I prefer more spooky things. I would love like ten more games by Cindy Pondillo that I can play now. Haha I'm definitely a fan.