The Big Hollow: 1982

[h1]UPDATE 06/10/2026[/h1] The developer just added a hint system which will probably make this a LOT less annoying to play! I will leave my original review below until I find time to try the game again and revise my thoughts. ----------------- [h1]ORIGINAL REVIEW 06/04/2026: I really wish I could recommend this.[/h1] Sadly, I was underwhelmed. Over and over, the gameplay is "answer this question with the ONE exact piece of evidence that (often vaguely) points towards a conclusion". This is engaging at first. Over the course of the game you build up a bank of 75+ different pieces of evidence, and you're expected to memorize them all as you learn them, or worse, pick through them one by one every time a new question comes up. You're not guided towards understanding; no big picture emerges. There is no real building of story and no "aha moments", just a series of facts. I got very tired of sifting and re-sifting through so many forgettable details over and over and found myself brute forcing many of the solutions out of sheer exhaustion. Some of the text is badly written, not just hammy or cringy but literally difficult to understand. Multiple times, I failed to easily make a connection because of poor editing. I assumed the author was a non-English speaker and was surprised to learn he is Australian. What was really missing for me: 1) Multiple routes. There is exactly ONE way to get through this game until the very end. You are not allowed to forget a single piece of evidence, or misinterpret anything, until the final roundup. I don't like games where you have to read the mind of the developer perfectly, over and over again. Look up the "three clue rule" for a better way to build mysteries. 2) Some kind of journal. The accumulation of more and more clues, with no way to group them, "mind map" them, or build theories, turns your notebook into more and more of a cluttered mess over time. 3) Above all, a sense of things opening up as I went along, with room for understanding to grow. Even as new pages opened up in my notebook, I felt the entire time like I was trapped in a tight corridor, squinting to find a specific tiny fact to answer another arbitrary question. I did very much appreciate that there IS a final roundup, with no second chances. The game warns you before you commit and you CAN get the answer wrong (I did!). There is a lot of meaningful dialogue around not getting it, and even a choice: 1) Hear the real explanation; 2) Try again to solve it correctly; 3) Skip the breakdown and wrap up. I was so done by this point I didn't want to try again but did want to hear the real solution (which hinged on [spoiler]a major piece of evidence being utterly false[/spoiler]). The closing dialogue was respectfully negative about my attempt. The road to get there was tiring but the game ended very well. I also like the art and the general vibe, and the developer seems nice. Dane, if you read this, I look forward to buying your next game and hope you've learned some lessons here. The game took me 3+ hours and I paid the full $7 for it. Despite my disappointment I don't feel my money was wasted and I have no intention of requesting a refund. I appreciate the effort here and hope to see more games of this type with less constricting design. ------ {This game reminded me of another very similar title, [i]DAEMON MASQUERADE[/i], with its simple art, solodev vibes, and straightforward mechanics - [i]DM[/i] has a much less limited structure and gives the player acres of room to reach understanding of its fascinating setting. Go buy that game, enjoy it, and study it to learn the potential of games with this format.}

The positives: the art, deduction, storytelling, and case are all well thought-out, unique, and feel more accurate compared to a lot of mystery/detective games in the genre. The negatives: it's far too short. The entire game feels like a slightly extended demo as it only contains one case. There is no 'bigger story' that begins to build. The game play and discussion between Lenore and Desmond feels like playing with the training wheels on. Just as I thought finishing this case would prove some trust with Lenore to tackle the next case, the game was over. I play plenty of short, narrative-experience type games but I really think this would of benefited on holding the release until the story could be written to encompass three cases.

I would've given this a 5,5-6/10. It's an okay game with some noticeable strengths, but also major flaws. My biggest gripe with the game is by far the constant hand-holding all the way until the end of the case (yes, the game consists of one case in singular). The conversations between the 2 characters are so incredibly non-subtle that it feels like a never-ending tutorial at times. This could have been done so much better with less leading questions and the addition of an optional hint system. Because as it is now, you basically glance at the conversation snippets and go "oh, the game is telling me to choose evidence X", without having to really make any deductions or come to any conclusions of your own. There's also a mildly annoying detail when it comes to submitting multiple pieces of evidence. Let's say the first piece of evidence is confirmed as correct, but the second isn't, so you try the second again: The characters will STILL go through the entire conversation about the already locked in evidence too. This applies all the way to the end of the game where you make your closing theory. Even if you get the first 5 theories right but the last wrong, and then retry the latter, the game will first force you to sit through ALL of the conversations about the first 5 again. And with how slow the unskippable transitions are in the cut scenes, this takes... a while. This shouldn't be too much of an issue throughout the game, as again, you don't have to look far for the correct answers. But it still seems like an oversight. As for the positives? The art looks great - I particularly like the style in combination with the dark tone, it's a unique mix and it works out well. The case is interesting and the details and evidence are all thorough and well-thought out - it's just a shame that you don't really get to puzzle any of it together on your own. It is honestly frustrating to see so much detailed groundwork go to waste. In conclusion: This is a chill game that you can tell the devs have put effort into, and I look forward to seeing what they do in the future, because the foundation is obviously there. And I would probably still have given The Big Hollow a hesitant recommendation if the price felt a little more fair for what you get. But I'm not really happy about 7 euro for a game that forces you to play with training wheels on for most of the maybe 1.5, max 2 hours it takes to get through it (ignore my playtime, I tab out and multitask a lot). Still - if you're having a low-energy day and just want to cozy up and solve a little mystery game that doesn't require too much effort, you're probably gonna enjoy this one.

the developer seems like they made radical improvements since release which is a big+++++ for me. (1) Unfortunately, the developer is *only* a great developer. the entire storyline was pretty obvious in the first 15 minutes and from there it was a little annoying going through the story at the story’s pace. I’m not particularly clever, this was just so thickly layered with trope after trope. Also, I personally am just so done with women always being murder victims specifically because they are women. Feel like shouting READ ANOTHER BOOK except it’s kill another kind of victim. Scroll through law and order episode guides and take your pick. They’ve perfected the art of murdering pretty much everyone for every reason. (2) The UI and QoL features made continuing so frictionless I finished the game in one sitting. (3) The triggers for clue updates in the late game seem to be broken if you’re the kind of person who goes back to the clue and ignores notebooks summarizing information. (4) I genuinely wish I could turn both characters completely off. They weren’t annoying, but the constant stream of giving away every deduction and next step *was* annoying. (5) I think this game could’ve been an amazing high stakes one-shot detective game, where you don’t get corrected until the very end, but these games are already so niche and so unpopular compared to incredible titles like [another hero shooter] or [another $80 RPG with voice acting and motion capture by a film actor] that I won’t begrudge anyone trying to expand their audience beyond the psychopaths that want to do the whole game with no safety net (me). (6) No AI (i can tell by the pixels). I didn’t think anyone would read this far, if you’re here, hi.

The Big Hollow: 1982 propose une expérience d’enquête courte mais particulièrement immersive. Le jeu réussit à capturer une ambiance lourde et oppressante du Sud des États-Unis des années 80. L’approche “penser comme un tueur” fonctionne très bien grâce à un rythme posé et une vraie attention portée aux indices visuels. Le principal point fort du jeu réside dans son système de déduction. Scanner des photos, établir des connexions et interpréter les motivations des suspects donne une sensation d’enquête crédible et gratifiante. La relation entre Desmond et Lenore Davidson ajoute aussi une tension intéressante. Malgré sa durée relativement courte (environ 3 heures), l’histoire parvient à maintenir le suspense jusqu’au bout sans trop s’éparpiller. Pour les amateurs de thrillers psychologiques, de true crime et d’enquêtes intelligentes, The Big Hollow: 1982 a tout du petit jeu narratif marquant qu’on termine en une soirée et auquel on repense encore après le générique.

Simple, enjoyable, priced right for 1 case, satisfying playstyle. Make it 4 - 6 cases and slightly more detailed and Ill buy it again for 6 times the price.

Pretty good deductive reasoning game with a nice framing device. Most questions you are asked can be intuited, though there's a few that are stickier to figure out which answer the game wants you to give. The final puzzle is a big leap in difficulty and requires a lot of leaps of logic that are feasible but unexpected. Looking forward to future games by this developer.

Such a thorough and thought provoking game! I love the art style and the voice acting is amazing. Love love loved that both Lenore and Desmond's characterizations go further than just surface level tropes. I played the demo a bit ago and was excited for this game but i was a bit confused as i thought the demo was a different case than what the full game would be. Regardless, the story had me hooked i was often thinking ahead answering questions Lenore didn't even ask yet. I love when a game gets me that invested. The ending tripped me up a bit :( be sure to pay attention to ALL clues and i really wished there was some kind of "hint" option like maybe Lenore making a comment to lead you in the right direction when you've incorrectly presented something. Also i would have love to be able to see which pieces of evidence i already attempted to present and was wrong. i know i definitely attempted to present the same evidence multiple times for a question posed LOL. Overall though such a well made game you can definitely see the effort put into it. I did receive a free code but i would have bought this game anyways as the demo had me interested. If you love puzzles and deducing then this is the game for you! *note: i took 4 hours to beat the game but you can definitely finish it in 3

The Big Hollow: 1982 to różniący się od klasycznych gier przygodowych, bardzo skupiony na śledztwie, przygodowy projekt. Najnowszy tytuł od twórcy Anna's Quest przypomina poprzedniczkę jedynie stylem graficznym, po raz kolejny prezentując ręcznie rysowaną, przyjemną dla oka, acz nawiązującą do trudnej tematyki, grafikę. Pełna recenzja - https://przygodozonabibliotekaprzygodowek.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-big-hollow-1982-recezja-ocena.html Twórcy udało się połączyć głębie kreskówkowego rysunku z klimatem rodem z filmowego thrillera. W The Big Hollow: 1982 jest zarazem uroczo, jak i mrocznie i przede wszystkim tajemniczo. To właśnie odkrywanie sekretów śledztwa, złożonego ze strzępów informacji staje się kluczem do poznania fabuły, która zdecydowanie potrafi zaciekawić. To chyba pierwsza przygodówka jaką ogrywałam, a grałam w nich wiele, w której mogłam poczuć się jak prawdziwa śledcza, profilerka FBI, która stara się zrozumieć działanie potencjalnego seryjnego mordercy. I choć gra praktycznie prowadziła mnie za rączkę, dając właściwie tylko z góry określane rozwiązania, momentami wcale łatwo nie było. Recenzowana przez mnie gra nie jest tytułem lekkim i przyjemnym, nie jest nawet klasyczną przygodówką. Jest śledztwem w najczystszej postaci, formą zrozumienia rozumowania, psychiki zabójcy. Porównywana do filmowego "Milczenia owiec", jest po trosze thrillerem, dramatem i kryminałem, którego mroczny klimat podbija równie mroczna, powiedziałabym doskonała ścieżka dźwiękowa. Śmiem niestety twierdzić, że tytuł ów traci nieco na atmosferze, na mrocznym klimacie, budowanym przez ciekawą fabułę i doskonałą ścieżkę dźwiękową, brakiem pełnej angielskiej wersji językowej. Myślę, że dodanie głosów, choćby dwójce głównych postaci, czyli Desmodowi i Leonore, zdecydowanie podniosło by atrakcyjność tego tytułu. Na uznanie zasługuje także to, iż twórca słucha graczy i bierze sobie do serca ich opinię. Właśnie wprowadził do gry sporą auktulizację, która pozwala na skorzystanie z nowego systemu podpowiedzi. Ma on pomóc graczom, którzy utknęli w marwym punkcie, bez konieczności psucia sobie rozgrywki. Dwie nieudane próby odpowiedzi na pytania, dadzą możliwość poproszenie Leonore o pomoc. The Big Hollow: 1982 to ciekawy, acz dość eksperymentalny przygodowy tytuł, w którym mogą nie odnaleźć się gracze kochający klasykę ze zbieraniem, używaniem przedmiotów, rozmowami i eksploracją. Ale zdecydowanie jest to przygodowy projekt dla tych, którzy lubią growo poeksperymentować, którzy kochają wyzwania i klimat mrocznych kryminałów, które ubrano w miłą dla oka, acz klimatyczną opowieść. Zalety: Fabuła, która zaciekawia; Stopniowe odkrywanie prawdy; Możliwość wejścia w buty profilera kryminalnego; Świetna ścieżka dźwiękowa i muzyczna; Miła dla oka grafika; Przygodówka inna niż wszystkie; Cena adekwatna do długości gry Wady: Pewna powtarzalność; Brak pełnej angielskiej wersji głosowej; Brak polskiej wersji

Answers are rather intuitive to find, it never feels unfair. It does leave you wanting for more, both because you get invested and because it's rather short.