After playing the Roottrees Are Dead, which became an instant favorite, I had really high hopes for this one. I'm a nut for investigation games, and the eerie locked-room mystery at the heart of Galley House is immediately gripping.
But, while I did find Galley House to be a very smart game with some genuinely effective twists and turns, it did leave me a little disappointed, through no great fault of its own. Given that it shares it's creators with Roottrees, and has a framing device reminiscent of Obra Dinn's memento mori concept, I was expecting there to be more investigation involved in this game. What I found was a lot more plot-heavy and closer to a more interactive version of something like Her Story, which, while an amazing game, don't quite scratch the same itch or provide the player with the same level of control as something like Roottrees.
All of this to say, you'll do best to go into this without expecting another Roottrees like I did, as this experience will appeal more to a different kind of player. Ultimately, I guess the reason I'm comparing these two is to say that it's unfair to compare them, at least in terms of quality. I haven't played Type Help, so I don't know how those two stack up against one another, but I would imagine it's a very good adaptation.
Anyway, as for the game itself, I found Galley House to be, above all else, a very smart game. If you loved Her Story and Immortality but wished they were a bit more interactive, you'll probably love this one. More than anything, I would recommend this game for lovers of good plot twists who are patient and don't mind taking a bit more of a backseat in the investigation. Galley House doesn't require the players to provide any answers or reach any conclusion, so no hypothesis or answers are verified. You just figure out who was where and when, and absorb all the information.
Keeping it as vague as possible, if you enjoy mysteries that creep up on you, this will hook you. You can feel the reveal coming the whole way, but the moment realization hits is genuinely effective and makes the re-contextualization that follows feel extremely rewarding. [spoiler]There's also a second twist I found particularly brilliant for its use of misdirection, making it feel both abrupt and earned.[/spoiler] All in all, the mystery is very well-crafted, never trying to one-up the player or have any gotcha moments.
That said, the pacing needs to be quite slow in order for the first reveal to work and, while it does ultimately pay off, the experience can feel a little... tedious at times. Not so much in the build-up, but after you understand what is happening but still have more scenes to explore. I suppose players into more plot-centric games will get more out of it than I did, but I did find my interest waning after the reveal— which is what made the second twist so welcome. Unfortunately, that also got old relatively fast; I was tired of the mechanics by then and found the plot a bit confusing from that point on, but not intriguing enough that I felt compelled to piece it together.
All in all, the largely text-based mechanics (there's no character animation, just still images that move around the static environment) and lack of interactivity made the whole thing feel repetitive and not that stimulating. Don't get me wrong, I'm a sucker for games with static scenes — Obra Dinn and Golden Idol are my all-time favorites — but in Galley House, there isn't that much to do or see. You just listen, perhaps take notes, then move on. You don't need to dig into particular subplot, closely examine any concrete evidence, or look around for more clues. The investigating boils down to figuring out where each person was at each time and, while that certainly requires some deduction, it can feel pretty one-note, especially since all the clues come from the dialogue. After a point, I'll admit I started using the hint function, simply because I wanted to get to the bottom of things but didn't quite feel like revisiting every scene transcript while knowing I wouldn't need to provide any answers. Like in Roottrees, I found the hint function pretty good with how it stirs the player in the right direction with increasingly clear hints that give you some control over the level of detail you want revealed.
Also, I think a trigger warning is in order. This is not so much for the content of the game but the way its main mystery unfolds and might potentially impact some people mentally. The game does actually kinda sorta warn you in the beginning, though it might fly under the radar. In essence (and I'd avoid reading this if you don't have any mental struggles, as it's one of the games biggest strengths), [spoiler]a lot of the main mystery's intrigue comes from the confusion it causes and the way it makes you question your own perception. I found it to be very smart and captivating, but perhaps a little too effective. If you're already prone to questioning yourself or reality, this can end up being unsettling in a way that's more upsetting than fun. I really appreciated it for the most part, but did at one point get anxious enough to google "galley house gaslighting" just to make sure I wasn't actually going crazy before moving forward.[/spoiler]
Long story already long, Galley House is a very well-crafted, plot-heavy-ish mystery with an eerie atmosphere and some kick-ass voice acting. The twists are extremely effective and make the whole experience pay off, though you shouldn't go into it expecting anything particularly interactive or skill-based. It's a game that rewards patience and attention to detail, and that gets under your skin.
