As CD-ROM technology became more popular in personal computing the must-have game which showcased the possibilities of this media format was The 7th Guest, a horror-themed puzzle game featuring live-action actors staged within pre-rendered 3D environments. Developed by Trilobyte the game received positive reviews and several awards, and a sequel titled The 11th Hour was released two years thereafter. Sticking too the same gameplay mechanics and visual style this follow-up may not have been as successful, but the studio had established a formula for the types of games they would create.
exploring a haunted Scottish castle with Andrew and Paula was a ton of fun.
This is where Clandestiny comes in, an adventure game played from a first-person perspective where players solve logic puzzles to progress the story. While still built around supernatural themes, the story in this title was intended to be less mature than the developer’s previous games and the visual style was meant to reflect that too. Gone were the live-action actors replaced instead with hand-drawn characters set against pre-rendered 3D backdrops. The new animated style was a big draw card for me, and while I enjoyed The 7th Guest and The 11th Hour, exploring a haunted Scottish castle with Andrew and Paula was a ton of fun because of the cartoon styling and comedic writing.
The plot revolves around Andrew J. MacPhiles who, being the last standing MacPhiles, has recently inherited a Scottish castle haunted by the ghosts of his dead ancestors. Along with his girlfriend Paula and the handyman Fergus, they must solve the mystery behind a treasure buried below the castle and the impact it has had on the MacPhiles lineage. While not overly complex, the story does lend itself to some memorable moments and characters, and one I have enjoyed experiencing every couple of years.
Sadly, support for the game has fallen away over the years, with no digital release and optical drives being less prevalent in newer PCs, playing the game now can be somewhat difficult. There was a release for it on Macintosh, however that is not supported on Macs with macOS 10.15 or newer. Hopefully someday it will make its way onto modern platforms, until then at least I have fond memories of this lesser-known puzzle game.
