Haunted Hotel: The Thirteenth

Haunted hotels are a pretty interesting to think about, because they are a bit of a conundrum. You would think that buildings full of spirits are not very popular, but then again many people are actively seeking for supposedly haunted establishments. There are also investigators specialized in detecting ghost traces using weird machinery and beeping gadgets.

Haunted Hotel: The Thirteenth is a horror-infused adventure game with hidden object gameplay mechanics and various puzzles for you to solve along the way. The horror elements are not as scary as they could be, but then again the game is designed for casual audiences that are not in it for the psychological damage. Hence, it can be easily enjoyed by most people without fearing nightmares or similar troubles.

The story starts when the main character is murdered as he tries to help a stranded motorist. His son is kidnapped in the process, but thankfully the dad gets to come back as a ghost and go on a journey to rescue his son. Naturally, you play the role of the father, and the adventure starts near a haunted hotel that appears to be warded against spirits for some reason.

As it’s always the case with HOPAs, most of your time is spent investigating the environments for items that allow you to unlock doors, repair other items, or simply complete puzzles. Speaking of which, the said puzzles almost always feature similar mechanics, even if the ideas appear to be different. In essence, the underlying goal of each puzzle is to find the correct pattern and apply it until the container/door is unlocked.

Even so, the adventure maintains its appeal in spite of the repetitive gameplay mechanics, and it’s actually to be expected in the genre anyway. Thus, you can focus on the journey and the interesting environments you visit along the way, which are gorgeously represented thanks to the colorful artwork. Cutscenes lack the finesse of triple-A productions, but then again they relay much simpler ideas and events as well.

In the end, Haunted Hotel: The Thirteenth features the perfect mixture of horror and adventure, plus the challenge of the puzzles you tackle along the way. Hence, if you are a fan of the genre and you do not mind the repetitive missions, this can certainly keep you busy from start to finish.

NOTE: This is a downloader for the game. Once run, the application will automatically download and install the game on your computer.

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