The Horror at Highrook

Great game !

This is a fun single-player boardgame with some deckbuilder mechanics -- it's not too complex or simple, with some strategy through logistics. The eldritch horror backdrop is engaging and not too aggressive.

The Horror at Highrook may well be one of the most well-put-together cosmic horror games I have ever played. I will be completely honest and tell you that I normally do not like the card and board-based genre of games, but this one manages to do just about everything right. It has actually inspired me to give the genre another chance, and that is saying something. The pros: * The mechanics make sense, and provide a decent challenge. * The characters are fleshed out well. * The art style is interesting and fitting. * The pacing of this game intrinsically makes sense. * The lore is interesting and actually fits into the gameplay rather than being tertiary. * An all Black cast of heroes (? One of the character never takes off her mask) The cons: * There are some stretches of frustration with discerning how to progress. * Some of the game's RNG can feel unfair. * There are a few mechanics later in the game that can be annoying. I wish I knew how to spoiler this to tell you what they are. * The game, while highly detailed and engrossing, could be seen as a bit short, considering that I got all the achievements in 10 hours of play. Overall, I can't recommend this enough. If you're into detective games, this is for you. If you're into horror games without jumpscares or that all-to-often used try-hard grimdark feeling, this is for you. If you like games that require attention to the details given, this is for you. Well done, developers, and I look forward to seeing more games like this.

I enjoyed it immensely! It really plays as a more accessible Cultist Simulator, I really liked all the card mechanics

Loved it. Interesting and different.

This is a really enjoyable game, the natural successor of Cultist Simulator - and in fact, what Cultist Simulator could have been. I've really been enjoying this game; where Cultist Simulator was extremely opaque, this has been a lot more clear - the addition of the rooms as a play element really makes it a lot more straightforward. This isn't to say it's easy, sometimes you're desperately trying to find the one thing that will progress the story, and sometimes you're up against the clock being assaulted by spectral terrors. It is worth saying that it needs a pretty major QoL overhaul, as it's sometimes frustrating to play. The cards sometimes take 2, 3, 4 attempts to pick up, and then a couple more attempts to get it to go in the correct slot; the 'autoswap' feature conspires with this to send cards to the other side of the board where I can't find them; the fact that you have to drag cards across the screen conspires with all the above to make it more annoying (why not have 'sticky' cards - click on them to pick up, click again to drop?); the game auto-continues after cut-scenes rather than autopausing, which has nearly tanked my playthrough on more than one occasion; and we could really do with some ability to find a lost card, it can be incredibly hard and happens constantly. Interestingly, all of these flaws are also present in Cultist Simulator, but that's just incidental. I do wish they would fix some of these above points; nevertheless and despite this, I do recommend this game, it's a lot of fun.

Short and sweet. The Horror at Highrook is a "card-based crafting" RPG; mechanically, it's reminiscent of Cultist Simulator or Book of Hours, though the tone is closer to that of Cultist Simulator. I'm not entirely sure if there are failure states, but there is a sense of pressure via the survival elements. It also does a better job of explaining its mechanics than either Weather Factory offering, so may be a better introduction to the genre. The characters are interesting, if loosely sketched; the art is satisfactory if not particularly noteworthy; the writing does the job, though it's a little sloppy. Scratches the "occult investigation" itch and doesn't overstay its welcome. (It is, however, not possible to get all achievements in a single playthrough.) If you enjoyed Cultist Simulator but found the roguelike nature too punishing, or if you enjoyed Book of Hours but found it too long, The Horror at Highrook will be right up your alley. (If you enjoyed either unqualifiedly, snap it up yesterday; just be aware that Betts is not Kennedy, and the writing is both not as evocative and a little unpolished.)