Riddlewood Manor Review – Lighthearted Puzzle Horror

Puzzles always need to have a balancing act. Make them too complex, and risk losing your player’s attention by giving in to a fit of rage due to being stumped by the answer. Aim for too easy, and some might feel their intelligence insulted by the game. This is why Riddlewood Manor is a triumph. Appealing to those with a dedicated attention to detail, this point-and-click horror adventure knows exactly who its audience is. Walking the fine line between light scary imagery and clever puzzles, it could be easily recommended to escape room enthusiasts that might not be too keen on the spooky genre.

Starting in the middle of a prayer circle surrounded by monks outside the titular Riddlewood Manor, there are several items you are given before trying to enter the house. Under a blood-red sky, a giant, beaming cross keeps the monastic spiritualists safe while you are tasked with purifying said mansion with the most powerful action you have: an exorcism. This all-too-serious setup is hilariously undercut by one of the NPCs holding a pie chart that says EVIL while pointing at the manor. As if the whole atmosphere was not indicative of something being horribly wrong in the old house at the top of the hill.

Moments like these abound in Riddlewood Manor. The otherwise heartrending story including human sacrifice and abuse is sitting side by side with a ghost reading “Haunting for Dummies”, duck gods (you read that correctly) and even aliens. This helps set up a lighthearted baseline where solving each ingenious puzzle accompanies the revelations that you are able to piece together the more you progress. The Riddlewoods, a textbook successful family as seen in a large foyer portrait, have a horrible secret hiding in the shadows that only you can solve, if you can survive the many puzzles the game throws at you.

With a game like Riddlewood Manor where almost everything can be interacted with like doors, curtains and paintings on the wall, it is important to not overload the environment with too many decorations. Grabbing items laying around and using them in the correct order is mostly the solution: a bit of logic and observational skills go a long way. Thankfully, as every area is divided into chapters, it is impossible to run into this conflictive situation where the entire mansion can be accessed, and no clear path is available. There is a sinister aura emanating from every room, but it does not become overly unbearable, with some of the apparitions being coy and playful rather than directly attack you.

Offering an accessibility option to give a heads-up before a jumpscare happens, there is a friendly sort of horror that ends up making it all that more approachable. Then again, there is no room for error from the get-go. As you make your way to the entrance of the haunted residence, there is a certain formula of doing things before ringing the bell. If you do not stick to said rules, a ghost will come out of the house and instantly kill you. Many such instances will happen throughout the game, making getting used to dying a common occurrence. That said, the nifty option to choose a room to start from eases any possible backtracking.

Verdict

Riddlewood Manor is a terrifyingly great puzzler with a just as haunting, memorable narrative. A horror adventure doable in less than an hour for puzzle pros, plenty of secrets reward those curious enough to explore every possible avenue the house has behind it. Moody voice acting goes a long way in selling the fearful house, but just the right amount to not give nightmares. Like the art style alongside it, none of the phantoms on-screen will keep you up at night, but they will certainly make you scream, if for a moment.

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