Strange Antiquities

Strange Antiquities is a charming and cozy occult puzzle game that is surely a treat for budding detectives and puzzle-lovers. With its simple point-and-click gameplay that complements a variety of complex challenges and riddles that require extra brainpower, this puzzle game will surely take you on a spooky but intriguing text adventure through the town of Undermere and the secrets that lie within.

A worthy spiritual sequel to Strange Horticulture, in Strange Antiquities we run an esoteric shop as an apprentice thaumaturge. Customers arrive with vague requests, and it's up to us to identify the correct object among relics and amulets. Gameplay revolves around observation and deduction, analyzing objects, exploring maps, interpreting symbols, and consulting manuals for clues. Progression intertwines complex puzzles and narrative choices, influencing events and endings. Challenging puzzles, a relaxed pace, and a dark atmosphere define the experience.

If you played Strange Horticulture, you'll know exactly what to expect from Strange Antiquities, and you're in for quite the treat. Revisiting the macabre town of Undermere is a joy, and puzzling through as you help its residents find weird and wonderful antiques imbued with mysterious powers is almost (almost!) as fun as it was with plants.

If the progress loop is largely untouched, though, Strange Antiquities gradually reveals greater depth and detail, easing you in before piling up possible angles of research. From the start, when you examine an object you can now do so according to different senses - what does it look like, feel like, smell and sound like, and does it inexplicably send shivers down your spine? And if early customer requests only ask you to consider an object's form or constituent materials, later you'll need to pay attention to inscribed symbols, gems and more. Cross-referencing a burgeoning stack of books, notes and maps, you begin to absorb ancient words and ideas. It's fascinating. At times, Bad Viking gives itself an impossible needle to thread with so many nuanced elements in play. A few descriptions feel like misdirection, sending us to the hint system. More often, though, the game maintains its spell. The instinct to organise and label every last item is as compelling as the elegant interface and the story drawing towards a fateful conclusion. It would be strange to refuse the invitation. [Issue#416, p.122]

Strange Antiquities is a pleasantly cosy experience, with a nice dusting of horror on top. It doesn't have a tremendous amount of replay value, though.