The 7th Guest

What a game! For it's generation, this game tops the rest. Six guests are trapped in the most creepy mansion I've ever seen come to life on the PC screen! An old, sick, rich, retired toymaker has more in store for them then it would seem! If they can solve his "puzzle", they will recieve their heart's deepest desire. (Very much like The House on Haunted Hill) Things get creepy when they get murderous at the finding of "the seventh guest", a small, innocent boy who was dared to enter the old mansion. As the player advances through the rooms, he/she learns the chilling story of what had happened that night so many years ago. Solve mind-boggling puzzles and try to escape Stauf's evil grip. This game spells FUN!

THE 7TH GUEST is widely cited as the first interactive movie.

Well, it may have been the first but it is certainly not the best.

I have to admit that the plot of the game is fantastic. A crazy toymaker who disappeared for years invited 6 guests to an old mansion. The player assumes the role of an unidentified person who comes along years later to investigate their disappearances. It transpires that the 6 guests each died and their spirits haunt the mansion. Evidence of a mysterious 7th guest also surfaces, hence the title.

THE 7TH GUEST begins with an absolutely stunning pictorial introduction telling us the background of the toymaker. I love watching this part over and over again.

The music for this game is incredible as well, blending perfectly with the horrific theme of the game.

And the graphics are very good for the time the game was made, building superb atmosphere to set the scene.

Unfortunately, the good aspects of the game stop here.

Gameplay itself is very cumbersome with puzzles so difficult to solve that it would frustrate the average gamer to the point where he or she would give up quickly. So I would recommend that anyone wishing to play the game have a walk-through ready - or a hint sheet at the very least.

The game programming is notoriously unstable - it frequently crashes the whole PC (even on the older PCs it was built for!).

The acting in the game is almost entirely mediocre and the characters are among the blandest I've seen in the genre. And believe me, I've played plenty of interactive movie games.

The only exception to the acting is Robert Hirschboeck, who has a superb time playing the toymaker - the only interesting character to be found. Most of his scenes only feature a voice-over, but he delivers many superb puns to taunt the player. I wish the actor had more scenes in person. And I would say that he would be a superb choice for the role if the game were adapted to film.

Having used a walk-through to trawl through this endurance of a game, I expected the story to be wrapped up by a superb intelligently written ending that would explain the toymaker's motives.

I was wrong again!

The ending of the game is so laughable that you have to see it to believe it!

Maybe the sequel, THE 11TH HOUR, built on the weakness of its predecessor. Having felt so let down by THE 7TH GUEST, I have lost motivation to track down the sequel.

The game may have inspired the interactive movie genre of the 1990s but that's all.

It would be interesting to see if a movie adaptation is made. Most adaptations of games are hideous abominations that have little resemblance to the game. It would not be an exaggeration to say that these movies are a debauchery of the source material in question.

Surely an adaptation of THE 7TH GUEST couldn't be worse. Could it?

Overall, I do not recommend this game to anyone. If you want some decent interactive movies, try GABRIEL KNIGHT: THE BEAST WITHIN, RIPPER, BLACK DAHLIA, Dracula UNLEASHED, PHANTASMAGORIA (and its sequel) or the Tex Murphy series (UNDER A KILLING MOON, THE PANDORA DIRECTIVE, TEX MURPHY: OVERSEER). All of these games are infinitely superior and immediately dispel the myth that THE 7TH GUEST is anything but merely "the first one" of the genre.

The 7th Guest is the first Video Game ever to be released on CD-ROM. As for me, I love point-and-click adventure games. Something that has died with the rise of shoot-em-up games, strategy games and neat graphics... The 7th Guest is not only an entertaining game with all its puzzles, but also has a capturing story line. Plays and movies can be written about it. But so far none have made it to the screen (if only Tim Burton would read this)... As for possible casting, I leave it to your better judgment. However, maybe Stauf can be a role for an older Jack Nicholson?

Along with the Monkey Island series it has a place in my favorite all-time adventure games. Whereas Monkey Island is more humorous, The 7th Guest is more of a thriller-horror genre. (When I played this game at a young age I remember being awfully scared of the lady who draws you to her in the hallway..)

A definite must-have-played game. Though it doesn't run well with recent operating systems...

I first came across this game when it first came out and immediately bought it just because the box looked really great. Even though it is just a box it really depicts the game. Just as the box is the game is dark, lonely, and invites you to play. I found myself playing it for hours trying to solve the puzzles. At the time the graphics were ground-breaking and the game play was unique. I played and got to the end, with a little help from the strategy guide. Now a few years later I played it again and found myself interested again. As mentioned before the graphics are stunning and the acting is pretty good. The story is very good, except at the end I felt a little confused and wanted more. The puzzles were a good assortment of very easy and very hard (Stauf's face). Overall it is a great puzzle game that will pull you into the house and will not let you leave. Now I understand that they made a sequel, The 11th hour. Ill have to go check that out.

Years ago it may've been some sort of new tech demo version, but as a story or a puzzle or a world, value of this game with years dropped to negative.

Cannot find a single good aspect:

1) Puzzles: Of ~25 puzzles 24 are templated, easy and do not require brain. In a puzzle game.

Instead of creating something tricky and fresh, they just put chess pieces in a bunch of them and called it a day.

And as a bonus you will get 2 time wasters i.e. Puzzles which are unsolvable by design without triggers. Sole purpose of them is not to allow too fluent progress. (Cans puzzle require book hint which you can get only if you wander around and randomly hit book 3 times which is hours and hours (because there is no evidence that book content changes with new attempts), and castle picture puzzle - maybe not a big hinder, but just annoying to discover that you simply intended to retry it multiple times).

And even more annoying wasters like piano or maze which are not even puzzles.

Only single puzzle in all game is actually tricky, but still does not worth mention because it's not unique and better to play it separately (infection game).

2) Story: It's not creepy, but just clearly not healthy (reminds here and there hallucinations which people with damaged neurons get). Also, is not well put together - just random pieces thrown in you, mostly repulsive and unfinished.

3) Ambient/sounds: loud, specifically annoying noises all the game which cannot be skipped.

4) Interface: everything is slow, mouse control is unresponsive.

5) Visuals: a lot of unpleasant distortions, completely chaotic - and it's visible that not by intention, but because they called it a day on regular basis instead of making improvements.

This is modern point of view, i.e. For people who like to try discover old games randomly and who are not restricted by nostalgic memories; A lot of other games actually are good wine, like Sierra/Monkey Island quests - they still easily 8+/10.

While this specific game better be completely removed from new public attention and touched only by tech historians.