Oct 222026
I almost forgot to talk about The Séance of Blake Manor, an adventure game I reviewed last October for MonsterVine.
The Séance of Blake Manor is from Spooky Doorway, the developers of the Darkside Detective series.
We talked about The Darkside Detective all the way back in 2018, and I followed that with a review of its sequel in 2021.
Both were funny adventure games with a perfect Halloween atmosphere, so I was excited when I saw Spooky Doorway had a new game.
I also was nervous.
Because The Séance of Blake Manor has time limits.
Fortunately, as you’ll see if you read my full review, the time limit didn’t end up bothering me too much since walking around doesn’t take time (thank goodness) and it’s more a matter of strategically planning your schedule, which adds a fun bit of management.
(I wish I could examine every single inconsequential object in case there’s interesting dialogue, but it’s fine.)
Unlike the Darkside Detective games, this one is a first-person, 3D adventure game. It’s primarily a detective game, in which you’re investigating a woman’s disappearance, and you need to gather clues and then link them together to form hypotheses that you can pursue by confronting other characters about the secrets they’re hiding.
On top of the mystery elements, the case you’re investigating is overtly supernatural even aside from the upcoming séance that everyone is waiting for. I wouldn’t call it an outright horror game, but it has a great atmosphere and is definitely spooky.
So if you enjoy detective games and supernatural mysteries, you should definitely check out The Séance of Blake Manor. It’s a perfect game for Halloween.
I think of these as more “action limits” than time limits, since if the thing doesn’t actually count your seconds and minutes (which is annoying) as opposed to giving you more of an action pool, which I think can add some good strategy to what you do (like in… for a completely random example… Fire Emblem Fortunes Weave)