You are Rick Evans, a photographer whose interest in haunted places lands him in one he must escape. After reading about the deceased Peter Hill’s estate, who happens to have been a ventriloquist, Rick feels he must investigate. Screams have been heard from the place, and people who have ventured in have never returned. You must get inside the house, which becomes sort of a giant escape room. There are a lot of puzzles that lead you from area to area, requiring clues to figure them out. Meanwhile, you are being stalked by a puppet. This puppet wants your soul to add to his collection. Will survival be possible or will you just be another lost soul?

Here’s what I liked:

Easy but Accomplished Feeling — Sometimes it’s nice to have a more relaxed experience. Not all things have to be so hard most people can’t complete it. But I admire the way puzzles are tackled. They are simple, and it’s mostly about just finding the clues to get the codes. There are some areas where you have to double back and recheck to see if you missed things. That’s where the fun is, finding the clues for the puzzles, not just solving challenging ones and feeling like you’re a genius. I have played numerous escape rooms, but I enjoyed the scavenger hunt for clues. You still got the feeling of accomplishment even though it wasn’t all that difficult.

Horror Without Tech — As technology advances, the horror genre has been changing. Now when someone is in danger, the phone for example won’t have service or will get broken. There are a lot more AI and robot-based horror movies now too. To counter this to keep things “old horror”, games and movies just throw you back in time. Luckily, we get thrown into an older time in Puppet House. There is no advanced technology to help us, which adds to the fear of complete helplessness. We can’t just call emergency services or use our phone as a flashlight. Things are just harder, and the game does a great job of keeping out advanced technology. It makes for a much scarier experience in my opinion.

Nailing Creepiness — I like to consider myself numb to most things scary (visually anyways). But that doesn’t mean I can’t decipher what’s meant to be scary or creepy. Did the puppet scare me? Not really, but I will say it is very creepy. You’re in the house of a deceased puppeteer and it very much seems accurate. From what’s hanging on the walls, to the choice of colors, everything is believable. The sound effects are also top-notch. As you’re calmly walking around, you might hear the puppet running around. A door will suddenly slam shut. You’ll find him in odd places, and then he will seemingly vanish. I use the word atmospheric a lot, but that’s exactly what this is.

Here’s what I didn’t like:

Can’t Go Back — Some of the history of the story is found through reading passages from a journal. There are also some areas you cannot go back to once you have completed them. This means that in order to grab the missed items, you must restart a new game. If you look at the index of what you have found, you may find that you missed something. This means backtracking, and that can lead to disappointment if you realize you can’t go back. This is fairly minor, but can still cost you some time. I wish that you could access all collectibles or at least have a message telling you that if you leave the area, you cannot come back.

Wrap-up

This game is amazing for what it strives to be. It’s an escape room-like horror game where an evil puppet chases you and is filled with cheesy dialogue. The experience was so entertaining and I didn’t mind replaying some of it to get achievements I missed. Most people won’t even have to follow any walkthrough, which is a nice change of pace for games with puzzles. Overall, I did not go into it expecting it to be that great. There are tons of horror games out there that are sub-par and all seem very similar. Some monster or ghost is chasing you and it’s all very dark. Puppet House is different, and that is what I liked about it. While the story wasn’t all that special, it also didn’t take itself too seriously. It’s meant to pay homage to the older stuff, attempting to give you nostalgia (if you’re old enough). It was also paced very well, with a few little jump scares and a satisfying ending.

Score: Must Buy

Puppet House was published by and developed by Game Factory S.A. on Xbox One. It was released on October 24, 2024, for $17.99. A copy was provided for review purposes.