This post isn’t going to be a long one. I’ve played a lot of games this year that send players down mysterious rabbit holes; TR-49 and The Incident at Galley House to name two of my favorites.
So with so many mystery games this year, a compelling hook is necessary. Hillthorn’s hook? A great art style, for one, but the story is told entirely through cards. The cards lead you to explore, investigate, and talk to in the pursuit of finding a missing person.
Here’s what I didn’t get right away. I knew there was a clock happening, but silly me didn’t really put it together until the clock hit midnight and all of a sudden, I found myself back to where I’d been earlier in the day. THAT was the ‘Eureka‘ moment.
I don’t believe that the game explicitly said where Mount Hillthorn is located, but it really felt Pacific Northwest-like to me. (Maybe that’s just because I’m a big fan of media like Twin Peaks, Alan Wake, Stand By Me…)
There’s no exact release date yet set for Hillthorn, but from the Steam page, looks like we’ll be seeing it this November!
Also, you may have noticed the video! My kiddo is back in school, so I’m going to try streaming again a day or two a week. (Mostly Mondays, I’m thinking. Feel free to take a peek over at twitch.tv/theindiegamecafe!
Thanks for reading! If you’d like to help out around the Cafe, I’ve started a Ko-Fi that I’ve been reasonably ‘okay’ with updating. It’s simple. You can donate however much you feel once, or monthly. Head over to https://ko-fi.com/theindiegamecafe to check it out! (And hey, I’m always open to ideas of different ways to make it better -Amanda