By Chandler Shaw

What really sets The Séance of Blake Manor apart from other games in the genre is its meticulous world building and research.

The Séance of Blake Manor, Spooky Doorway

It’s nearly midnight, but before you can check into your room and lay your weary head to rest, you’ve got to do a bit of breaking and entering. The manager of Blake Manor is a suspicious, baritone-voiced curmudgeon who has no interest in discussing the missing woman you’ve been sent to investigate–or, for that matter, the fact that you’re fairly certain you saw a ghost washing a shawl in the fountain outside. If the manager won’t help, you’ll just have to find a way around him. The grandfather clock in the lobby ticks away the minutes as you create a distraction and sneak into his office to search for evidence of the missing woman. But where to search–there isn’t time to rifle through every coat pocket or hunt for the password to the safe. The desk is a promising place to look…

The clock strikes twelve. “Mr. Ward?” the manager calls from the lobby. You’ve found your proof, but now what? Hope the dyspepetic manager won’t mind that you’ve been snooping, or try your luck escaping out the open window?

A striking departure from their goofball Darkside Detective series, Irish studio Spooky Doorway’s exercise in gothic folk horror, The Séance of Blake Manor, turns out to be an investigation game that is equal parts creepy and cozy. Rich in folklore and history, inhabited by a full cast of strange and interesting characters, the game is a much-needed addition to the mystery genre.

Arriving at Blake Manor on a stormy night just days before All Hallow’s Eve, investigator Declan Ward is charged with determining whether a missing woman named Evelyn Deane left the manor, as the staff alleges, or, as the letter he received suggests, whether she disappeared on the premises without a trace. During his sleuthing he discovers a sundry group of mystics from the world over, all gathered for the elusive Marquess Blake’s Grand Séance. All have their own reasons for attending the supernatural shindig. Most also have reasons to wish the missing Miss Deane harm.

The setting of Séance is beautiful to explore as you gain access to more and more corners of Blake Manor. You are invited to steal keys, discover secret passages, and to figure out devious ways into spaces where you don’t belong. What’s made clear as you poke and prod around is that the place is haunted aplenty—both by tortured spirits that vanish from the corner of your eye just as you turn to face them, and by the accumulated unspoken traumas of the manor’s residents and guests. How to save Miss Deane and stop the séance?  You become an ersatz therapist to the manor’s victims, helping them to overcome their issues by asking them questions, snooping through their things, and convincing them to help one another. All twenty-four residents of the manor are well-written and well-acted personalities. You may find yourself, like me, torn between gossiping with your favorite characters about their fellow guests or using your time more productively — to solve the case.

A scene from The Séance of Blake Manor. Photo: Spooky Doorway

Time is in short supply to solve the mystery before the Grand Séance takes place on All Hallow’s Eve. Minutes elapse each time you interact with a new object or line of dialogue in the game: rifling through belongings, asking manor staff and guests questions—even breaking into rooms to do some snooping—all cost valuable time.  The first two mysteries of the game must be solved within the time limit of an hour — on threat of eviction from the manor (meaning game over for the player). To my initial chagrin, this meant forgoing my usual mystery game logic — of leaving no stone unturned — in favor of strategic sleuthing.

But, as the game progresses, the time pressure recedes. It only matters if you’re investigating in someone’s room, or if something is taking place during the hour. The stress of solving all the mysteries of Blake Manor in time for the séance never quite goes away, but I found that, even with numerous missteps and distractions, I was able to help all the guests with time to spare. The game ultimately rewards curiosity—or nosiness—over efficiency, which is, to my mind, what makes a mystery game shine. That said, the game occasionally fails to maintain the dramatic tension of its time mechanic.

What really sets The Séance of Blake Manor apart from other games in the genre is its meticulous world building and research. Nothing better exemplifies these virtues than the manor’s library. While the library serves as space to research the case and eavesdrop in the stacks, many books on view are there to offer context into the history of Ireland, Spiritualism, and other related topics. The player can look up entries on secret societies, like the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the history of the Great Famine or Magdalene laundries, or information on political figures like Oliver Cromwell. My own working knowledge of Irish history and folklore is flimsy at best, so I appreciated the inclusion of background information, both in the library, and in the lectures various characters host in the drawing room over the course of the game. Séance‘s attention to detail and its approach to learning makes the space feel inhabited, which makes the consequences for failing to solve the mystery feel all the more grave.

The Séance of Blake Manor is a smart and entertaining supernatural mystery game that will no doubt reward revisits in spooky autumns to come.

Chandler Shaw is a freelance writer who lives in Somerville, MA with her partner, two cats, and a dog. She holds a Ph.D. in English from Boston College.