Difference between revisions of "Hugo's House of Horrors"

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[[Image:Hugo's House of Horrors - DOS - USA.jpg|thumb|256x256px|A later release cover.]]
 
[[Image:Hugo's House of Horrors - DOS - USA.jpg|thumb|256x256px|A later release cover.]]
  
'''''Hugo's House of Horrors''''' is an adventure puzzle game developed and published by [[David Gray]] and released for [[MS-DOS]] on 1990-01-01 and later ported to [[Windows]]. It uses a game engine similar to those used by [[Sierra On-Line]] years earlier. It is the first game in the [[Hugo (Universe)|Hugo series]] of games and followed by by [[Hugo II: Whodunit?]] The story is rather typical: the girlfriend of Hugo has been kidnapped and taken into a mansion. The game uses a haunted house theme with various Halloween and horror movie tropes.
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'''''Hugo's House of Horrors''''' is [[graphic adventure]] [[puzzle video game]] developed and published by [[David Gray]] and released for [[MS-DOS]] on 1990-01-01 and later ported to [[Windows]]. It uses a game engine similar to those used by [[Sierra On-Line]] years earlier. It is the first game in the [[Hugo (universe)|Hugo series]] of games and followed up by ''[[Hugo II: Whodunit?]]'' The story is rather typical: the girlfriend of Hugo has been kidnapped and taken into a mansion. The game uses a haunted house theme with various Halloween and horror movie tropes.
  
 
David Gray began programming Hugo's House of Horrors in 1989 writing in [[Quick C]], and drawing graphics in [[PC Paintbrush]].
 
David Gray began programming Hugo's House of Horrors in 1989 writing in [[Quick C]], and drawing graphics in [[PC Paintbrush]].
  
I believe my mother got me this game at a shareware game swap. I played the game so much that I not only beat it, but ended up writing a hand-written walk-though, full script, and documented various game bugs.
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==Personal==
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I believe my mother got me this game at a shareware game swap. I played the game so much that I not only beat it, but made a hand-written full-score walk-though, complete game script, and documented various game bugs.
  
 
==Status==
 
==Status==
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==Review==
 
==Review==
* '''Overall:''' 3/10
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{{Video Game Review|3|4|3|2|2|MS-DOS}}
* '''Best Version:''' DOS
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{{Spoilers}}
  
 
===Good===
 
===Good===
* The game gives a charming adventure with decent puzzles.
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* The game is trope-heavy, but that makes it rather charming.
* I like the trivia section which includes references to [[Narnia]] and [[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]].
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* There is a decent variety of puzzles and none of them are unfair.
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* I like the trivia section which includes references to ''[[The Hobbit]]'', ''[[The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe]]'', and ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]''.
  
 
===Bad===
 
===Bad===
* The artwork and sound was very dated ([[King's Quest V: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder!]] came out the same year!).
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* All of the puzzles are pretty straight-forward and there aren't really any alternate methods of defeating them.
* The story is lacking, and the theme is tired.
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* The developer used a silly excused for having the player drop the mask before entering the lab so it wouldn't cause problems with the animation. A much better solution would have been to lock the wardrobe and give the player the key only after they solved the puzzle in the lab.
* The game is too short.
+
* There are a couple bugs in the game that can be exploited, but they're minor.
* There are a couple bugs in the game that can be exploited.
+
* It's possible to put the game in an [[unwinnable state]], but it's pretty obvious when you do.
  
 
===Ugly===
 
===Ugly===
* Nothing really.
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* The story is lacking, the theme is tired, the game is too short, and the ending is unfulfilling.
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* The graphic and sound fidelity was very dated (''[[King's Quest V: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder!]]'' came out only months later!). The art and music production is also clearly amateur with poorly drawn graphics with pixels often left uncolored and jumpy animation.
  
 
==Media==
 
==Media==
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===Videos===
 
===Videos===
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UijhBRheB8k youtube.com/watch?v=UijhBRheB8k] - Longplay.
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{{#ev:youtube|UijhBRheB8k|256|inline|Longplay.|frame}}
  
 
==Download==
 
==Download==
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==Links==
 
==Links==
* [http://www.mobygames.com/game/hugos-house-of-horrors mobygames.com/game/hugos-house-of-horrors] - MobyGames.
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{{Link|MobyGames|http://www.mobygames.com/game/hugos-house-of-horrors}}
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo%27s_House_of_Horrors en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo%27s_House_of_Horrors] - Wikipedia.
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{{Link|Wikipedia|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo%27s_House_of_Horrors}}
* [https://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/564841-hugos-house-of-horrors gamefaqs.com/pc/564841-hugos-house-of-horrors] - GameFAQs.
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{{Link|GameFAQs|https://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/564841-hugos-house-of-horrors}}
* [http://www.dgray.com/hwpage.htm dgray.com/hwpage.htm] - Official page.
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{{Link|ModdingWiki|http://www.shikadi.net/moddingwiki/Hugo%27s_House_of_Horrors}}
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{{Link|Official|http://www.dgray.com/hwpage.htm}}
  
  
 
[[Category: Games]]
 
[[Category: Games]]
 
[[Category: Video Games]]
 
[[Category: Video Games]]
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[[Category: 1990 Video Games]]
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[[Category: Video Game Prime Order - Adventure, Strategy, Action]]
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[[Category: Video Game Genre - Adventure]]
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[[Category: Video Game Genre - Graphic Adventure]]
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[[Category: Video Game Genre - Puzzle]]
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[[Category: Game Mechanic - Unwinnable State]]
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[[Category: Media Theme - Adventure]]
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[[Category: Media Theme - Horror]]
 
[[Category: DOS Games]]
 
[[Category: DOS Games]]
 
[[Category: Windows 3 Games]]
 
[[Category: Windows 3 Games]]
[[Category: Adventure]]
 
[[Category: Puzzle]]
 
 
[[Category: Games I've Beaten]]
 
[[Category: Games I've Beaten]]
[[Category: Horror]]
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[[Category: Trope - Damsel In Distress]]
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[[Category: Trope - Women As Reward]]
 
[[Category: 4-bit Color Graphics]]
 
[[Category: 4-bit Color Graphics]]
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[[Category: Software Distribution Model - Shareware]]
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[[Category: Video Games That Fail the Bechdel Test]]

Revision as of 14:59, 22 June 2020

A later release cover.

Hugo's House of Horrors is graphic adventure puzzle video game developed and published by David Gray and released for MS-DOS on 1990-01-01 and later ported to Windows. It uses a game engine similar to those used by Sierra On-Line years earlier. It is the first game in the Hugo series of games and followed up by Hugo II: Whodunit? The story is rather typical: the girlfriend of Hugo has been kidnapped and taken into a mansion. The game uses a haunted house theme with various Halloween and horror movie tropes.

David Gray began programming Hugo's House of Horrors in 1989 writing in Quick C, and drawing graphics in PC Paintbrush.

Personal

I believe my mother got me this game at a shareware game swap. I played the game so much that I not only beat it, but made a hand-written full-score walk-though, complete game script, and documented various game bugs.

Status

I do not own the game, but I have beaten the game with a full score, without hints.

Review

Video Game Review Icon - Enjoyment.png Video Game Review Icon - Control.png Video Game Review Icon - Appearance.png Video Game Review Icon - Sound.png Video Game Review Icon - Replayability.png
3 4 3 2 2

Best Version: MS-DOS

— This section contains spoilers! —

Good

Bad

  • All of the puzzles are pretty straight-forward and there aren't really any alternate methods of defeating them.
  • The developer used a silly excused for having the player drop the mask before entering the lab so it wouldn't cause problems with the animation. A much better solution would have been to lock the wardrobe and give the player the key only after they solved the puzzle in the lab.
  • There are a couple bugs in the game that can be exploited, but they're minor.
  • It's possible to put the game in an unwinnable state, but it's pretty obvious when you do.

Ugly

  • The story is lacking, the theme is tired, the game is too short, and the ending is unfulfilling.
  • The graphic and sound fidelity was very dated (King's Quest V: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder! came out only months later!). The art and music production is also clearly amateur with poorly drawn graphics with pixels often left uncolored and jumpy animation.

Media

Maps

Screenshots

Design Notes

Videos

Longplay.

Download

This is all of the shareware versions of the Hugo games I could find including Hugo's House of Horrors for DOS and Windows. You can still buy the game from the author.

Links

Link-MobyGames.png  Link-Wikipedia.png  Link-GameFAQs.png  Link-ModdingWiki.png  Link-Official.png