This point and click horror adventure game is witty, intriguing and extremely engaging despite the archetypal sounding plotline. What’s even better is this is a completely free game so, for that reason alone, you should definitely play this fantastic, albeit creepy, little gem. 5 Days A Stranger is an amateur game created by Ben “Yahtzee” Crowshaw and made using the Adventure Game Studio tool. Despite the game’s modest backgrounds 5 days a stranger has won a handful of awards so with all the raving reviews I just had to play it, and here I am, raving about it because it was an incredibly enjoyable experience.
Gameplay and plot
5 days a stranger is set entirely inside the DeFoe manor house mostly due to the fact that after Trilby, gentleman slash cat-burglar, enters the house to steal some valuables he finds himself unable to get back out the window again. No problem, he thinks, he’ll just try another window since his one is oddly stuck, but all the windows are jammed. And so are the doors, plus the wall is too tall to climb and far too smooth to get a grip on it anyway, and… wait, what’s this? There’s a layer of thick concrete beneath the lawn in the backyard. Something’s not right here and, worse still, Trilby’s not the only unfortunate soul stuck in this mansion. Together with a group of strangers, Trilby must find a way out of this luxurious country manor but when the murders begin suspicion threatens to tear this fragile union apart. What is the dark secrets that lurk within the DeFoe manor, who is stalking its opulent corridors and why the hell did Trilby’s fence not research the place before sending him there?
I was hooked into this game in its first few moments after, discovering the window was jammed, I meandered on downstairs and ran into a man called Phillip. Phillip is another trapped thief, just not a gentlemanly one, who’s also got a bit of an attitude problem. It’s Phillip who you first get to talk to properly and it’s Phillip who’s the first one to explain what’s been going on in the house. At first he thinks you’re here to rescue them all but when he realizes you’re trapped too he explains what’s been going on, in some way or another every person in that house have been separated from their friends or co-workers and come into the house alone and, once they’re inside, they’re trapped. What’s really unusual though is that Trilby got in through a window and as he rightly points out, how did nobody notice it was unlocked for his arrival? The trapped guests were periodically checking every potential escape route, taking it in turns and being completely thorough but somehow that one window had been wide open just long enough for Trilby’s arrival. There’s something else at work in this house, some kind of intelligence, and my God I wanted to know what it was. Phillip thinks it’s a reality TV show, Trilby’s not so sure and for some reason I was more concerned that the fridge in the kitchen was devoid of food. They’re going to let us starve? I wondered to myself, staring at a huge pile of salt in a kitchen cupboard. Are they serious, how have these people been surviving, what have they been eating, the carpets? It’s been days! I really didn’t realize this was a horror game and that things were going to get a lot worse than rumbling tummies.
The plot drags you in and forces you to stay, just like that bloody house, because it builds up suspense wonderfully and never reveals its hand until the last moment. It does admittedly contain some slightly typical themes, like being locked in a creepy mansion by some unseen force, but it’s all combined in a rather original way and, genuinely, I was confused as to what was going on just like the characters. The plot unfolds very gradually and primarily through reading the few texts present in the game which are short but sad. There’s a pretty decent twist in the storyline that you may or may not see coming, depending on how versed you are in creepy mansion fiction, and the conclusion is very satisfying and nicely wraps everything up. For some reason I was expecting an ending that was going to be anti-climactic and though it didn’t exactly have whistles and bells on it was very fitting, cumulative and had good a splash of humour just to top it all off.
The way you play the game is very simple; you have several icons that can be used to interact with the world; walking, using, talking and looking. You switch which of these you use by clicking them at the bottom of the screen or by using the F1 – F4 keys on your keyboard and then use them on the environment to navigate around the place, talk to people or find and pick up items. Sometimes you’ll have to combine things to make new items to advance the game and to solve the puzzles within it. The game itself is split into days which act as chapters, between each day you’ll get a cutscene which is usually rather disturbing and very confusing. Each day something will change and they’ll be a new task for you to complete, the first day for example is mostly just finding out what’s going on and meeting everybody. But then things get strange and you’ll have a lot more on your hands.
Graphics and audio
The horror elements of the game are apparent; there’s a fair bit of gore and some very dark themes though none of it is over the top and it’s certainly nowhere near as disturbing as IHNM. The blood and gore may not look like much to those glancing over but when you’re wrapped up in the storyline and the feel of the game it’s positively terrifying when the rare but effective gory scenes jump out at you. The graphics are a lot more subdued than other point and clicks but there’s no denying it looks pretty decent and is no less than I’d want from a 2003 point and click adventure game. There’s clearly a lot of detail that has been put into the environments and there’s a really great feel and personality present in the DeFoe manor, among other things. The animation of the characters too is truly brilliant. I’ll never forget how Trilby’s usually stoic face was contorted into utter, wide eyed fear as he awoke from a terrifying nightmare and the ability to portray that with such limiting graphics is exceptional.
There’s not a great deal of audio in the game and it’s mostly restricted to sound effects such as footsteps and the creaking of opening doors. I encountered an annoying audio bug that meant whenever I clicked off the screen to look at something else the audio would repeat on itself over and over, such as his footsteps endlessly walking. Bugs aside, the audio is decent and the music is sufficiently creepy. Initially the music was only really present in the intro and credits but with the full edition of the game now available there is music throughout the game and it rises and falls with the tempo that the game sets. Though the music is creepy in and of itself it’s particularly disturbing when it cuts out entirely, leaving you standing there in the still silence wondering what’s caused this dramatic shift in atmosphere…
Overall
The personality of this game is not just restricted to the appearance of the DeFoe manor or its grounds, the characters are really well written and with very distinct personalities and great dialogue. Trilby in particular is such a brilliant character; charming and witty with bags of likeability factor that makes him an extremely strong protagonist for such a short little game. Trilby’s little comments when you look at things or talk to people are guaranteed to raise a few smirks and he is so utterly memorable I felt sad leaving him behind when the credits rolled.
This game is the first of the Chzo Mythos series and if you enjoy this one it’s great knowing that the journey doesn’t end there as there are 4 sequels, though they’re not all point and click games. ‘5 days a stranger’ will last you around about 3 hours of play and I enjoyed it so much I wished for it to be longer with a lot more actions to perform and more item combinations in general. The game had some good puzzles and at one point I was left standing on a windowsill for ages, unsure of where to go from there, so I can’t say it wasn’t a challenging game. At times it was too easy but for a free game, it’s simply outstanding.
Score: 8/10
Gameplay and plot
5 days a stranger is set entirely inside the DeFoe manor house mostly due to the fact that after Trilby, gentleman slash cat-burglar, enters the house to steal some valuables he finds himself unable to get back out the window again. No problem, he thinks, he’ll just try another window since his one is oddly stuck, but all the windows are jammed. And so are the doors, plus the wall is too tall to climb and far too smooth to get a grip on it anyway, and… wait, what’s this? There’s a layer of thick concrete beneath the lawn in the backyard. Something’s not right here and, worse still, Trilby’s not the only unfortunate soul stuck in this mansion. Together with a group of strangers, Trilby must find a way out of this luxurious country manor but when the murders begin suspicion threatens to tear this fragile union apart. What is the dark secrets that lurk within the DeFoe manor, who is stalking its opulent corridors and why the hell did Trilby’s fence not research the place before sending him there?
I was hooked into this game in its first few moments after, discovering the window was jammed, I meandered on downstairs and ran into a man called Phillip. Phillip is another trapped thief, just not a gentlemanly one, who’s also got a bit of an attitude problem. It’s Phillip who you first get to talk to properly and it’s Phillip who’s the first one to explain what’s been going on in the house. At first he thinks you’re here to rescue them all but when he realizes you’re trapped too he explains what’s been going on, in some way or another every person in that house have been separated from their friends or co-workers and come into the house alone and, once they’re inside, they’re trapped. What’s really unusual though is that Trilby got in through a window and as he rightly points out, how did nobody notice it was unlocked for his arrival? The trapped guests were periodically checking every potential escape route, taking it in turns and being completely thorough but somehow that one window had been wide open just long enough for Trilby’s arrival. There’s something else at work in this house, some kind of intelligence, and my God I wanted to know what it was. Phillip thinks it’s a reality TV show, Trilby’s not so sure and for some reason I was more concerned that the fridge in the kitchen was devoid of food. They’re going to let us starve? I wondered to myself, staring at a huge pile of salt in a kitchen cupboard. Are they serious, how have these people been surviving, what have they been eating, the carpets? It’s been days! I really didn’t realize this was a horror game and that things were going to get a lot worse than rumbling tummies.
The plot drags you in and forces you to stay, just like that bloody house, because it builds up suspense wonderfully and never reveals its hand until the last moment. It does admittedly contain some slightly typical themes, like being locked in a creepy mansion by some unseen force, but it’s all combined in a rather original way and, genuinely, I was confused as to what was going on just like the characters. The plot unfolds very gradually and primarily through reading the few texts present in the game which are short but sad. There’s a pretty decent twist in the storyline that you may or may not see coming, depending on how versed you are in creepy mansion fiction, and the conclusion is very satisfying and nicely wraps everything up. For some reason I was expecting an ending that was going to be anti-climactic and though it didn’t exactly have whistles and bells on it was very fitting, cumulative and had good a splash of humour just to top it all off.
The way you play the game is very simple; you have several icons that can be used to interact with the world; walking, using, talking and looking. You switch which of these you use by clicking them at the bottom of the screen or by using the F1 – F4 keys on your keyboard and then use them on the environment to navigate around the place, talk to people or find and pick up items. Sometimes you’ll have to combine things to make new items to advance the game and to solve the puzzles within it. The game itself is split into days which act as chapters, between each day you’ll get a cutscene which is usually rather disturbing and very confusing. Each day something will change and they’ll be a new task for you to complete, the first day for example is mostly just finding out what’s going on and meeting everybody. But then things get strange and you’ll have a lot more on your hands.
Graphics and audio
The horror elements of the game are apparent; there’s a fair bit of gore and some very dark themes though none of it is over the top and it’s certainly nowhere near as disturbing as IHNM. The blood and gore may not look like much to those glancing over but when you’re wrapped up in the storyline and the feel of the game it’s positively terrifying when the rare but effective gory scenes jump out at you. The graphics are a lot more subdued than other point and clicks but there’s no denying it looks pretty decent and is no less than I’d want from a 2003 point and click adventure game. There’s clearly a lot of detail that has been put into the environments and there’s a really great feel and personality present in the DeFoe manor, among other things. The animation of the characters too is truly brilliant. I’ll never forget how Trilby’s usually stoic face was contorted into utter, wide eyed fear as he awoke from a terrifying nightmare and the ability to portray that with such limiting graphics is exceptional.
There’s not a great deal of audio in the game and it’s mostly restricted to sound effects such as footsteps and the creaking of opening doors. I encountered an annoying audio bug that meant whenever I clicked off the screen to look at something else the audio would repeat on itself over and over, such as his footsteps endlessly walking. Bugs aside, the audio is decent and the music is sufficiently creepy. Initially the music was only really present in the intro and credits but with the full edition of the game now available there is music throughout the game and it rises and falls with the tempo that the game sets. Though the music is creepy in and of itself it’s particularly disturbing when it cuts out entirely, leaving you standing there in the still silence wondering what’s caused this dramatic shift in atmosphere…
Overall
The personality of this game is not just restricted to the appearance of the DeFoe manor or its grounds, the characters are really well written and with very distinct personalities and great dialogue. Trilby in particular is such a brilliant character; charming and witty with bags of likeability factor that makes him an extremely strong protagonist for such a short little game. Trilby’s little comments when you look at things or talk to people are guaranteed to raise a few smirks and he is so utterly memorable I felt sad leaving him behind when the credits rolled.
This game is the first of the Chzo Mythos series and if you enjoy this one it’s great knowing that the journey doesn’t end there as there are 4 sequels, though they’re not all point and click games. ‘5 days a stranger’ will last you around about 3 hours of play and I enjoyed it so much I wished for it to be longer with a lot more actions to perform and more item combinations in general. The game had some good puzzles and at one point I was left standing on a windowsill for ages, unsure of where to go from there, so I can’t say it wasn’t a challenging game. At times it was too easy but for a free game, it’s simply outstanding.
Score: 8/10
