The House of Horrors is an elaborate on-screen maze and puzzle game. The screen is laid out with the maze occupying the major portion, a communication window across the bottom, and an illustration/ puzzle window top right. At the start, a finely drawn, mysterious looking house is revealed, and the solution to three puzzles allows you inside.
You are then shown as a tiny animated stick man at the entrance to the maze. Using cursor keys or joystick you steer towards the exit, but you're unlikely to get far! Seemingly independent of your location, your path is barred by a number of obstacles. The Egotistical Gorilla demands you spot and remember his name; the Mad Mathematician - aren't they all? - requires some instant arithmetic; the Snake Pit, the finding of a ladder; an unpleasant looking gargoyle sets a version of Hangman, and given the choice of three doors, you're bound to choose the wrong one! There are more, and each time your fail, it's back to the beginning again. This is level I!
A ghoulish monophonic tune accompanies the game, which, with the exception of picture window, uses very small graphics. Visible on the green screen, they almost disappear using. the colour modulator. The major pictures are, however, quite classy.
On tape, the game is saved in normal and speed write modes, the first I've seen. Doubly sad therefore to report that the quick version wouldn't load. Overall, only adequate; about the standard of a £1.99 Spectrum game.
12th March 1985
