Mystery House to be reopened this year in 3D for PC and VR

• Announcements by Jack Allin
• Published:

Ken and Roberta Williams' groundbreaking classic to be reimagined by Colossal Cave remake co-producer

Ken and Roberta Williams' Mystery House may be largely forgotten 45 years after its initial release, but as the first ever graphic adventure game, its legacy has been keenly felt ever since. Soon, however, the game itself will return to the limelight in an updated 3D reimagining for PC and VR by Guillotine Games. 

Way back in 1980, before Sierra On-Line was even a thing, the innovative game first sold on a floppy disk in a Ziploc bag merged text-based adventuring with rudimentary graphics of each room. Inspired by Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None and the board game Clue, the game locked players in an abandoned Victorian mansion with seven other people, including a gravedigger, a butcher, a mechanic and more. A search for secret treasure ensued, but the house proved to be filled with deadly traps and puzzles to solve, and as people began dying one by one, it became clear that there was a killer inside the house. The player's job, if they wanted to survive the night and get out alive, was to solve the mystery and identify the murderer before becoming the next victim. The rest, as they say, is history, as Mystery House went on to pioneer the graphic adventure genre and launch Ken and Roberta to prominence. 

But that was then and this is now, and at long last Mystery House is getting another chance to shine thanks to the indie studio spearheaded by Marcus Mera, co-producer of the similarly remade Colossal Cave alongside the Williamses in 2023. There's no Ken and Roberta directly involved this time, but the new version promises to remain faithful to the source material in all key respects but "redesigned as an immersive, atmospheric horror-adventure." The premise will still be a "tense, cerebral murder mystery" and the original "puzzles, sequence of events, and underlying logic" are being left intact to preserve the same focus on "deduction and discovery" as you "explore the sprawling estate, uncover cryptic clues ... and unravel a dark legacy that refuses to stay buried." This time, however, the original's "eerie sense of isolation and suspense" will be enhanced through real-time exploration in full 3D, either in first- or third-person perspective as the game will offer an option to seamlessly shift between both. 

The visual presentation might be the most obvious change, but the updates aren't merely cosmetic. Accompanied by a haunting original soundtrack by Dan Policar (The Crimson Diamond) that "adapts to the situations at hand," this is a comprehensive reimagining designed to be played on either flatscreens or in VR, in which "the entire house is interactive," meaning that "every room, drawer and puzzle has been rebuilt with meticulous detail." The narrative too will be rounded out with voice acting, richer character backstories, additional subtle environmental storytelling, and a "deeper overarching mystery" guided by player choices that determine which of the multiple possible endings you get. You even have your own identity this time, though just who the young woman is remains a mystery for now.

Of course you must solve puzzles as you "collect, inspect, and combine key items using a streamlined inventory system" to progress, but "beware what you awaken" as in this mansion "the tension is real, and the secrets are deadly." To that end, the team is also "experimenting with procedural traps and dynamic elements" so that even players familiar with the original will find plenty of surprises, and no two games will play out entirely alike. The goal, according to Mera, is to "honor the legacy, while making it fresh, immersive, and compelling for today’s audience."

There is no target release date just yet, but Mystery House 3D is set to open its doors on Steam for Windows PC and VR headsets sometime before the end of the year. To keep tabs on its progress i the meantime, you can sign up for updates from the game's official website.