The Horror at Highrook Review – Deck May Die

The Horror at Highrook by Nullpointer Games

I love horror board games. Well, I love horror anything, but especially board games. There’s just something about playing with something tactile that’s meant to evoke tension in the audience. It almost feels like channeling something you’re not supposed to, and somehow, the game always seems to know.

The Horror at Highrook comes the closest any video game has to recreating what I love about tabletop games like Arkham Horror or Mansions of Madness. While I can’t play with it physically, it more than makes up for this with a ton of tricks and treats.

Cult of Starry Wisdom

The once noble Ackeron family has vanished amidst rumors of strange rituals. As a team of investigators, you’ve been sent to their home of Highrook Manor to find any clues you can about their whereabouts. What could possibly go wrong?

Between its visuals and sound design, The Horror at Highrook immediately draws you in, establishing a pitch-perfect mood for the horrors to come. It feels like a combination of Darkest Dungeon and a Poe story. Even the little visual touches on the game board, like shifting light sources, help accent the mood.

As for the game itself, it does an excellent job of easing you into the experience. Highrook is represented by a board with multiple rooms (many of which are locked at the start), with your characters and any objects you discover represented by cards. Placing a combination of these in a room will allow characters to interact with different objects based on their stats. With a little bit of luck, you might discover something new to help expand your search.

Calls from Below

Time passes consistently as you assign tasks to your characters, with some items needing to be used before they vanish. There are also both random and scripted events that happen as time passes. Most importantly, you also need to manage things like your characters’ hunger, fatigue, and of course, sanity.

It’s a simple system that’s highly reminiscent of 2018’s Cultist Simulator, and I suspect Nullpointer took inspiration from it. However, the addition of the concrete narrative streamlines the experience in a way I really appreciated.

Speaking of the narrative, The Horror at Highrook has a compelling one that unfolds over multiple chapters. As you solve more of the mystery surrounding the Ackerons, the house itself becomes increasingly hostile toward you, and managing your resources only becomes more difficult.

While the game itself isn’t grueling, I was pushed to succeed because the mystery is engaging and the characters you play are memorable. The odd typo or weird bit of phrasing sometimes hurt this a tad, though.

The Verdict

The Horror at Highrook combines what’s great about both video and board games into a spooky package that stole away hours of my life. Like a typical Lovecraft protagonist, I could never stay away from the mystery for long. Turn out the lights, light some candles, and let it whisk you away to planes unimaginable.

The Horror at Highrook is available via Steam.

Watch the trailer for The Horror at Highrook below:

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