Although point-and-click adventure games had a bit of a revival about a decade ago, they don’t draw much attention from non-fans. It was quite a surprise when, amidst such exuberance about Elden Ring and God of War: Ragnarök, The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow managed to get a few mentions in last year’s Game of the Year debates. The game is currently available for Switch, and today we’re going to take a look at how it works on this new platform.
In The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow, you play Thomasina Bateman, a young antiques dealer who’s devoted herself to investigating the burial mounds of England, for which she ends up in a small rural town called Bewlay. After arriving by train on a cold and foggy night, he goes to a local to rent a room. When he wakes up the next morning, he finds that the fog has lifted, but the atmosphere of hostility and tension still lingers in the small rural town. Thomasina must find the mound over the next three days after requesting permission to dig and assembling a team willing to help her with all the work.
Without spoiling too much, it sounds very much like a Lovecraftian tale with plenty of references but little real horror until the final act when all hell breaks loose. Plenty of flashbacks are mixed in with the linear narrative, reinforcing the idea of digging into the past and adding more depth to the character. Personally, I really enjoyed it, but even if you don’t like that kind of suspense, the characters and dialogue will convince you.
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First of all, Thomasina is a great character, full of charm, wit and tenderness, who never lapses into the strong woman cliche (ironically distant) that is so prevalent in ǵJanuary. Through the well-written and entertaining conversations, you’ll also learn that behind the hostility of many of the residents lies a certain sympathy, such as Arthur Pillet, who was very rude at first, and bitter old Cyril. It certainly helps that Thomasina can handle alcohol better than most men. Also, the story at times feels like a cross between Cheers and The X-Files, as the local Plow and Furrow public house serves as a safe haven between Bewlay’s many haunting locations and the surrounding swamps.
Published with Wadjet Eye Games, The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow shows all the hallmarks of its consistently high quality. The pixelated graphics, while not as original, are well done, with panoramic views, spectacular animations and, most importantly, a clear view of important objects. Also of note are the exaggerated portraits of some characters appearing in some scenes, reminiscent of the classic point-and-click adventure Cthulhu Shadow of the Comet. I could devote several paragraphs to the soundtrack and dubbing, but I’ll be brief and say it’s excellent and on par with the best triple-A productions.
Of course, most of these adventure games excel at their puzzle designs or fail (which usually happens). For this reason, many developers today prefer to remove them entirely, but the team at Cloak and Dagger Games prefers to get down to business and have created puzzle scenarios that add more charm to the game rather than hindering it. The solution is usually exhausting all the dialogue options or using the crafting tools (like chisel or trowel), but there are also some puzzles that require you to squeeze a little coconut to solve them. Generally speaking, these puzzles are bumps in the road that force you to slow down a bit and engage with the world around you, but without completely stopping.
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With all of these features in mind, it’s not hard to see why the PC version of The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow has received so much praise. Cloak and Dagger Games did a lot of digging into the adventure genre’s past, but instead of acting like Tomb Raider and taking all the nostalgic elements for the fans, they just wanted to bring back and further polish the elements that really work. But what happened to the jump to console? Did they also master this difficult feat?
The short answer is yes. At least mostly. Even in handheld mode, the graphics are sharp and while objects are very easy to spot, you can highlight them all by pressing Y, a feature that should be a legal requirement in all point-and-click adventure games. Additional features include a simpler inventory bar at the top of the screen, the ability to move objects with the L and R keys, and instant screen transitions activated by double-tapping exits. The small development team is also trying to answer the perennial question of how to better adapt the mouse controls to the controller and allow the use of both joysticks to control a virtual cursor, making the right one a bit slower than the left one for more precise control . The only thing I complain about is that they cannot be exchanged.
There are also some minor flaws, such as the game only lasts around five hours and the ending is abrupt and somewhat predictable. But overall, The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow is an excellent modern point-and-click thriller that beats even classic adventure games like Broken Sword and Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers in many ways. For the cheap price of 14.99 dollars in the eShop, I would say that it is almost mandatory for all fans of this genre to put it in the shopping cart.
