by Moe Zilla

Created on: January 25, 2009

"The 7th Guest" is a wonderful game, and it's still charming more than 15 years after its original release. But at that time it was a breakthrough, offering a wonderfully-drawn environment that was three dimensional and interactive.

"7th Guest" boasts 21 puzzles, but they're woven into a lively story about six characters visiting an abandoned mansion. Every room - and every puzzle - features a new musical ditty playing in the background. But the game struck an even more impressive tone with its lavish introduction sequence that featured an orchestra with a full chorus (plus sound effects, and a very dramatic violin solo). After the lightning and the animation, it presents an eight-minute back story about a mysterious figure who haunts the mansion.

Some of the rooms are locked, of course, so there's some genuine tension when the final door is opened and the dark mystery is revealed. And some puzzles are more difficult than others. There's chess puzzles, a long anagram, and even a game (much like "Go") that pits the player against an invisible second player. But the most frustrating puzzle is probably the maze that lurks in the house's basement. It's nothing but walls and corners - and some repetitive taunts - until frustrated gamers discover a crucial clue: there's a map to the maze on the rug upstairs.

"7th Guest" was a real breakthrough in 1993, and set a new standard for the video games to come.
The other benchmark game was the imaginative world of Myst - but Myst relied mostly on static images with a few "hot spots" that could be clicked. "7th Guest" allowed its players to move through the world and interact with its objects - especially in its clever puzzles. There's a fun mood to the world, thanks to its imaginative art and music - and the underappreciated actors.

A Shakesperean actor named Robert Hirschboeck played the villainous Henry Stauf, a poor drifter who'd suddenly struck it rich as a toy maker. Stauf based his toys on the dreams he'd had, and a final dream led to his mansion on the hill. But tonight six guests were invited - a wealthy couple, a stage magician, a dowager and a playboy. They're seen entering the mansion, but then it's the game's player who wanders through its darkened halls. And if they solve a puzzle, they can see another scene revealing what happened next.

There's really two stories - about what happens to the guest, and a second hidden story about Stauf himself. What's the secret to the mystery that haunts his mansion? The game reveals it in the final scene - and it's up to the game's player to bring it to a happy ending.

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