The Seance of Blake Manor (2025)

 
The Seance of Blake Manor (2025), developed by Spooky Doorway, published by Raw Fury 

October, 1897, a private investigator, Declan Ward, is summoned to a remote Blake manor in Ireland. He is to look for a missing woman, Evelyn Dean, who has gone missing just days before a grand Seance is to take place in the manor, which is now a hotel, with a wide array of guests and employees to speak with and investigate.

There is something odd going on in the manor. Some people seem to be unsure if Dean ever was there, and even her room seems to have vanished. And then there are the ghost sightings and odd dreams, which seem to be rampant in the house. Every place seems to be haunted, and a sinister air hangs heavily upon the house and the people.

From the atrium, Declan finds a strange, glowing device, which he later learns is measuring the amount of paranormal activity in the mansion. He quickly finds out that if he can either make the people step away from the seance or find a way of protecting them during it, the gauges in the device go down. So, his mission becomes two-fold: to find Evelyn Deane and to help the people find whatever they are looking for, so that they are safe from the seance and its ravages. 

The Seance of Blake Manor is a 1st person horror detective adventure game, with the main emphasis on exploring the mansion, speaking with the denizens, and trying to find out clues on what is going on with them and in the manor.  Declan can form hypothesises of the people and the events when he finds enough evidence. This can lead him to new paths, or he can confront people with his findings, which helps him find a way to help them.

The game takes place over 3 days, each day split into hours. Generally speaking, each action ticks one minute of the clock, so in simple terms, each hour has 60 actions you can take. These actions are asking questions, looking at things, searching, reading, etc. Of course, some actions can take more time; for example, eating can take 30 minutes, but it can be time well spent, as Declan might learn new things while talking with the fellow guests. Walking around doesn't spend any time, and if you have already performed an action on something, like looked at a painting, no more action points are docked if looked at again.

The system actually reminds me a bit of how Sierra's old adventure classics, Colonel's Bequest and the Dagger of Amon Ra, handled progressions, but in those, the hour was divided into 15-minute jumps instead of 1-minute jumps. But considering the difference in scale, it makes sense that there's a lot more time on the clock on Blake Manor. 

As you are exploring the mansions, it becomes evident that you do not need to infringe on the privacy of the inhabitants of the hotel. From their rooms, it's possible to find more secrets they might not want to reveal to people, but needs must. 

The further into the investigation you go, the more information on the culprit you gain as well. Every time you find a new piece of evidence, you can exclude people from the list of subjects. If you do this diligently, it won't be a hard task to figure out who the guilty party is, though in all honesty, the reveal doesn't come as a huge surprise, as if you have solved the problems of all people, the culrprit if glaringly obvious. But their reasons for the crime are not, so at least that reveal is solid.

The Seance of Blake Manor is a lengthy game, mostly thanks to the many characters present, but also the fact that you spend a lot of time walking around the mansion and figuring out what to do and how to find the information you need. It is on the brink of staying out of its welcome, also mostly because of the varied cast of characters, and the fact that I found the quality of writing varies a bit too much among them.

That said, The Seance of the Blake Manor is a solid game. While it has some weaknesses, the exploration of the hypothesis is well-made. There are also some puzzles, but none of them is too taxing. If you are looking for a detective story to spend some time with, this might be worth a look.

If this sounds like something you'd like, you can get The Seance of Blake Manor from Steam.