Mystery House Interview

I actually prefer to think of Mystery House as a revival more than a reimagining. If you’re a veteran of those early 1980s adventure games, you’ll likely recognise some of the puzzle philosophy and overall spirit of the original, but we’ve also expanded it significantly.

Back in 1980, fitting a complete experience onto a floppy disk with hand-drawn vector-style line art was an incredible accomplishment. Roberta and Ken created something groundbreaking with very limited technology. What we’re doing with Mystery House is honouring that foundation while building a much deeper experience around it. 

Not only are we significantly enhancing the graphics and gameplay, [but] we’re also expanding the characters, creating an entirely new backstory, and turning material that was once largely implied into something tangible that players can step into and explore.

Modern tools let us actually show the emotion and atmosphere that the original could only imply. Things like lighting, sound design, environmental storytelling, and cinematic presentation give us room to build real tension and immersion, the kind that wasn’t achievable in 1980.

That said, technology isn’t the goal. The goal is [to tell a great story and create memorable gameplay]. Modern tools just let us execute on ideas that the hardware couldn’t support back then.

I’m not quite ready to disclose who’s signed on yet, but we’ve got some really exciting talent involved! Names alone don’t necessarily make performances memorable, though. What matters most to me is having actors who can completely sell the characters and make them feel believable. If a player forgets they’re listening to a performance and feels like they’re really in that house with these characters, then we’ve done our job.

The DNA of the original is absolutely still there, but this is a modern game. I’ve been playing games since the ’80s, and I’ve noticed that players today expect a different level of immersion and storytelling than they did back then. So, the goal wasn’t to preserve every limitation from 1980; it was to preserve the feeling people had when they played Mystery House and bring that feeling to modern audiences.

I try not to chase trends too much. Having played games for decades, my focus isn’t on what gimmick is popular right now; it’s on what actually feels satisfying to solve. The puzzles in Mystery House are designed to reward observation, experimentation, and connecting ideas. I want players to feel clever, not frustrated. My goal isn’t to make something trendy. It’s to make something people are still talking about years from now.

A lot. I had the opportunity to work with Ken Williams, and then with Roberta Williams, through Colossal Cave 3D from beginning to end. That experience taught me a tremendous amount. We learned what worked, what players responded to, and what, in hindsight, we’d approach differently. Every one of those lessons, from production decisions to gameplay philosophy, is being carried into Mystery House.

Probably the biggest challenge was getting the game engine right. We actually restarted from scratch multiple times because we knew the game had to feel right before moving forward. Early on, we worked with technology and workflows we already knew because there’s comfort in that (the devil you know). Eventually, working with James Carroll and Dan Thompson, we reached a point where the foundation clicked. Now we’ve established the baseline systems, gameplay framework, and technical direction, and we’re fully focused on production.