History VideoGame / TheSeventhGuest

* RecurringRiff: "The Game"; could be called a {{Leitmotif}} if you consider it the [[GeniusLoci Stauf Manor's]] theme song.

** The Microscope puzzle uses AI to play a game of Reversi with the player, and you must beat it to proceed. Thanks to processing advances since the initial PC release, it's nigh impossible for a human to beat now. The game AI allots itself a set amount of time to perform a search tree for its most optimal move, then after a preset delay, picks the best move it's found by then. A really good processor back in 1993 ran about 40-60 [=MHz=]. They have since become 50 times faster ''with a single core'', and as a result the Reversi AI can think far, far, far more ahead in the same amount of delay. However, since it was only one game, in controlling only one (relatively minor) room of the house, excising it for the iOS release wasn't that big of a deal.

* VoiceWithAnInternetConnection: Samantha.

* MultipleEndings: ''The 11th Hour'' has three, dictated by a single choice Carl makes in the finale -- [[spoiler:Who does he side with? Robin, Marie, or Samantha?]]

* UnwinnableByDesign: The microscope Go! minigame (not a puzzle!) has its difficulty based on the processing speed of whatever computer it's installed on. In its heyday, it was fine, but modern PCs go so fast that the computer is unfairly faster at winning than you are, no matter what you try.

More than fifteen years after the original game's release, [[http://www.trilobytegames.com/index.html Trilobyte Games]] rose from the grave and ported ''Seventh Guest'', ''Eleventh Hour'', and Rob Landeros' InteractiveMovie meets Psychoanalysis Session ''Tender Loving Care'' to the Apple iOS.

* SolveTheSoupCans: Starting with the TropeNamer -- the soup cans puzzle in the pantry -- ''7th Guest'' sets up the fact that the puzzles are going to be anywhere from difficult to mind-numbingly frustrating as early as possible. It lives up to this promise with several puzzles throughout the game, although which puzzles may be subjective.
** Thankfully, the eponymous puzzle can be brute-forced with an anagram engine.
** The puzzle where the player is forced to play Reversi with Stauf's virus has an eerily good AI.
*** It's nigh impossible for a human to beat now. That game allots itself a set amount of time to perform a search tree for its most optimal move, then cuts and picks the best one it's found by then. A really good processor back in 1993 ran about 40-60 [=MHz=]. They have since become 50 times faster ''with a single core'', and as a result the Reversi AI can think several more moves ahead. Heaven forbid this game discovers CUDA or something.
** Arguably averted, though, because every puzzle [[FinalBoss but one]] can be [[AntiFrustrationFeatures skipped with no ill consequences]].
*** The game wants you to think overusing the hint-book could [[SequenceBreaking mess up the game]]. It... doesn't, for some reason.

Some time later, [[SoapOperaDisease a mysterious illness]] kills many of the children who owned Stauf's toys; because of this, Stauf decides to build a [[HauntedHouse remote mansion]] and [[HikikoMori retire from society]]. Long after no one knows for sure if Stauf still lives, he invites six guests to a dinner party. Stauf promises that whoever solves all of the puzzles in the mansion will get his or her dearest wishes granted. The puzzles themselves are more of a means to an end, though -- they serve as clues to what Stauf wants and what he wants the guests to do for him.

The player controls an unremarkable [[GhostAmnesia amnesiac]] who wakes up in Stauf's mansion (the setting for the entire game) and tries to figure out why he came to the mansion in the first place. While this character wanders the mansion and solves logic puzzles -- some [[FakeDifficulty suspiciously]] [[SolveTheSoupCans illogical]] logic puzzles -- to advance the story, [[JerkAss Stauf]] remains an ever-present menace by [[IShallTauntYou taunting the amnesiac]] with clues and expressing displeasure when a puzzle gets solved.

''The Seventh Guest'' made extensive use of CD-ROM technology, and as one of the first games to do so, it became known as a technical marvel in its day. Critics and fans considered the prerendered CGI graphics and FullMotionVideo as state of the art for a videogame; computer manufacturers frequently used the game to show off the capabilities of a CD-ROM drive. ''Seventh Guest'' has a fairly complex plot sitting underneath all the technical wizardy and its non-linear gameplay -- but without a [[GuideDangIt FAQ of some kind]] that details how to trigger events in a logical progression, a player could conclude that the game doesn't have much of a plot at all. For players who need help or simply cannot solve a particular puzzle, the game offers a hint book in the library of the house; this book offers clues about how to solve the puzzle until used for a third time (when it [[AntiFrustrationFeatures completes the puzzle]] so the player can continue the game). While the game's manual says [[BlatantLies "consequences" could occur for using the hint book]], a player can use it without penalty for all but the last puzzle.

Another planned sequel -- ''The Collector'', which would have featured Stauf as a museum curator -- [[{{Vaporware}} seems to have vanished off the map]]. A GaidenGame to the series, ''Uncle Henry's Playhouse'', compiles puzzles from ''The Seventh Guest'', ''The Eleventh Hour'', and ''Clandestiny''; developer Trilobyte only sold ''Playhouse'' (its last game before shutting down) through mail-order, and even then, it only sold twenty-seven copies in the US and 176 total copies worldwide.

More than fifteen years after the original game's release, [[http://www.trilobytegames.com/index.html Trilobyte Games]] rose from the grave and ported ''The Seventh Guest'' to the Apple iOS, as well as Rob Landeros' InteractiveMovie meets Psychoanalysis Session, Game/TenderLovingCare. ''Eleventh Hour'' is said to be forthcoming to the format.

In March 2013, Trilobyte co-founder Charlie [=McHenry=] announced that [[http://www.polygon.com/2013/3/6/4072420/the-7th-guest-3-in-development-for-ios-android-pc-and-mac a new sequel is in development]], shooting for a release some time in 2014. Trilobye began [[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1559170459/the-7th-guest-3-the-collector a Kickstarter project for the sequel]] (titled ''The 7th Guest 3: The Collector'') on Halloween 2013.

In March 2013, Trilobyte co-founder Charlie [=McHenry=] announced that [[http://www.polygon.com/2013/3/6/4072420/the-7th-guest-3-in-development-for-ios-android-pc-and-mac a new sequel is in development]], shooting for a release some time in 2014.

More than fifteen years after the original game's release, [[http://www.trilobytegames.com/index.html Trilobyte Games]] rose from the grave and ported both ''The Seventh Guest'' and ''Eleventh Hour'' to the Apple iOS.

* ScareChord

* {{AFGNCAAP}}: Averted; while the player doesn't know anything about Ego until the very end, this is because of Ego's own amnesia. We learn that he's actually [[spoiler:Tad]] as soon as he does.

Some time later, [[SoapOperaDisease a mysterious illness]] kills many of the children who owned Stauf's toys; [[YouFailLogicForever because of this]], Stauf decides to build a [[HauntedHouse remote mansion]] and [[HikikoMori retire from society]]. Long after no one knows for sure if Stauf still lives, he invites six guests to a dinner party. Stauf promises that whoever solves all of the puzzles in the mansion will get his or her dearest wishes granted. The puzzles themselves are more of a means to an end, though -- they serve as clues to what Stauf wants and what he wants the guests to do for him.

* {{Padding}}: Oh, so very much in ''11th Hour''. The entire game is essentially one FetchQuest after another, split up by puzzles.

* PaintingTheFourthWall: Lots of ''7th Guest'' boxes show up throughout ''11th Hour'', and a ''7th Guest'' disc is even the solution to a FetchQuest. Samantha also uses footage from the game as security footage of Stauf Manor.

* RecurringRiff: "The Game"; could be called a {{Leitmotif}} if you consider it the [[GeniusLoci Stauf Manor's]] theme song. [[spoiler:Oh, and you just lost. Sorry.]]

** QueensPuzzle: The "eight Queens" variation in ''7th Guest'', coupled with some [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome way-too-frantic music]].

->''Dripping down the attic stairs, hey guests, try not to fall''

->''But Old Man Stauf is waiting there, crazy, sick, [[AC:AND MEAN!]]''
->--Tradition children's rhyme

The Seventh Guest is a video game released in 1993. The plot-relevant events for ''The Seventh Guest'' begin during [[TheGreatDepression the Great Depression]]. [[BigBad Henry Stauf]], a wandering drifter and serial thief, [[KickTheDog kills an old woman on her way home from choir practice]] and [[DealWithTheDevil sinks to a new low]]. That same night, he [[DreamingOfThingsToCome sees a beautiful doll in his dreams]] and carves one just like it the next day; he offers the doll to a local barkeep in exchange for room and board. Seeing that his doll is in such high demand, [[DreamingTheTruth Stauf creates more toys based on his visions]], and [[RagsToRiches becomes a successful entrepreneur]] as a toy maker.

Some time later, [[SoapOperaDisease a mysterious illness]] kills many of the children who owned Stauf's toys; [[YouFailLogicForever because of this]], Stauf decides to build a [[HauntedHouse remote mansion]] and [[HikikoMori retire from society]]. Long after no one's sure if Stauf's still alive, he invites six guests to a dinner party. Stauf promises that whoever solves all of the puzzles in the mansion will get his or her dearest wishes granted. The puzzles themselves are more of a means to an end, as they serve as clues to what Stauf wants and what he wants the guests to do for him.

In case the ominous paragraphs above weren't enough of a clue, ''The Seventh Guest'' is a horror story. The player controls an unremarkable [[GhostAmnesia amnesiac]] trying to figure out just what he's doing in Stauf's mansion, which is the setting for the entire game; the player wanders the mansion, solving logic puzzles -- and some [[FakeDifficulty suspiciously]] [[SolveTheSoupCans illogical]] logic puzzles -- and watching scenes that further the story. [[JerkAss Stauf]] is an ever-present menace, [[IShallTauntYou taunting the player]] with clues and expressing displeasure when the player succeeds.

One of the first games to make extensive use of CD-ROM technology, the game was a technical marvel of its day. The prerendered CGI graphics and FullMotionVideo were state of the art and frequently used by computer manufacturers to show off the capabilities of the CD-ROM drive. Underneath the graphics, the game has a fairly complex plot...which is rendered somewhat moot by the entirely non-linear nature of its play; without a [[GuideDangIt FAQ of some kind]] detailing how to trigger events in a logical progression, it is more likely that a player will conclude that there isn't really much of a plot at all. There are a variety of puzzles present throughout the game, though many of them involve trial and error. For players who need help or simply cannot solve a particular puzzle, there is a hint book in the library of the house. The first two times the book is consulted about a puzzle, the book gives clues about how to solve the puzzle; on the third time, the book simply [[AntiFrustrationFeatures completes the puzzle]] for the player so that they can proceed through the game. Although the game's manual states that there [[BlatantLies may be consequences for using the hint book]], it can be used without penalty for every puzzle save for the last one.

''The Seventh Guest'' was followed by ''The Eleventh Hour'' (1995), which takes place 60 years after the events of the first game; the game's protagonist, reporter Carl Denning, travels to Stauf Manor to look for his lost producer, Robin Morales. Gameplay is practically the same as the original game: wander the mansion, solve puzzles, and watch scenes that advance the plot. Another sequel was in the works at one point -- named ''The Collector'', it would have featured Stauf as a museum curator -- but the project [[{{Vaporware}} seems to have vanished off the map]]. A GaidenGame to the series was released under the title ''Uncle Henry's Playhouse''; it was essentially a compilation of some puzzles from ''The Seventh Guest'', ''The Eleventh Hour'' and ''Clandestiny''. ''Playhouse'' was only sold through mail-order and was Trilobyte's last game before their studios were shut down; it only sold twenty-seven copies in the US (and just 176 copies worldwide).

Just over fifteen years after the original game's release, [[http://www.trilobytegames.com/index.html Trilobyte Games]] rose from the grave and began porting ''The Seventh Guest'' and ''Eleventh Hour'' to the Apple iOS.

This game provides examples of:

* SeriesContinuityError: All involving Stauf Manor. The first game clearly placed it by itself at the edge of a precipice; ''The 11th Hour'' manages to screw this up ''twice'': the house is situated in a large field of grass up from a gated fence with some trees nearby in live action footage, while it's out in the middle of nowhere on a large dirt plain during the [=CG=] cutscenes.

* GottaCatchThemAll: It's possible that the whole reason for Stauf's game was that [[spoiler:he needed one more soul]] in order to level up to [[CosmicHorror something even worse]].

* LateToTheParty

* SignificantAnagram: "Stauf" for "Faust". Also, the Toy Block Puzzle.

* FanDisservice: Both games contain rather {{squick}}y sexual encounters: Martine and Edward in ''The 7th Guest'', and Carl and [[spoiler:Marie/Stauf]] in ''The 11th Hour''. Carl and Robin can count, too, [[YourMileageMayVary depending on how you feel about either character]].

* SolveTheSoupCans: Starting with the TropeNamer -- the soup cans puzzle in the pantry -- ''7th Guest'' sets up the fact that the puzzles are going to be anywhere from difficult to mind-numbingly frustrating as early as possible. It lives up to this promise with several puzzles throughout the game, although which puzzles [[YourMileageMayVary may be subjective]].

* {{Claustrophobia}}: The basement labyrinth. If you've got a fear of small enclosed places, it borders on NightmareFuelUnleaded. Bonus terror comes from Stauf's commentary whenever you hit a dead end.

* HideYourChildren: Inverted; Tad is in several cut scenes in the game, [[spoiler:and he's eventually [[NightmareFuelUnleaded killed and eaten by Stauf]]]].