5 Days a Stranger

The Good
I still don't know what this AGS system is, but what ever it is, it gives a great new breath of life to adventure games...even though it's only a "freeware game".

Only a freeware game? Egad, this game would totally put some commercial game developers in their place and in shame. Honestly, the last freeware game that was worth noting was Beneath a Steel Sky, but this game isn't close in comparison to that game, it sure hell is better than a lot of crappy adventure games out there...

So what's so great about the game? Hmm...I dunno, there's a lot of little things I've noticed about the game that really reminded me of the good ol'days of classic adventure game. What's that you ask? I answer= Soul.

And soul it is. I've noticed that in the start of the game...the intro. A beautiful song, and smooth animation with all the right moves, and a deep beautiful poet-like opening story. Ahhh....whoever wrote this has the gift, I thought to myself.

The gameplay is standard, more of a Lucasfilm approach than a Sierra one. Nothing really out of the ordinary about the gameplay.

The story however, although nothing "genius-like" was enough to get you curious enough to continue playing. There is an eerie like atmosphere in the game, and more than once there have been some heart-popping scenes that frightened the beejesus out of me. Since I'm a chicken when it comes to horror and honestly would stay away from it like the plague...the game wasn't horror enough to shut your eyes closed, but enough to keep the eerie mood going. Eventually the when the mystery get's resolved, it was a really great revelation...although the ending needed some work....big time.

One last note. THE MUSIC! Is one of the most beautiful compositions out-there. Since it's a freeware game I don't know if it's actually a "real composition" or just a rip-off from some other composition and turned into midi. But, IF and only IF it's a real composition made by an actual composer....Note to developers=GET THIS GUY A JOB IF YOUR LIFE DEPENDED ON IT! Boy, it was really beautiful music. Can't say it any better. Even if it were a "fake", they really chose a great background music for it.

The Bad
The gameplay itself is pretty mediocre, fortunately there are only a few puzzles to solve "per day", of which will bring the story further with a cutscene...without the cutscenes, it would really get boring.

Last note, the ending was kinda cheezy. With a great intro this game gave, I expected the ending would be a little better. Although the epilogue (plus great music) helped big time to balance the bad stuff...

The Bottom Line
It's free, it's a great game and it'll give you a smile on your face when you finish the game and a warm feeling when you listen to the music. The only thing stopping you from getting this game is your internet connection...:p

I hope there will be more adventure games like this...

The Good
With the last of the DeFoe family dead, the ancestral manor is sealed off from the world while the law determines what should happen to the estate. Tipped off by his fence, Trilby the infamous cat burglar decides to investigate DeFoe Manor and see if there is anything worth taking. Entering a second floor window with the use of grolly, his umbrella-disguised grappling hook, Trilby doesn't find anything of interest. When he leaves, though, he finds the window he entered is sealed shut. Suddenly Trilby hears footsteps in the supposedly deserted manor, footsteps coming closer to the door.

5 Days a Stranger is an adventure game created with the AGS software. The interface hearkens back to the days of SCUMM: controlling a sprite-based character by pointing and clicking on hotspots around a 2D set. Trilby, the player's character, soon learns that he is one of five strangers trapped in the DeFoe Manor. Even though these five individuals found five different ways into the manor, there is no apparent exit. Doors and windows are sealed, a surrounding wall extends deep into the earth, impenetrable terrain makes vaulting over the wall impossible and, needless to say, there is no means of communication with the outside world.

Each stranger has their own theory on what's happening. One person points out that they are obviously on a reality show. Others think that whoever occupies the manor must be lonely. Someone else thinks that the supernatural is afoot. Regardless of the reason behind their imprisonment, the four other strangers have been there for a few days and have taken a "we'll wait for rescue" attitude. This changes when one of them goes missing on Trilby's first night and later turns up dead.

As mentioned above, players control Trilby by clicking on hotspots. Players click on an appropriate verb icon: feet for "walk to", a hand for "use", a word balloon for "talk to", and then click on the appropriate item or person. Trilby also collects inventory which is accessed through right-clicking. In the inventory screen, Trilby can read articles, examine items, or combine them.

DeFoe Manor isn't overwhelming, but there are many rooms to explore and every room has items which can be examined closer. Trilby can converse with his fellow occupants and typically has a decent conversation with them each time he finds them. The occupants are noteworthy for having different personalities: there's a BBC newsreader who was working on a documentary about the DeFoes and is convinced there's a mystery to crack, a local school kid who entered the house on a dare and now hero-worships Trilby, a skittish man who goes by the name of AJ, and a treasure hunter who doesn't see Trilby as an equal, but does see him as competition.

While many accolades have been heaped on 5 Days, and it certainly deserves the awards it won for its use of AGS, in terms of graphics, use of sound, and puzzle design it simply doesn't match what's coming out commercially or match the innovation found in the independent games being released. I'm not taking away from Ben Croshaw's creation, but if you approach this game expecting anything beyond a terrific single-person produced adventure game you'll be disappointed.

Having said that, 5 Days a Stranger is a terrific adventure game. There's really no logical reason for five strangers to be trapped in a house, but once you get them there, you can have a lot of fun with them. On the first night Trilby has a horrific nightmare with a twist that isn't much of a surprise. However, the other inhabitants had the same dream and Croshaw adds another twist which is surprising. There are other dream sequences which punctuate the game and these blend in so well that you forgive the convention because they are so effective. I also appreciated that Croshaw wasn't afraid to be wordy, transmitting important parts of the story through conversation, books, and television broadcasts.

The Bad
Aside from being unable to leave DeFoe Manor, there really doesn’t seem to be any way to survive in it. The only available source of water is a heavily chlorinated pool and the only thing in the kitchen is an ungodly amount of salt. Meanwhile some of the characters have been there well before the game’s five day span. I’m not even sure where they are sleeping; thankfully Trilby has snagged a couch. Back to the absurdity of not being able to leave the manor, it might be a fun side game trying to think of obvious ways to escape.

The game’s main villain is The Welder: a hulking figure wearing a leather apron, a welding mask, and wielding a butcher’s knife. Aside from being an effective villain, you have to wonder where the accessories came from—especially since The Welder’s origin story doesn’t show any metalworking connection. Also, the name seems a bit off—kind of like calling Jason, The Goalie.

The Bottom Line
5 Days a Stranger is a fun adventure game with a spooky atmosphere and a few real jolts. In design, it’s very similar to classic LucasArts or Sierra style adventure games. Clocking in around five hours, it has a respectable length especially since the game itself has a download size of 1 Mb. Is it as good as current commercial ware? No. But Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw shows real talent and makes excellent use of the AGS software. This is definitely worth checking out.

The Good
I’ve always felt that horror in games works best as an adventure game like Clock Tower for example and now 5 Days A Stranger is yet another example of that being true this like the Clock Tower games will actually freak you out and thus ranks as one of the best horror games I have ever played.

The story begins with a cat burglar simply known as Trilby gets a tip from his fence about the Defoe Manor and since the mansion will be empty because the last heir Clarence Defoe and his wife have just been found dead mysteriously, presumably suicide Trilby has decided to loot the place of valuables but when he gets in the house and discovers there is no loot he also finds there is no way to escape and that he is not alone in the mansion. The other people in the mansion are Philip Harty, Simone Taylor, Jim, and someone known only as AJ upon discovering the mansion you learn of the shady past of the mansion and the mystery behind your current imprisonment all taking place over 5 days.

The controls of the game are like a simply point and click, click to move and you have options to look, grab, and talk the puzzles are rather simple usually involving finding a clue in a journal or some other document and combining items to use to help you solve the puzzle the graphics are very good in the sense that he looks like a classic adventure game like Kings Quest, Or Monkey Island and the music is not an original score it was taken from an RPG Maker but it still fit’s the game well.

The Bad
There Really isn’t much to complain about unless you don’t like adventure games and the fact that this game can be completed in one sitting.

The Bottom Line
All in All this game is an excellent example of horror done right and adventure game done right it’s a very solid adventure that goes back to the old days of adventure games and its Free!!!!!!! Well unless you get the Special edition for $5.

The Good
Tribly is a gentleman thief, a master chief when it comes to robberies. Today, he'll search the DeFoe Manor, whose owner just deceased. But he doesn't know that once he'll put a foot into the mansion, he'll never go out of it. He doesn't know that there are four others prisoners: Philip Harty, the treasure hunter, James "Jim" Fowler, a teenager, Simone Taylor, a BBC journalist and A.J., a mysterious man. He doesn't know that something will make the five following days bloody time...

5 Days A Stranger is a free game made with the AGS Engine, released in 2003 and made by Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw, the developer behind the Rob Blanc Trilogy and the Trials of Odysseus Kent. It's also the first "chapter" in the Chzo Mythos Quadrilogy (with 7 Days A Skeptic, Tribly's Notes and 6 Days A Sacrifice). As for the AGS Engine, it's also the engine behind Yahtzee's games but also the Ben Jordan series, Larry Vales or Barn Runner.

The storyline isn't weak, twists are present and well, the history behind DeFoe Manor is also interesting but you can only guess the events when you find Sir Roderick and Matthew Defoe's diaries and there, you can have an idea of what happened between the father, first owner of the manor and his son of fifteen. Fate can be cruel sometimes.

The gameplay wasn't changed by Yahtzee and will be the same for the rest of the quadrilogy except with Tribly's Notes but that's a story for another review. It's a point and click game. Players take control of Tribly and can make him interact with his environment. For making him move, they had just to select the "walk" action and then click on where they want to see him. He can also talk, observe or pick up objects by doing the same scheme: choosing the action and then clicking on the chosen person or object. Tribly can also combine objects in his inventory. For making the menu with icons appear, you have to move your cursor at the bottom of the screen. However, I found one problem during my play.

As for enigmas, they're simple to solve: using common sense is what I advise you to do. Don't forget to observe your environment, you can find the key to your problem by doing so. However, I found two tricky parts that I'll explain later.

Don't read me wrong, it isn't because I found, in my opinion, three negative points that 5 Days A Stranger doesn't have an efficient gameplay. No, it's easy to understand how to control Tribly and you don't have to do some complicated manipulations in order to advance. I'll even say that if you're used to play the AGS games like Ben Jordan for example, you'll be in your shoes.

As you can imagine, AGS Engine isn't the best engine in terms of next-gen graphics. Yes, it's "pixelised", yes, it's an old-school adventure engine but still, the graphics are good. Details are present even if the green wall on the second floor is... disgusting for me. Too much green for my eyes... But still, the engine is well-used. Don't forget that it's an horror game, so, some representations can be shocking... even if I don't find any shocking scene. The game is rated on Abandonia Reloaded as 18+ but for me, it should be 15+, after all, with all the games or the movies much gore than 5 Days A Stranger, I don't see why this little free game can be so shocking, even for 2003.

I wish that the soundtrack was present all the time. It's so good that I wanted to hear it. It's only present during important (and dramatic) sequences. Yet, the absence is contributing to maintain a certain ambiance and the music is announcing something bad that you'll fear what will happen (well fearing isn't really the word if you're used to games like Resident Evil, Doom 3, FEAR or other Dead Space).

The replay value can be high because you want to know all the secrets, if you missed something, like in Simone and Tribly's discussion at the beginning of day five but keep in mind that 5 Days A Stranger lasts no more than 2 hours (more if you're not used to that kind of games, but it can't be more than 3 hours), after all, the days are really short except for the second and third days but it's only for a couple of minutes.

The Bad
As I've said, I've found three little problems in terms of gameplay/enigmas.

It's in the menu appearing at the bottom of the screen that difficulty can be present. Indeed, I've had an hard time to change action. I mean, my cursor was an eye for the looking action and I needed to change for the interacting action or if you prefer, the hand. Well, it wouldn't change. I assure you, I needed to change by the menu/inventory by right-clicking. Fortunately, it wasn't during all the game. But I can say that when it's happening, it's very frustrating. Choosing action via the menu/inventory can be tricky: move your cursor out of the interface and it's gone.

The first flaw for the enigmas is about the pool. If you don't look at it during the second day, you couldn't know that something was in it and that you needed to drain it for closing the day. It would have been nice for players to have Tribly made the comment by a script, as he did when looking to the map and noticing that there was one more room.

The second flaw is the "search a person with one of his possessions". If the concept is great, the problem appear twice because well, you need to do it twice. When you're in the right room, where the corpses are hiding, the problem is that you need to follow the indication of southeast, etc etc. Well, it's hard to locate it. It can be a matter of millimeters. It can be frustrating sometimes.

The Bottom Line
Bottom line is that I wanted to play it since my first Ben Jordan experience in april/may 2008 but never got the courage to download a mythic game in the AGS universe, fearing to be deceived by it and fearing to be so easily killed. Well, it's not the case, so I'm happy to have play it. Little did I know that it will Tribly's Notes that will deceived me by its gameplay. That's another story though. Anyway, 5 Days A Stranger is a game that you have to download because of its quality, its storyline and its soundtrack.

Enter DeFoe Manor for a bloody trip... if you aren't afraid of it.

The Good
I could ramble on about it for quite some time. The graphics are not groundbreaking, but quite nice. The setting reminded me more than a bit of "Maniac Mansion", to which it can be compared with some justice: "5 Days a Stranger" may not be as rich or imaginative, but it wins by miles in the atmosphere department.

The characters. Trilby is the kind of character I would have wanted to marry when I was younger. His witty remarks and unshakeable style are high points of the game. The other characters are more or less well-developed, certainly no one-adjective stereotypes, but even so they pale slightly next to Trilby. The dialogue is generally good to very good.

The greatest kudos, however, goes to the atmosphere. To bring up "Maniac Mansion" again, there is a similar finely-balanced mixture of humour and horror in both games. However, "Maniac Mansion" (in my opinion) is a comedy game with horror/science fiction elements; "5 Days a Stranger" is a horror game with some humour. I am not going to call it comic relief, because most of the time, the acerbic wit actually serves to sharpen the sense of fear. There are some scenes (notably when Trilby is locked in the shed) where comedy and horror seem to weld together into a fragile, but very sharp, edge. I really didn't know whether to laugh or feel sick. I intend this as high praise. The whodunit plot kept me at the edge of my seat, whatever my problems with the backstory (see below). I swear I was hardly up to going upstairs in the dark afterwards.

The music is not an original work, but it is well used, and the sound effects are quite good.

I must also mention the excellent ending sequence.

The Bad
Some niggles: it's very short, puzzles are nothing special, it can be hard to figure out what to do next, objects turn up in rooms when the plot demands them. That's out of the way. My main problem is with the plot, meaning some spoilers.

I enjoyed the "possessed killer" part of the plot, and liked the idea of the house that lets no-one out. However, the backstory of the DeFoe family felt strangely hackneyed for an otherwise inventive game. I guess no-one but me is to blame for the fact that "Anchorhead", my favourite text adventure (1997, if I remember correctly) also features a mansion vacated by a madman who shot himself and his family, as well as a hideous backstory involving a freak twin brother. It's not as if the plot was original back then.

Unoriginality aside, some parts of the plot didn't seem to connect. I'm not quite sure what the idol had to do with the ghost - OK, that might have been me missing some text. But what the heck was with Trilby's car?

The Bottom Line
While "5 Days a Stranger" is not perfect, its strengths well outweigh its flaws. With a charmingly sarcastic (anti-)hero, a throat-clenching plot, and atmosphere like few other games, it should be solidly recommended. The golden age of adventure games never ended.

The Good
Well, it's crappy and short, but it does have a heart. There is a sincere attempt to surprise and entertain the player despite the technical limitations.

The sound effects work fine for me and if you are not picky you might consider the graphics to be just adequate. The pacing of the story is kind of engaging, I was hooked and also, to my surprise, a little shocked (the dream sequences worked very well, I was impressed). The characters have enough presence to make you care about their roles and agendas. There is also enough humour that fits with the tone of the game.

The Bad
It's too short. It can be way too easy. The possibilities of exploration are little. The big secret of the manor is as trite as it is predictable. The graphics are crappy and with little attention to marginal details. And, it's also terribly overrated.

The Bottom Line
Overrated independent adventure game with a heart.

The Good
The story (and how it ties in with the other games in the series), the horrifying atmosphere, the puzzles are hard but not nonsensical, the main character is quite a chap

The Bad
The graphics are below par of course (this being an indie title) and the game length is a tad short (short and sweet though)

The Bottom Line
The Trilby Trilogy is a freeware adventure game designed by Ben Crosshaw. The first chapter pits you in a mansion, where you are faced with the mansion's dark and gruesome past which unfolds and replays in front of you, taking one victim after another, always being hot on your own heels.

The game can be quiet creepy, considering the relatively "low" (by no means bad) graphic standards (think classic Lucasarts). The game is not very long and not ultimately hard, simply because the scope is not too big and you will never have too many options in terms of where to go or what items to use anyway. The story is a big payoff however and (in case you are interested) ties in very nicely with the other titles in the series.