Gray Matter

aka: Gray Matter: Dread Hill House, Gray Matter: What if REALITY was just an ILLUSION?, Project Jane-J
Moby ID: 49129
Windows Specs
Buy on Windows
$9.99 new on Steam
Special Edition

Description official descriptions

More than ten years after the release of her last full-scale adventure game (GK3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned, 1999), Jane Jensen returns to the scene after a decade of casual games under her belt, this time with Gray Matter, a science fiction, horror-thriller in the form of a classic third person, point and click, 2D/3D adventure game.

The player assumes the role of two different characters. One is an itinerant street magician and student Samantha Everett, who hails from America and is currently in the United Kingdom. The second is her somewhat reluctant employer Dr. David Styles, a recently widowed Oxford neurobiology researcher who conducts experiments relating to the power and potential of the human mind. Sam will have to utilize her special skills involving sleight of hand in order to help the reclusive David. Among other things, he needs help recruiting several students from the nearby Oxford campus to participate in the experiments, not an easy task considering the notoriety of Dr. Styles and his home estate of Dread Hill House. While there Sam is also on the lookout for a clandestine magician's club into which she wishes to gain admittance.

Graphics are a combination of 2D and 3D, with the backgrounds being pre-rendered 2D and characters being 3D. In addition to run-of-the-mill inventory puzzles, the two playable characters' areas of expertise (Sam's magic tricks and David's scientific research) are fully integrated into the gameplay and interface of Gray Matter, enabling the player to solve the various puzzles and get over obstacles scattered throughout. A game progression system is implemented, allowing gamers to keep track of the events and tasks of each of the eight chapters.

Spellings

  • Grey Matter: Призраки Подсознания - Russian spelling

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Credits (Windows version)

247 People (222 developers, 25 thanks) · View all

Development Director
Producer
Marketing Director
Product Managers
International Marketing Coordinator
Marketing Coordinator
Senior PR Manager
Community & Content Manager
Senior Marketing Manager
Art Director Packaging and Manual
Graphic Design Packaging and Manual
Localisation
QA Manager
QA Resource Manager
Lead Tester
Testers
[ full credits ]

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Average score: 79% (based on 39 ratings)

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Average score: 4.2 out of 5 (based on 48 ratings with 0 reviews)

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Trivia

Development history

The game was originally planned to be released in 2004 by publisher The Adventure Company and developed by Jane Jensen's cofounded company Odyssey Digital Entertainment, Production of the game stalled over fears that big budget adventure games were no longer financially viable. The game was later picked up by dtp entertainment AG's publishing label ANACONDA in 2006 for a slated late 2007/early 2008 release. The game was to be developed by Tonuzaba Entertainment at first but then development moved over to Wizarbox, most likely because dtp wanted a more experienced adventure game development team on such a high profile release. This developer switch further delayed the game for a new planned release for sometime in 2009, with the game ultimately releasing in late 2010.

Further reading

In her introduction found in the game manual, designer Jane Jensen recommends the following works for further exploring Gray Matter's subject matter: * The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (Oliver Sacks) * Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind (V.S. Ramachandran and Sandra Blakeslee) * The Conscious Universe: The Scientific Truth of Psychic Phenomena (Dean Radin)

Sequel

Gray Matter 2 was an option from Jane Jensens Pinkerton Road Kickstarter campaign for a new Jane Jensen game (there were 3 options from which the backers could choose). However, the backers voted for the game Moebius instead. This also revealed what the game was to be about, The plot was going to be about David Styles and Samantha investigating the death of a young student with magical abilities.

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  • MobyGames ID: 49129
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Tal Cohen.

Additional contributors: Jeanne, Alaka, Klaster_1, Cantillon, Evgenii Andzhe, Azif Kylander.

Game added November 23, 2010. Last modified January 5, 2024.