7NK: The Seven Noble Kinsmen - A Shakespearean Murder Mystery

7NK is a point and click murder mystery adventure game set inside an eerie, dimly lit theatre.

You play The Critic whose bad review caused Christopher Morton's stage play to flop dismally. Now five years later, you are invited by Morton, along with the seven members of the play's original cast, to his secret theatre called The Knell on an island in Scotland. None of you know why Morton requested your presence, and none of the cast members acts particularly pleased to be there. Of course, no one has a clue that a murder (or murders) is about to happen, except the person committing the crime of course.

The game is divided into 6 Acts which were originally released as weekly episodes. The objective in each Act is to find the original script pages and finish the tasks given in them. Within the script are blank sections which must be filled in with the help of books or other reference material and clues you will locate.

Click through the introduction and read the back story before the interactive portions begin. You are given a PDA which contains your diary, hints, information about the suspects and a map of the theatre. Typically, all of the players are possible victims and suspects so you will need to talk to each one of them multiple times.

You can interact with the environment, click on wall art and sparkling "hot spots", plus use inventory items to solve puzzles. Puzzles come in various forms and include some mini-games (a game of concentration, for instance). All must be found and solved to reveal an important item or clue.

Although all of the characters are still and without voices, there are animations and sounds of other kinds, especially as the "plot thickens". Cut scenes, sound effects, noises and music add to the immersion factor.

To play the game you must register with a user name and password (no email address is requested during sign-up). This makes it possible to have your progress saved as you finish each Act.