The Hound of Shadow

The Hound of Shadow is an illustrated interactive fiction game created by British studio Eldritch Games and published by Electronic Arts in 1989. Loosely based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft, the game is set in London during the 1920s. You begin as a friend takes you to a seance to debunk the medium. Although clearly a fake, the medium is suddenly possessed and warns that the person sitting next to you bears the mark of the Hound of Shadow. You must investigate what this means before it is too late, researching history and lore in musty bookstores and the London Library to gather information about the curse. The game features a complex character creation system where you choose gender, economic class, occupation, age, skills, and nationality. These choices influence gameplay—a woman will be refused service in a pub in keeping with 1920s English alcohol laws.

DOS

Released in 1989 as one of the original platforms, the DOS version features full-screen illustrations accompanying the text parser interface. The game was planned as the first entry in a series called the Timeline series, though this series never materialized. The DOS port includes the complex RPG-inspired skill system with points to distribute across abilities like fencing, climbing, and linguistics. The game is known for its punishing difficulty—it will erase all saved games when your character dies, and features many timed puzzles that require careful planning. Psychic seances, horrific encounters, and troubling nightmares abound as you race against time, with the Hound inevitably claiming you if you fail to uncover the truth.