Ceci est une ancienne révision du document !
Website: https://www.gog.com/en/game/book_of_hours Price: 14.99 (GOG) Blurb: “HOUSE OF LIGHT is a story-focused expansion for occult library management sim and narrative crafting RPG BOOK OF HOURS. Europe, 1937. The War in the World is coming, and worse yet, the War in the Sun. In this gathering gloom, the notables of the occult underworld consider new weapons; new alliances; new paths. Who can they turn to for help, if not the Librarian of Hush House? Explore visitors and their stories in much greater depth. Host exotic feasts and sophisticated soirées. And in your own quiet way, shape the genesis of the controversial Lighthouse Institute.“ What is it? (TL;DR) An elegant, melancholy, combat-free, RPG set in an occult library, from the creator of Fallen London and Sunless Sea. Enjoy the sweet peace of organising books and customising your new home, all while peeling centuries of history from the occult stones about you.
Note: Fallen London and Sunless sea fall under “Failbetter games” and this series falls under “Weather Factory”, it seems that that Alexis Kennedy left Failbetter and they have not come up with anything new since he left. I don’t keep up to date on industry news, I let the games speak for themselves. We have looked at one of the games in this series before, Cultist Simulator, however, this is the 2025 August edition, with House of Light (HOL) dlc. This set included the base game, the house of light dlc, and the perpetual edition dlc, as well as wallpapers and an OST. So let’s start there, the “wallpapers” are bad. There I said it. They remind me of mid nineties computer art by teenagers and the rest are just screen-shots. Honestly, nothing I’d put on my desktop, but then, in contrast, there is the OST. It hints of ‘American Beauty’ soundtrack and French choirboys. Some would describe it as serene or calming. There are twenty five tracks with high quality and .mp3-files.
Installation The GOG installer took a bit longer than usual, but the dlc, installed in a second, each. Once installed you can go ahead and launch the game as usual. *Whenever I hear “hush house”, that is mentioned in the game, my mind immediately goes to “blown house”. (If you know, you know.) If you don’t know Brian Lumley or Titus Crow, where have you been? The other reason I bring this up, is because this series is crying for some of it! Graphics Alexis Kennedy (https://www.alexiskennedy.co.uk/) has found a way to turn a board game, into a computer game and keep it interesting. I had to lead with that as you need to understand where I’m coming from. So when I say the graphics are serviceable, I mean it. Since the game is ‘all about that puzzle’, the graphics don’t need to be sweet, but I’d still wager that if they were sweeter, the game would be more popular. While the graphics are “better” than Cultist Simulator, it still begs for more. This “seems” to be addressed in their upcoming game, Travelling At Night, but that is not released yet and so far it seems like they are going with “more is better” instead of moving out of 1999-style PC graphics.
Sound There is not much to say here, other than the OST is what plays during the game and it fits well. You can play the soundtrack outside of the game and not have to scratch your head, unlike the last game I looked at, but it’s not “listening music” if you know what I mean. I *can listen to it and I *have listened to it, solo, but I probably won’t do it again. Within the game it fits with the setting and (for me at least) *belongs in the game as it enhances the game.
Gameplay Undoubtedly, this guy knows what he is doing. Book of hours and now house of light, is a very unusual, touching on the esoteric and (maybe) even The Black Circus, but it has a solid gameplay loop. Since we did not review the base game, this dlc just adds more content. More books, more stories, you get the idea. The gameplay is leisurely, but you can now invite guests and the like. While I don’t want to give anything away, as the game is about exploration and investigation, I’d probably mess it up for you if I tried, as the game breaks with so many norms when it comes to computer gaming. I’ll lump some story in here, to sort-of explain. There is this town that has a great manor house, that is a repository of books, like you would see at a public library. I suppose one could say it was a private library. (but also not) You are taking care of this huge mansion. Like the mansion, the town is also explorable. In the mansion, you need to move from room to room, “tidying up”, but the rooms are not accessible until you solve the mystery. The game is meant to be played in your head, (even the character you play does not do concrete things like attack or defend, but ‘considers’ things) and it is better if you *do live yourself into the lore, (the reason why graphics would not be important) but the lore is fed to you in tiny pieces and *you do the world building, based off that. This is how the game sucks you in…and man…does it do it so well. So, like many games, you start as a shipwrecked survivor with amnesia. (a trope?) The game uses cards to represent your thoughts and actions and the “currency” you need to spend, to perform an action, is similar to Cultist Simulator, with esoteric, astrology-based hocus; cups and hearts and grail etc. It sort of reminds me of how you ‘tap’ lands in Magic the Gathering? (I’ve never played, someone tried to explain it to me once.)
Requirements: OS: Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 24.04 (these are the standard Unity Player requirements; other distros may work; we test on Mint Cinnamon) Processor: 2GHz or better, x64 architecture with SSE2 instruction set support. Memory: 1 GB RAM Graphics: 4GB VRAM, 1600×1024 minimum resolution, OpenGL 3.2+, post-2012 integrated graphics Storage: 5 GB available space (My installation, including the DLC took up 2.7GB of space.) What does the dlc bring to the table?
SOCIAL EVENTS Host influential dinner parties in the crumbling splendour of Hush House. Choose a location that suits you - the Hall of Division, the Chapter House, or the Physic Garden, perhaps? - and send out invitations. Become tastemaker of the occult demimonde, or curate an exclusive society of only the most select adepts. Get to know the great and the good, encourage discussion around the table, and observe the chemistry - or animus - between your guests. You'll need food, drink, ambience and timing, but a successful soirée will influence the world in subtle ways, sending ripples far beyond your walls.
COOKING Your guests will grow hungry, and it's up to you to cater to their interesting palates. Bake Sea-Pie and pair it with your vintage of choice. Perfect your Kedgeree. Serve Deep-Sweetened Assam and Poires Belle Hélène, dabble in Mushroom Meringue or jug innocent pheasants. Dive into the dangerous world of 1930s European recipes and influence your attendees with your choice of spices, sweetmeats and dainties.
ADVANCED VISITOR STORIES You've dabbled in the Affair of the Oriflamme Heist. You've guessed what lies in the Messenger's Casket. Now help your Visitors delve deeper. Encourage alliances between strangers, or convince an ally to help you stymie a foe. Using an innovative new system, influence the wider world with in-depth Visitor stories and see the results between the branches of the Wisdom Tree. Where now does the dappled rose flourish? What did Zuthi hear at the Roost? What is the deeper connection between Rowena, Yvette, and Ys? Once you've met someone, you'll also be able to add them to your address book and invite them to Hush House to pursue their business at a time of your choosing. When the Librarian calls, the invisible world listens.
THE LIGHTHOUSE INSTITUTE You've wined, dined and appraised your chosen guests - now decide who might be the worthiest founders of the Lighthouse Institute. Who should be Treasurer? Who might suit Secretary Vigilant? Does your group all share the same agenda, or does one founder sympathise with the Chandler, while another fears his coming Dawn? Your selection will found the influential Lighthouse Institute and set its course through the world. So take your time, and choose wisely.
Conclusion This is much more of a “cozy” game than Cultist Simulator and leans very much less on underlying Cthulhu-type mythos, than Cultist Simulator, but the gameplay loop is similar and that 1930’s esoterica permeates the story. While I was looking forward to a Brian Lumley-esque story, the game went in another direction, creating its own personality. Since the dlc just adds more of the game, I’d say, get it, if you enjoyed any of the other games from the Weather Factory. The price is on the border of being too steep if you were to get it on another digital platform, where you don’t get a game to download and keep, like GOG.