The Excavation of Hob's Barrow is a beautifully eerie point-and-click adventure set in Victorian England. With its evocative pixel-art graphics and atmospheric folk horror storytelling, the game draws players into a mystery steeped in English folklore. The protagonist, Thomasina Bateman, faces unsettling villagers, cryptic dreams and mysterious events as she unravels secrets surrounding the barrow.

The game's traditional puzzle mechanics are balanced by an engaging narrative, rich character development, and an immersive, chilling atmosphere. It's a must-play for fans of narrative-driven, dark adventures.

My friend who I play Counter Strike 2 with said if I post a review on this game and it gets 5000 likes and 5000 Awards that he will buy me a RTX 3080 and 2 Kilos of The lamb ham. So I'm just gonna leave this here Help a brotha ~

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The Excavation of Hob's Barrow is a point & click adventure with a compelling, spooky story.


You are a young antiquarian who digs up grave mounds, or barrows, all over England. You got invited to excavate one called Hob's Barrow in the small village of Bewlay, but when you arrive, your contact is nowhere to be found, your assistant leaves you hanging, and the villagers are all a bit peculiar. And why does no one want to tell you where Hob's Barrow is?


The first two thirds of TEoHB is very narrative-driven, with few puzzles in-between. You mainly have to figure out who to speak to and where to go to next but the story is gripping, the characters you meet are interesting, and you get a map that lets you jump from location to location, which keeps it engaging. Some interactions with the villagers give you a choice how to react or what to say, which adds even a bit of role-playing to the story.
TEoHB has no voice overs, so there is a lot of (well-written) dialogue to read. If that is not your thing, TEoHB is probably not for you.

The last third then has markedly more puzzles that are a lot of fun to solve.

I enjoyed playing TEoHB very much - until the very end. It's not even a bad ending, it is very fitting.

Very mild spoiler ahead (no story spoiler):
The problem is that there is only one ending.
This would be less problematic if the developers hadn't given us choices throughout the rest of the game. In the last part, though, when you would expect to have a choice, where there should be a choice, you are pushed along on rails towards an inevitable ending.

It left me feeling disappointed, which is a shame because it is a flaw in an otherwise very good game.

Well voice-acted and written little game, with nice pixel art graphics. Can recommend!

Excellent adventure game with beautiful art and great puzzles. They had me scratching my head a few times but were simple enough not to need a guide (Well, just the one time). The atmosphere felt tense and unsettling throughout with a folk-ish horror story. Many times it had me wanting the protagonist to just get the hell out of there, but why you never got the option despite everything, was clear enough too. There was simply no turning back for her. From the start it was obvious this one wasn't going to have a happy ending.

Beautiful art style, fair puzzles, exciting story.

fantastic game. cant wait for what they do next

It's an OK game. Manages to stay suspenseful and mysterious throughout, though the ending left much to be desired.
The puzzles aren't overly complicated and I didn't find myself having to look up walkthroughs until the very end of the game as puzzles got quite obtuse.
The voice acting is pretty good, graphics aren't bad and the detailed close-ups for some scenes definitely heightened the unsettling tone. The soundtrack is simple but compliments the game well.

MINOR SPOILER FOR ENDING: So you can really only get what I would consider a "bad ending" for this game, despite build-up for an alternate narrative. It would have been nice to see if the choices you made during the game or perhaps a couple extra puzzles solved/items found could have provided an alternate ending. I understand media doesn't always need a happy ending, but the ending makes the journey feel pointless. ESPECIALLY since a character tells you something very peculiar RIGHT before you go through the final day. It should leave room for doubt for your character, but she never seems to feel that during the excavation.

It's not too long, can be completed for achievements in 1-2 playthroughs though I'd recommend using an achievement guide if you don't want to miss any during each chapter. Dialogue choices don't seem to matter except for certain achievements. Overall 6.5/10.

Very nice! I enjoyed this game quite a bit. You got puzzle, you got story, and you got both done well. Highly reccommend

Well Written and interesting Narrative game. WIth Lovecraftian Dread, It is what you would expect. Ultimatly was not my favorite ending but still great overall.