Elsinore

Elsinore (2019) is a mystery-adventure set in Shakespeare's Hamlet. You play Elsinore who repeats the same four days as she tries to find a way to avoid the tragedy that lies before her.

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You move around by clicking with the mouse and talk with different characters by choosing dialogue options. These simple interactions play into a complex living world where the story plays out around you in real-time. The challenge is to make interventions to change the course of its outcome. Lie, forgive, gossip, befriend, or destroy — the actions you can take at any stage are numerous, and the game immediately responds.

This is made all the more real because each character manages their own lives, schedules, needs, desires, and plans over the course of each time loop. Even the smallest interaction has an impact on the world around you as it unfolds.

What starts as a bewildering array of options slowly coalesces into plans over the course of each loop. Each time through you have more information gleam from previous plays and more options for intervention.

The game is engaging and intriguing but also requires considerable patience and planning. Meticulously crossing points off in your journal, learning more information, and trying to see how events could overlap takes time. You can spend an entire timeline loop pursuing a single character to learn how to subvert their actions. Some will find this exhausting, but for those who love a riddle to solve, Elsinore is a treat.

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Our examiner, Andy Robertson, first checked Elsinore 3 years ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 2 years ago.