I think trying to view The Charnel House Trilogy as, well, a trilogy, is what made it the most difficult to fully comprehend. Though it’s split into three acts, each piece of The Charnel House is neither its own self-contained experience, nor a strictly sequential collection of three distinct stories. Each act may feature the same characters to tie them together, but it’s the subtle thematic elements that ultimately connect them meaningfully, requiring each part exist on its own so as to allow a better appreciation of the whole.

Everything begins with “Inhale”, the first and weakest episode but the one which serves to divert your expectations of what The Charnel House is before moving on to the main course. It’s the shortest episode and the one most grounded in reality. Alex Davenport is preparing to leave her apartment after a nasty breakup has left her life in a rather unpleasant place, too connected to her current residence to allow her to stay there any longer.

“Inhale” feels important because its tone is so drastically different from the acts which follow. There’s a lot of references to video games and gaming culture, at times being a little too self indulgent and making it hard to buy into Alex’s character when she’s constantly cracking jokes that tend to fall flat. This isn’t what The Charnel House is though, and why I feel it doesn’t largely detract from what follows. We’re introduced to the lead characters in a way that’s a little eerily unnatural. It gives the impression something is off about all of this without ever actually showing it, which left me unprepared for the horrific turn the next two acts would take.

“Sepulchre”, which was actually originally released on its own years ago, takes us away from Alex for some time to introduce us to Doctor Harold Lang and possibly the most important character in the game: the train our characters find themselves mutually travelling on. It’s an inexplicably empty locomotive for what is ostensibly a regularly used passenger train, and those who are present seem all too calm and deflective when asked where exactly the other passengers are.

“Sepulchre” is horror that is constantly trying to reassure you and tell you it’s not. Character interactions become odder and odder, hinting at histories neither you nor your character fully understands, as they continue to try to believe it’s all a bizarre dream. The act got under my skin the more time I spent trying to make sense of it all. Very little is ever shown, but it’s what’s included, and how increasingly distressing that becomes which truly terrifies. It’s probably the only episode which could effectively be taken on its own, but in the greater context of The Charnel House it acts better as a foreshadowing of what’s to come.

The final act, “Exhale”, is when the pieces are aligned and The Charnel House stops playing with supernatural horrors in exchange for the far more alarming terrors of reality. We meet Alex again, now on the same train as Lang, but in a wholly different environment of her own making. “Exhale” is more terrifying than either previous episode, and it’s do to its horror being a product of the world we live in.

The monsters here aren’t demonic abominations, but twisted, disturbing people whose delusions are unsettlingly real. The Charnel House never presumes to be more clever than it is, but that only makes the plain evil and panic expressed by its characters that much more affecting. It struck a nerve with me the way no paranormal entity could, each line feeling like a raw plea for help when nobody is listening.

Indeed it’s how relaxed everyone but Alex stays that hit home the most, mirroring the dismissive ignorance so often shown by people when someone tries to tell them something horrible is happening. Empty condolences are made, blind eyes are turned, and it’s not until Alex’s life is threatened that anyone seems to understand exactly the extent of what is happening. It’s a kind of intensely grounded psychological horror that I find most chilling, because it’s something you don’t want to believe is real even though you know it could be.

I didn’t know what The Charnel House Trilogy was going to be when I started it up. I assumed it would be narrative focused, perhaps in a traditional adventure game format, with a cast of familiar (and surprisingly competent) voice actors. What I got was a somewhat uneven, but ultimately remarkable horror story that seems to be only starting. Part of me is saddened by the current lack of resolution to many of the arcs began here, but more than that I’m excited with where this could go from here, having surprised me as much as it did.

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"...and man looked down upon the earth, and the earth crawled up to meet him." - Louis Cassell

My, my! Wasn't this an astonishing experience? When I decided to give this one a go, I wasn't expecting neither that much spiritual depth, nor such qualitative narrative. The Charnel House Trilogy - one game with separate acts, actually - is an incredibly well arranged psychological horror adventure.

I'd try to give you the baseline for the story, but the events, the characters that they are surrounding and their in-depth meanings are completely dependent on a perspective, and it is near impossible to define any character that we encounter within the game without pure speculation. Charnel House is what you get from Charnel House. Thus, I'll only present you some facts.

You begin the game as playing Alex Davenport, a young woman who is trying to recover from a bad break up. For some reason, she decides to go on a long train journey, in hopes of reaching the Island of Augur Peak at the end. During this odd journey, she encounters an odd British gentleman, Dr. Harold Lang, who is the curator of a museum and visiting the same island for an archeological expedition. The only seeming bond between them, is their lonely destination, and a series of uncanny encounters they shall endure during their journey.

The Charnel House Trilogy consists of three separate acts, as if taken from carefully planned scenes from a theatrical performance: Inhale, Sepulchre and Exhale. Inhale is tied to reality, with a bitter taste of past experience. It feels old, dysfunctional and hurt. Sepulchre is the sublime passage between the real and that shadow on the corner of your eye, descending into the very Heart of Darkness, the horror itself. Exhale is the triumphant delusion, breaking the barrier between the reality that we coddle ourselves with and the cruel fact that logic doesn't work anymore. It is weaved with pure manifestation of raw emotions, raising more questions than it answers.

Three acts come together to compose an elaborate setting of carefully chosen subliminal details. The story is full of literary references, thrilling anecdotes, grave yet elegant symbolisms and interrelated details that will give a shiver down your spine when you realize their relevance. Don't expect your common jump horror. The art of absurd is the game's primary weapon against your psyche. This is a great psychological thriller.

The gameplay is no different than your casual adventure. There are some very minor puzzles, but nothing that would hinder your progress. As long as you keep exploring, the story reveals itself. Graphics are nothing extraordinary, nearly same as Blackwell series themselves, familiar and simple. Encountering something this eerie in this basic environment is probably down right uncanny compared to facing a grotesque enemy in full HD. When you finish the game, you cannot keep yourself from repeating exchanged dialogues in your head, trying to decipher hidden meanings.

If you've come to like the game, I'll suggest reading Ashton Raze's - the writer of The Charnel House Trilogy - Bright Lights and Glass Houses, which is a novel that reveals some more information about the game's characters. I also recommend playing the game twice for the patient, just to watch events unfold in day light. I'll be anticipating the sequel until it comes in 2016!

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The Charnel House Trilogy is a game I had my eye on for a while, recently I played through all three games and here is my opinion on them all.

The Charnel House Trilogy is a collection of three games: Inhale, Sepulchre and Exhale. In Inhale we play as Alex Davenport and we try to find our ticket for a train heading to Auger Peak. In Sepulchre we play as Doctor Lang, a man also heading to the same island and with him we explore the train and then in Exhale we again play as Alex who also has to explore the mysterious train.

The Charnel House is a weird title and I will try to explain it the best I can. The game is more or less story driven, so don't expect that many puzzles and when you do get a puzzle now and then, they are so simple to solve you shouldn't even break a sweat. I wish the puzzles were a bit more complex are had some layer of difficulty, but I found myself breezing through the entire game without even having to stop and think on what I'm supposed to do.

The graphics are great and shows that if you want to make a great pixel adventure game, the adventure game engine is the way to do it.

The soundtrack is also really good, It helps build mood and tension and also brings out atmosphere in some of the darker moments in the game.

The voice acting is also really good. Everyone does a great job including Jim ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ sterling son who portrays his character in a very creepy manor. If Jim is reading this (which of course he isn't) he should do more voice work in the future.

The game however has a few negatives.

The story has a very rough start. The first chapter is so slow I thought to myself that this game will bore me to death and I've heard so much good stuff about it. But once the ♥♥♥♥ starts hitting the fan it get's really good, not to mention the final bit is really disturbing in it's own way.

The puzzles as mentioned previously are way too easy and I wish they could have come up with a better way to do them, but even then some of the puzzles are very fun to do.

The game is not filled with jumpscares, so if you're wondering about that you don't have to worry, you are safe from jumpscares, but you're not safe from disturbing voice acting by Jim Sterling and disturbing material.

Overall I can safely say The Charnel House Trilogy is a great game and definitely worth your time. The game is spooky good time and if you like adventure games or horror in general I highly recommend picking this gem up.

Final Rating:
8.5/10 - Great

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I can not actually recommend this title for players looking for a deep, point & click, atmospheric game. It isn't a terrible experience, and I really liked the beginning of the game, but there are some points which seem misleading from the get go. The store page advertizes this as "Three thrilling, horrifying adventure games in one" and that is just not true. Not only is this not three adventures, it doesn't even feel like ONE whole and complete adventure.

This title contains three short scenes, which are loosely related and leave an open-ended interpretation of what actually has occured during the course of the story presented. The first scene is excellently narrated, introduces the main character and piques the player's interest and, although very short, draws the player into the world. The second scene is a bit surreal, does not exactly correlate to the first scene, but does still allude to it, and brings a bit of a psychological teasing to the narrative. The third and longest scene is best described as "meh" and kind of diffuses the interest that was piqued in the first and second scenes with a haphazardly thrown out, cliched type of story. And the very end of the game is an allusion to that fact that another game may come in the future which will bring the player back to learn more of what may or may not have happened in the course of this game.

And "game" is used in the loosest sense of the word here. There is hardly any game at all. This is more of a psychological experience where the story is narrated (with some excellent voice acting for the most part) and the player is allowed to click on a few icons for added description while the story unfolds itself.

I actually enjoyed most of this title, but as this is being billed as multiple point&click adventures rolled into one, I think that many people who are going to purchase this title are going to end up with something that they feel disappointed with when they have finished. Also the rushed and unfinished story that the third scene leaves the player with just doesn't lead to a satisfied feeling upon completion. I am 100% for a psychologically baffling story that people can have long dialogues about long after they are over, but more of the picture should have been presented at the ending rather than forcing people to purchase a different game at a different time to get the satisfaction that completing a game should give. And for these reasons, I would not recommend this title to fans of the point & click genre.

Charnel House Trilogy opens to a title screen with a picture of three stacked books lit by soft lantern light while haunting classical-esque piano music plays. Any one of the three books can be clicked on to step into that part of the tale. Fans of recent years’ point-and-click releases can anticipate sinking into the comforting familiarity of the handiwork and voicework of genre names such as Abe Goldfarb, Ben Chandler, Ivan Ulyanov, and more.

The game is broken into three ‘books’: Inhale, Sepulchre, and Exhale. I’m assuming this is why the word ‘trilogy’ was included in the game’s title, although to me the short length makes calling it a trilogy a bit of a misnomer. Also, from a theming standpoint, it would have been more clever to give Sepulchre a breathing-related title.

The main character for Inhale and Exhale is Alex Davenport. Since the player spends a lot more game time with Alex, it’s not surprising that you learn more about her. She’s a gamer and a reader going through a recent breakup. The main character for Sepulchre is Harold Lang. He’s a professor of archaeology and a museum curator. It’s hard to get as much of a sense of his character since the player doesn’t spend as much time with him. Alex and Harold only have a brief interaction in game, although they are somehow mutually connected by Kat, Alex’s friend and Harold’s field assistant. Both of them are travelling to meet her. There’s also a cast of supporting characters such as Don (the train conductor), Rob (Alex’s neighbor), and Lydia (a little girl who is also on the train). Considering how quickly the game moves, it’s a testament to the game’s design that you learn as much about the characters as you do in such a short amount of time.

Charnel House Trilogy tries to explore lots of themes: archaeology, earth, death, worms. However, I don’t even think that you can call the game anticlimactic because it never builds up enough excitement to be a disappointing letdown. If it does build up anything, it’s loose ends. For example, what is the use of the green balloon? Was that meant to be used in the alternate endings that didn’t come to fruition? As it is, the single ending lacks closure and seems to imply that it isn’t the correct ending since multiple characters literally say it wasn’t supposed to happen this way.

The credits end with the statement, “Augur Peak will rise 2016.” Considering it’s now 2020, the developer website has many dead links, and I couldn’t find any whisper of news about the sequel, its imminent arrival does not seem promising. If it ever does get released, I will totally play it, but as it is, the fact that Charnel House Trilogy spends so much time building up for a non-existent sequel weakens the game.

The game has fairly standard retro pixel art and point-and-click mechanics for the genre. From what I saw, the game developers don’t seem to have tried anything innovative in terms of gameplay or anything interesting in terms of color theory, etc. The best that can be said for the puzzles is that they make sense in the story’s context. For example, the character had a good reason for needing to find something to trigger the memory of a forgotten password. The game even attempts to poke fun at the tendency of this genre to create overly elaborate solutions for puzzles. However, the joke falls short since there aren’t really any puzzles that you have to mentally wrestle to solve. Sometimes the next step is outright told to the player character, and even when it isn’t, there’s a miniscule set of options to try. Maybe to an inexperienced point-and-click player the puzzles would be more challenging.

It’s always a plus when there are missable achievements because it does add some replay value. In this case, however, even the achievements lack a certain verve.

At $5.99 USD and 2 hours playtime, Charnel House Trilogy technically meets my movie ticket rule of having enough content to be the length of a movie for a movie ticket price. That said, compared to other similarly priced games in the genre that offer more complete story arcs and more challenging puzzles to solve, it may be better to wait for a sale.

Despite the delightful presence and involvement of point-and-click genre greats, Charnel House Trilogy suffers from being overly familiar, lacking innovation, and being a set-up to, at the moment, nothing. That said, it’s a worthwhile game to scratch the point-and-click itch if picked up on sale. Happy gaming!

It is a very careful recommendation.
Not a bad game but it is very short and more like a visual novel than a game. Point-and-click part is very easy and, with story being linear, it is basically 'use that on that in an obvious way'. Disturbing mood is nice and some situations are sincerely unnerving (but I'm scared easily). VA is ok, some voices are more ok than others, some are less; maybe people need more practice. Visuals are acceptable. Music is good for each situation: no blazing trumpets on suspence scenes.

The word 'trilogy' in a name of the game may give an impression that there are three games, but in fact there are just three scenes/episodes, first of which is very short.

But I can't say I didn't enjoy the game. Could really go without video-games references in 'Inhale', though. And with less cliffhanger at the end. While Alex story kind of ended up soundly, Kat's story and Lang's story (and writer's story and maybe Gloria's story) are all unresolved.

Don't regret buying it and hoping for continuation(s), but it might be not your cup of tea if you like more of point-and-click puzzles, Lucas Arts or Sierra-style, and longer length.

What saddens me is whenever I discover a good game with great potential, I realize it has an unfinished story. The Charnel House is a trilogy, and don't get me wrong, the whole trilogy has been released, and you can play it once you purchase it. However, you'll only play three linear chapters, which sets you up for a game that was supposed to be released in 2016. You'll play with two different characters, Alex and Dr. Lang, who you'll meet both in the first chapter, then they'll have their exclusive chapter, which will give us a glimpse into their life. The story starts with a young woman, Alex, who is prepared to leave her life behind and travel somewhere else. At the train station, she met Dr. Lang, and they were both hidden at the same destination. Little did they know that this train had hidden so many secrets.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3432305524

I always enjoyed this type of game and Pixel art style, it made me feel nostalgic. The portrait of the characters is well done. The game's locations were limited, but each time you visit a place, it gives you a different feeling. The soundtracks were different and nicely fitting the melancholic vibe of the game.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3317087858

The puzzles needed some thinking and how to use the items you've got, but I found myself going back and forth at times, not knowing what to do next. The voice-overs are low-quality, but they are not too bad. The game is fully voiced, which is a huge plus for them.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3432305387

Pros:
+Interesting creepy story.
+Beautiful soundtracks.
+Good voice over (But low quality)
+Beautiful pixel art +Nice characters portrait
+Manual + Automatic save files.
+Steam achievements.

Cons:
-Unfinished game.
-No hinting system.
-Sometimes the text is a huge block which covers half of the screen.

The game has some creepy moments and gore, also some sensitive topics. It also ends in a cliffhanger, however, it can be concluded if you don't want to know more about the characters. It is a good classic game, so if you find yourself bored and want to play something to pass the time, pick it up.

𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤𝑠 𝑐𝘩𝑒𝑐𝑘 𝑚𝑦 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝐹𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑎'𝑠 𝐶𝘩𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒

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This Point and Click lite game is more about the story then combining objects together to advance through the story. It is a fairly short, easy to 100% game. I got it for less than a dollar and given the playtime its pretty decent value for money. If you enjoyed The Cat Lady and The Lion's Song then this will most likely do you right.

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PROS

+ story elements. The story is a bit cliche and you will know what is going on from the very start but the little parts that all fit together to make the story complete are great and it gives a satisfactory ending to to the game.

+ no pixel hunting. This is not a traditional point and click in the sense that finding stuff that you need is very easy and there are only a couple of times you actually need mess around with your inventory to get the items you need.

+ voices in my head. The voice acting is fairly solid. The writing isn't always great though. I strangely sound very much like the conductor on the train which was a bit weird. I have found my voice twin.

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CONS

- 2 of the cheevos didn't trigger for me.

- closure. I would have liked a bit more closure or at least a bit more of a solid idea on what the story was.

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This game is a short little point and clicker with pixelart that is honestly top-notch. I spent 70 cents on this game and it was well worth the price.

Ever looked into the Steam forums under various threads to find out if you could get some really great recommendations? This is how I have found The Charnel House Trilogy. I was going through a lot of comments on classic point & click adventure game suggestions as next games to be played (in fact, some referred to these as must-have).

So, here we are, looking at a game that has pixelated graphics, great voice acting; something that is currently very, very (I mean very) cheap and something that - with its only 3 chapters - doesn't take very long to complete. The 3 episodes available can be played in any order and they will take around 2 hours to complete (all achievements included).

What starts out as a short chapter with Alex being at home in the evening and making sure she is prepared for a journey quickly turns into the supernatural with strange fellows on a train such as an all-too-familiar bartender, a somewhat absent-minded conductor and some weird people such as the silent but at the same time terrifying guy occupying 2-C.

Great episodes with some twists and definitely not your usual endings. Make sure to check it out if you 1) like pixelated adventure games 2) are fine with playing something out-of-the-ordinary and in case you 3) have played anything where Wadjet Eye Games, Clifftop Games, Wormwood Studios or Cloak and Dagger Games had been involved.

The Charnel House Trilogy is a gothic point & click game developed by Owl Cave. You play as Alex and Dr Harold Lang over the course of three chapters. Both of these characters are brought together on a train journey to the mysterious Augur Island, and over the course of the three chapters the sinister nature of Augur Island comes to light.

• The visuals look fairly dated for a game that came out in 2015, but the art is well designed and when combined with the excellent ambient audio, it helps create the game’s creepy atmosphere.
  
  
• The voice acting for the three main characters (Alex, Lang & Don) are fairly good. The audio quality is a bit rough, but the performances themselves are convincing. I particularly liked Don, but it’s just because I’m a sucker for a Scottish accent. Floyd is also fairly well acted, he’s just not a main character.
  
  
• Each chapter sort of has its own contained story, but their main purpose is to contribute to the overall story of the game. I won’t give details to avoid spoiling anything, but I will say that I thought the overall story was compelling. Each chapter doesn’t really work by itself but as long as you view it as one ‘larger’ story that doesn’t matter.
  
  
• The writing is good, the characters and the overall plot are believable within the game world.
  
  
• The gothic elements of the game are well done, this definitely feels like gothic fiction once you get a bit further into it.
  
  
• They kept things short, so the game doesn't overstay its welcome. It's just a shame that they never got around to making the sequel as the game ends with a set up for another story.
  
  
• It’s pretty easy to get all the achievements.

• The puzzles are all fairly straightforward. Personally, I prefer simpler puzzles as I’m only interested in the story from point & click games, but I imagine more seasoned point & click players might be disappointed that it’s so easy.
  
  
• Coming in at just two hours to complete, and all other things considered, $8 is pretty steep for it. It does get super cheap during sales though at which point it’s good value.

• For reasons beyond my understanding, they got Jim Sterling to voice one of the characters. His voice ‘acting’ completely killed much of my enjoyment for the final episode, which is a shame because I thought the writing was good. Half the time he’s trying to put on a weird accent, the other half of the time he just sounds like himself and at absolutely no point is he doing anything close to acting.
  
  
• As for the rest of the voice acting (excluding the characters I mentioned earlier) ranges from not great to abysmal. Some of this is due to poor audio quality (such as Carli) and some of it is down to bad acting (such as Isaiah).
  
  
• You can’t pause during dialog, which is one of my pet peeves with most point & click games.
  
  
• Alt-tabbing really messes the game up, so don’t bother with it.

Jim Sterling’s voice acting is dreadful addition to the game, but all in all this is fairly enjoyable. The writing is believable, the main characters are well acted and it’s a healthy dose of gothic horror. It’s a tad expensive for what it is, but if you can grab it on sale then it’s worth the two hours it’ll take you to finish it.

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