“THE OLDEST AND STRONGEST EMOTION OF MANKIND IS FEAR, AND THE OLDEST AND STRONGEST KIND OF FEAR IS FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN” ~ H.P LOVECRAFT

Dark Mysteries: The Soul Keeper was inspired by the novel, “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward”, which was the only full-length work of fiction by H.P. Lovecraft, who was the master of 20th-century horror. Unfortunately, H.P. Lovecraft passed away in 1937, four years before his novel was published in Weird Tales Magazine.

Your investigation begins after receiving a frantic call from Charles Dexter Ward who claims the reverent murderer is real and has been haunting Pawtuxet Island. Charles explains that he is responsible for resurrecting Joseph Curwen who supposedly had discovered the secret to immortality. (How’d that work out for him?) Joseph, however, had his own agenda… collecting innocent souls from the citizens of Pawtuxet Island.

Dark Mysteries: The Soul Keeper was originally released in 2012 by Cerasus Media; it may be old-school, but it’s a decent game. There are 30 hidden object scenes and 11 mini-games.

There are 170 scene locations, all of which can be revisited throughout the game. This is a feature that is non-existent in HOPA games nowadays, and it takes the challenge aspect out of the adventure! It’s impossible to get lost when you are limited to 3-4 scenes at a time; it’s as if the developers are shoving us through a cattle chute and prodding us to keep moving forward. I loved exploring new areas and exposing secret tunnels and doors as the game progressed, and the fact that I had to remember where to go or where I saw this or that. To put this in perspective, a recent Domini Games release, City Legends: Ghost of Misty Hill Collector’s Edition in May of 2023, has 19 Scene Locations in the main game and 9 additional Bonus Chapter Scenes… Dark Mysteries: The Soul Keeper has 170 Scenes!

One of my favorite features of this game is an unusual Hint Feature. If you click on the Journal, there will be a series of Objective Hints. For example: A picture of Ward’s bag appears with a brief synopsis that Ward had been collecting symbolic stone pieces but that several pieces were missing. The Hints will explain the tasks that have to be completed to fulfill the objective one at a time, and you’ll get new hints for each task required. The first HINT explains-[SPOILER] with the can opener from the supply truck in front of the bank, I could open the dog food can [End SPOILER]. This is such a cool feature because sometimes you just get a “Duh!” moment when playing a game. Sure, you can still click the hint button, but that will just show you where to go, or what inventory item to use in a particular scene, it doesn’t explain why you are doing a particular task objective.

Find this game in the Greatest Hits – 10 Pack and the Dangers from Dreamland Vol. 2 – 10 Pack.

Happy gaming!