Preface

The DeFoe Series is an excellent freeware collection of 4 games by Ben Croshaw:

• 5 days a stranger
• 7 days a skeptic
• Trilby’s notes
• 6 days a sacrifice

Scenario

In all these games, you fight against John T. DeFoe. DeFoe is now dead, but his evil spirit is still alive, taking over other human bodies. Your task is to destroy him, but somehow you only succeed in temporarily getting him out of the way, until he finds a way out.

In 5 days a stranger, arguably the best of the series, you are the well-known burglar Trilby, who just happened to break in to DeFoe’s manor. Soon he realizes that he can’t anymore leave the house for some reason, and he is locked for 5 days with other three people.

In 7 days a skeptic, an excellent sequel, you are Dr Jonathan Somerset, on board onto a space ship some decades later, along with his captain and three more astronauts. They manage to pick up a strange box, floating in the space, which just happens to have something … evil inside , and suddenly they are in trouble!

In Trilby’s notes, probably the weakest of the series, you are again Trilby, this time working for some national security company, and you find yourself in a hotel which just happens to transform itself as the time passes…

In 6 days a sacrifice, a fine ending of the DeFoe myth, you are Theodore Dacabe, an officer that hoped to run a routine health and safety check on some organization called ‘Optimology’, but he finds himself well locked in some form of a basement which just happens to be another place that the DeFoe spirit has taken over.

So what do you wait for? Prepare yourself for a fight against the evil spirit!

Scenario grade: (A)

Graphics

The game will run in either full screen or windowed mode in 320x200 or 640x480. The graphics are made with the AGS engine in all 4 games, and although they are no match against most today’s game gfx, they are certainly well drawn, atmospheric and to the point.

No pixel hunting, no unnecessary items, wise choice of colors to allow you to concentrate on the action and not on the pixels.

Graphics grade: (A)

Sound

The sound is also nice and scary. There are places where no sound exists , apart from the sound effects (like walking) which I certainly consider as a game’s advantage.

The sound is action-designed, which means that, in same screens, you may have a different background music, depending on the situation. And yes, I like this. I hate games which change the sound based on the location and not on the facts.

Sound grade: (A-)

Control

Easy and to the point. You left/right click on something, and there is a menu displaying options (open,talk,etc) . And you press Esc for save/load/restart/quit.

Any problems? YES! Trilby’s notes, the third of the four, does not use the mouse at all and uses the nice TEXT input! “Open door” , “look table” and the rest. Sorry, but it is 2007, not 1987. And I would gladly play Colonel’s Bequest again, which uses the text input, but not this one.

And also, the number of saved games are limited. I don’t understand why, perhaps it is an AGS limitation but the games should offer the chance to change the saving directory.

Control grade: (B)

Atmosphere

Now we come to the top feature of the series: atmosphere. Evil spirits, white and black magic, weird transforms, horror dreams and much more will compose a great environment.

And make sure you play the games in the correct order; You will enjoy the excellent 7 days a stranger only after having played 5 days a stranger and so on.

Oh, and a small warning: The games are violent. While the graphics’ limitations do not allow the game to be a totally scaring thriller, there is a lot of violence, especially when you ‘see’ your nightmares. Perhaps a deficit, but the game’s historic background certainly allows for such a behavior.

Atmosphere grade: (A+)

Action

In 5 days a stranger, you will run 5 days in terror, in which 2 of your friends will die under mysterious situations. Your task is to escape the house, but this is not easy at all, because the very same house tries to block you in (?) by some weird manner. You will learn the DeFoe history, and try to trap his evil spirit. Somehow you will get yourself in trouble, being suspected of a murder, but you will manage to escape and get through your big task. A good plot.

In 7 days a stranger, after your fishing of the evil box, most of your friends will also die under very bad conditions. You will eventually get rid of the evil spirit once again, but you are still in trouble after that …. This game has probably the best plot of the four, because you always encounter something that you would never expect.

In Trilby’s notes, you find out that your knowledge of the DeFoe stuff affects you so much that the hotel starts transforming itself under your eyes… and yet again… some are dead and you have to cope with the great terror. However, your experience from the 2 previous games limit the plot of this game, the shortest of the four.

The finale, which just happens to involve a romantic affair between your hero and a poor, sensitive, probably pretty, probably young and probably attractive girl (…) , is also very good. Oh, a spoiler: Yes, that girl is also killed. Don’t expect mercy from the mighty DeFoe.

Action grade: (A)

Riddles

They are all inventory-based. Mostly logic and to the point. They will certainly challenge a beginner in the adventure games, but an experienced player will get through all both games with in one day. That is not bad however. These games are just for a break.

Riddles grade: (B)

Overall

If you want to play some interesting games,
If you want to support the excellent work of the developer,
If you like horror games,
If you have today’s non-atmospheric games,

Then…

try The DeFoe Series!

Final Grade: A
(find out more about our grading system)