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The House on Usher Android Review

This is the review for the Android version of The House on Usher by developer Red Aphid.

In The House of Usher, the player takes on the role of bright-eyed Agent Angie Dee who must “flip” a mysterious ramshackle house during her first day on the job at Homer Echers Real Estate. As Angie, players explore the property, tidy it up, and put themselves on the path to riches . . . as long as they prevent the house’s murderous instincts from prematurely ending their career. Set in the 1970s, the game’s offbeat humor is augmented by many “groovy” pop culture references related to the decade.

 

The House on Usher Android Review

Graphics
One of The House on Usher’s neatest features are the great graphics, teemed with what appears to be endless memorabilia from the 70’s.  If you happen to be from that era, you’d fondly remember many of the items that are up for exploration. In addition, each scene is colorful and sort of reminds you of an episode of Hoarders.

We gave the graphics a 5 / 5.

Sound
The House on Usher has background music and scene selection sounds that corresponds just right to the movements of the character. The music is a bit spooky, but not too much. Also, Angie’s voice is appealing and pleasant. We gave the sound a 5 / 5.

 

The House on Usher Android Review

Gameplay
The gameplay of The House on Usher is what really makes the game enjoyable. There seems to be tons of exploration that needs to take place. Each location has a list of items that need to be found – since you are digging through hundreds of items, you might want to use the trusted lipstick (bottom right hand corner of each screen), which will give you a hint by drawing a red circle around the item that you are looking for. Also, every once in a while,  you’ll get to solve funny Wheel-of-Fortune type of puzzles. The gameplay is fun and keeps your interested. There are many challenges to be solved and they are done in a fun way. If there is one thing that we would like to see changed, it’s the size of the puzzle letters – we found it very difficult to move the letters to the puzzle boxes because they were too small. Even though there is a magnifying glass to enlarge scenes throughout the game, you have to be out of the enlarged screen to take any action. Another key that seemed to be sticking a bit, was the return arrow in the upper left hand corner of each screen. Sometimes we had to press it several times in order for the game to return to the previous location. Because of this we gave the gameplay a 4 / 5.

Controls
The House on Usher controls are very easy to learn – just press on items while exploring; move items to corresponding areas in scenes, press the magnifying glass to enlarge areas and notes, and press the red lipstick to give you endless hints in case you get stuck. As mentioned above, the prints is super small and sometimes pressing on items takes finesse as some of the letters and items are too small to manipulate and it will take you several tries. Because of this, we gave the controls a 4 / 5.

 

The House on Usher Android Review

Overall
The House on Usher is a very enjoyable and fun gaming experience that will be sure to give players a challenge. If you enjoy puzzles and exploration, this game will be right up your alley.

 

4.5 / 5

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I'm a published author and proud US Army veteran who happens to be a gamer, so I decided to combine the two and love every minute of it! Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments and I'll be sure to get back to you.