Jack in the Dark

Gifts are different, but their value is invariably measured by the effect that they produce on their holder. It often happens that the filling of the most massive boxes, defiantly decorated with ribbons and serpentine, is inferior to the contents of an inconspicuous box, which fits easily into the palm of your hand. Just such a surprise - small and modest, but completely unexpected and definitely pleasant, was presented to Christmas fans of Alone in the Dark by Christmas developers.

Jack in the Dark events unfold on October 31 - on the eve of All Saints' Day - in a small children's toy store, lost somewhere among the many streets of a big city. Strayed by Grace Saunders, attracted by a mysterious light flickering behind the glass of seductive shop windows, she decides to go into the hospitably open door of the store and ... is trapped in the evil Jack-box-snuffbox! The only way to get free is to defeat the vile tyrant who keeps in fear the whole toy people and kidnapped Santa Claus himself.

But what can a fragile eight-year-old girl oppose to an insidious villain? Against magic, pistols with grenades are completely useless, so you have to rely solely on courage and ingenuity. According to the game mechanics, Jack in the Dark is much closer to classic quests than the adventures of Edward Carnby: the player’s attentiveness is much higher here than the ability to shoot accurately or apply a powerful hook from the left - there is absolutely no violence. But logical riddles, so beloved by the previous Infogrames project, haven’t gone anywhere, the keys to solving them constantly pop up in in-game texts. From there, you can also find interesting information about many toy characters, most of which are directly involved in the unfolding events.

If we talk about the technical performance, then, unfortunately, not everything is so simple: beautiful, rich scenery, perfectly conveying the atmosphere of a small toy kingdom, are adjacent to frankly angular models of characters in which it is very difficult to guess a little girl or canonical villain, but correctly chosen the sound design is not supported by any musical composition, which would fit here very well. But this is only the cost of the advertising essence of the game, because the main goal of the project was to draw attention to the second part of the series Alone in the Dark.

This small Halloween adventure will take the average player no more than half an hour, however, despite the modesty of the scale of action and the brevity of the plot, there is no feeling of inferiority or curtailment of the game. Jack in the Dark fits perfectly into the format of a children's fairy tale, which parents usually read to their kids on cozy Christmas evenings. Affordable, interesting, magical and with a happy ending!