The 7th Guest: Infection Review

The 7th Guest was pretty frightening back in its day: creepy puzzles, murder, strange toys, and a manipulative plot. I can remember being afraid to even get on the computer after playing it. Trilobyte Games recently provided us with a hint of nostalgia when they re-released The 7th Guest on iOS, but they didn't stop there; they decided to release one of the most infuriating puzzles as a stand alone title.

7th Guest: Infection is a challenging microscope puzzle that tasks you with spreading a virus around in a petri dish. You're presented with a grid and either two blue cells or two red cells. You can move one cell at two spaces per turn, and the object of the game is to fill the grid with your virus. The catch is, if you move your cell one space it duplicates, and if you move your cell next to a cell of the opposite color it converts its color. My summarized instructions probably sound pretty confusing, but after playing a few rounds against the impossible to beat A.I. you will know exactly how to play. You'll probably just have a hard time winning. Infection is the type of puzzle strategy game that requires taking breaks between matches because of how frustrating it gets.

The graphics are crisp, and the game does a great job bringing the atmosphere from the original into puzzle format. The eerie music and excellent sound effects also provide a top notch experience. Your nemesis in the game, Henry Stauf, has some very clever spoken taunts, and he isn't afraid to mock you when you make a poor move or take too long with your decisions. The A.I. is adjustable for players who don't want to be totally destroyed, and thankfully there is a two player hot seat mode for playing against normal human beings.

The 7th Guest: Infection does an excellent job converting a classic puzzle into a full blown game, but the level of patience and strategy required to fully enjoy the game might be a turn off for some. If you're the type to get angry when playing games you might want to avoid this one, but if you're a fan of the original 7th Guest or just a strategy puzzle buff then you'll probably get some good mileage out of Infection.

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