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Hillthorn isn’t the kind of game I usually play. I didn't even read too much about it, all I did was go through its description and thought it looks very interesting. Safe to say, at first I was confused by it, but after playing for a bit, I was blown away by this game. It's slightly out of my comfort zone, but that didn't stop me previously so I went with it.
And I’m glad I did. Hillthorn is a dark and mysterious game that doesn’t need much to get under your skin. It might take a little while to find your footing, but once things start falling into place, it grabs you and doesn’t let go. And I really mean that, after I finished it I went in again just to get another ending and get a bit more playtime out of the game, it's very addicting and I wish it were a bit longer too, but for the time you spend in Hillthorn, trust me you won't be bored.
Before you know it, the game throws you in the shoes of a detective, and you really need to know what was going on up on that mountain.
Secrets of the flock
Hillthorn throws you into the shoes of a detective, and the case you need to investigate comes from a woman named Abigail. She came to your office with the request to help her find her daughter, Olivia, which has disappeared. She doesn't give you many clues, just that she was with a man named Jeremiah and that she was last seen on Mount Hillthorn, which is an isolated mountain community. Honestly, red flag after red flag.
It doesn't take you long to realise that something isn't quite right up on Mount Hillthorn.
As soon as you get there, everything feels off. No one really wants to talk to you, and those that do don't really reveal much. One thing they do agree on is that the mountain is dangerous, and while no one says it, it's obvious that there are secrets everywhere you look. On top of that, you can't just dillydally, you have a limited amount of time to carry out your investigation. Your decisions play a role in what happens, and depending on what you uncover and which choices you make, the story can lead to a good or bad ending. I was tempted to say there is a neutral ending as well, but I'm not sure whether that is a neutral one or a bad one. If you do get that ending (and I'm pretty sure you will the first time), you'll get to decide for yourself, but I thought of it as a bad ending.
The people around Hillthorn don't trust you, and it almost feels as if they are all watching and waiting for you to make the wrong move. You always have this feeling that someone is watching you, waiting to see how far you'll get. If you do manage to get too close, there will be new obstacles to overcome.
Hillthorn mixes detective noir and mystery with influences from Lovecraftian horror, and you can feel all three as the story unfolds. The closer you get to the truth, the weirder things become. At times, it reminded me of Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, with that same sense that you’ve stumbled into something you were never meant to see.
It's truly a story that you want to see concluded, even if you might not like how it ends.
Tick, tock
Hillthorn is a bit like a point-and-click adventure where you play as a detective, except everything is done through cards. There’s no action and no traditional dialogue. Instead, you use your cards to investigate clues, explore locations, interact with characters, and combine the information you gather to uncover hidden connections. Learning things is central to making progress, and every new discovery pushes the story forward.
Some cards you can act on, while others are just context clues, and they’re all colour-coded. People are purple, actions are pink and horizontal, while context clues are smaller and grey. Context clues are the only cards you can't do anything with, they're just information for you. You get orange cards when it's objects you can use, ask about, and so on. Once you’ve reached a certain place in the story - which usually takes a number of steps that cost you precious time - the game graciously gives you a card that works as a shortcut, which is a nice touch. These cards are green, and they represent movement. I found that to be a good call, as it avoids confusion, and the cards themselves are very nicely designed. Depending on which cards you combine, you can find out different things about the person you’re talking to. You can also investigate them, notice different things about them, before you talk to them. It might all seem complicated at first, but the threads aren’t that hard to follow. Every card is laid out in front of you, and clicking on one shows you what outcome or new card it led to.
Cards are your guiding light in this game, at certain points quite literally. In a cave, for example, you won’t see much unless you move your torch card around, and the game purposefully scatters the cards across your poorly lit screen, so you have to search for them.
Time plays a big role too. There’s a watch you can use to move time forward, and at the end of each day, you start over but keep everything important you’ve learned. It reminded me of Curse of Resthaven, which I recently played. There are also a few moments where the clock stops, and for good reason. It would’ve been quite unfair if it kept running, since the answers there weren’t really in plain sight.
Once you’ve done something a couple of times, the game gives you a “Perform Routine” card, which basically does all the steps for you. It’s a neat addition, as I was starting to get bored of repeating the same few steps for one object. The puzzles aren’t too hard, and there aren’t many details you need to memorise, although at one point I had to bring out my good friends, pen and paper, to write down some clues.
What surprised me most is how well Hillthorn builds tension, even though it’s just cards and sounds. At one point, I saw a figure while I was in the quarry, and I felt a little tingle of panic. In another moment, a card was literally running away from me, and I had to chase it and click on it a few times during an intense scene. It really switches up the mood. Later on, it became so intense that I was scared of making a bad move or even talking to anyone, because I’d made progress and wanted to find out as much as I could. There will be times when you think, “oh damn, go back,” but by then, it’s usually too late.
Sometimes you'll just make a dumb decision, and the game won't stop you there, which I really loved. The developers gave me an option - which was a bad decision - and I took it and then acted shocked when it turned out that it was, in fact, a bad decision. And I know they laughed when they made that option because the card literally has a smirk on it. What am I smirking at? Certain death?
It isn’t flawless, though. Sometimes two cards get glued together, which was annoying. It can also feel a little frustrating at the beginning if you get stuck. But once you get a few things going, you’re hooked, and figuring out what to do and how to do it feels really rewarding.
Shadows and sounds
Hillthorn’s graphics are similar to a noir movie, which suits its dark detective story perfectly. Everything feels moody and shadowy, the kind of world where you just know nothing good is waiting around the next corner. The entire story is more or less told through the cards, but certain story reveals and moments give us a short static cutscene, usually giving us a glimpse into an important person or event.
The music is what really surprised me. It’s funky, not quite lo-fi, but it fits the vibe of the game perfectly. It’s the kind of music you’d be gently rocking to while sitting in a bar. But it doesn’t stay that way. The music follows the atmosphere closely, and the closer you get to the solution, the creepier it becomes, building the tension right alongside the story. Depending on the scene where you're in, the music will change and adapt. If you're walking through the woods, the music will be creepy and ominous, but if you're in a tense and dangerous situation, the music will follow the atmosphere and make sure you're aware of the danger around you.
What you see also changes. Depending on where you are, the game will allow you to see everything, or hide some things, such as in the one cabin, where both the music and the visuals make sure you're aware that you're in a place where something horrible happened. And on top of that, you can't see half of your screen for a very good reason.
I haven't had any issues regarding performance, the game ran smoothly, no FPS drops or stuttering.
Case closed, for now
Hillthorn is an interesting concept, and it pulls it off really well. For a game with no action and no dialogue, it does a remarkable job of keeping your attention, and the urge to find out more never really goes away. If anything, it gets stronger and stronger the more you play and the more you find out. I got up and thought I'd play it while I have my morning coffee, next thing I know it's 5 hours later and it's time for lunch.
It has a few rough edges, like cards sticking together and a slightly bumpy start, but they’re small compared to everything it gets right. The card system is easy to follow, figuring things out feels genuinely rewarding, and the tension it manages to build out of cards and sound alone is something I didn’t expect. To me it felt like a breath of fresh air, something new and interesting to play, and for someone who usually thinks card-based games are boring, this one blew me away. Just when you're stuck, you realise you have another clue to follow and I did think I'm stuck once or twice, but I never really was, I just didn't follow a small clue I had.
I went in thinking a card-based detective game wasn’t really my thing, but I came out wanting to go back up that mountain to see what other endings were waiting for me.
The Good
Gripping, wordless mystery - Colour-coded cards system
- Excellent tension build-up throughout
- A soundtrack that adapts to the story
- Multiple endings that encourage replaying
The Bad
Cards can get stuck together- Might seem overwhelming at the start
- Some clues are found by accident, not logic
