Spooky Doorway is an Irish dev studio that's already brought us lucky Switch gamers some seriously good point-and-click fun times in the form of The Darkside Detective series.
This is a studio with form, and one that's already proven it knows how to serve up clever puzzle adventures that just get what makes this particular genre sing. I'm talking about delicious mysteries into which to sink your teeth, mysteries that are alive with all manner of supernatural and off-kilter aspects. Stories full of weirdo characters backed up by excellent writing, perfect location choices, and gameplay that gives you enough agency that you're sucked right into the whole thing for the duration.
The Darkside Detective, and its follow-up, A Fumble In The Dark, excelled at all of this, and with sinister style to spare. So, you'll have to forgive me (and doubly so as an Irishman) if I've been ever so excited and delighted by the arrival of the team's latest game, The Séance of Blake Manor.
This point-and-click horror mystery is set in 1897s Ireland — Connemara to be precise — and it's their best work to date by some margin. It's a game that, had it released on Switch when it landed on PC back in October, would absolutely have been sat in the number one spot for me, over all of the other things — even all the Nintendo stuff (!) — that I played in 2025. It's proper GOTY material, is what I'm saying, and I really, really, really (add lots more "reallys" here) want to see it come to Switch so all my Nintendo homies can get stuck into it too.
The titular Blake Manor is a hotel set in a remote spot in the west of Ireland, and if you've ever been to this part of the world, you'll know just how dramatic and how well lent to horror and mystery the scenery and wilderness is. Connemara is a wild and rugged spot, with its famous Twelve Pins, a range of Bens that can often be seen rising dramatically up and out of the ever-present mist of a morning - the same mist that settles over the area's many, many ancient bogs. Now add a great big Gothic hotel full of haunted stuff and weirdos, and we're in business.
It's the kind of place you want to set a nice big mystery like those snazzy ones with Daniel Craig in them, except make it tinged with cosmic horror and supernatural elements. It's also a setting that Spooky Doorway excels at manipulating into a story and set of puzzles that had me (a professional point-and-click expert, no less) glued to my PC monitor for the duration of my roughly 30-hour playthrough.
Assuming the role of Private Investigator, Declan Ward, you arrive at Blake Manor to investigate the disappearance of a young lady guest. It's a disappearance that's made all the more unsettling by the odd behaviour of the staff of the hotel, as well as its owner, and to add to the fun, a bunch of veteran mystics have just shown up to perform a weird Hallows' Eve ritual seance - so you're guaranteed a lot of strange conversations from the get-go.
It really is a delicious setup, and it's one that's carried off with aplomb, thankfully. I won't ruin it, it'd be a crime, but through interviewing suspects, keeping track of paper trails, getting stuck into all that amazing "Mind Palace" Sherlock-Holmes-style guff, solving well-designed puzzles, and exploring the labyrinthian (and secret-filled) hotel itself, you're kept more than busy.
Then we have the double-cherry on top of this one, the real finishing touches, in the form of a clever time management mechanic that sees your days count down as you work, adding a real sense of urgency to the entire endeavour...and the fact that the whole thing takes place from a first-person perspective. Oh yes, it's a real treat to explore this game from such a personal vantage point, make no mistake, and Blake Manor is brought to life in a way that wouldn't have been possible had the devs stuck with a more classic view of the genre at hand.
If you're into your gothic Victorian paranormal mysteries, and if you like your games stuffed to the gills with kooky characters, this one's 100% for you. By the same token, if you enjoy (or also enjoy) a bit of the auld Irish folklore and mythology — we do good folklore and mythology — and most certainly if you're into grand mysteries in the classic detective style, well, you need to play this. It really is that simple.
And so, I've got my rosary beads out for the lot of us. I'm praying hard for a miracle, mammy. Let's get this cracker on Switch consoles ASAP, as I reckon it's exactly the sort of thing I want to sit on my couch and play. Mostly because my TV is upstairs and I'm scared of ghosts now. And people. And stairs.
I reached out to Spooky Door for any word on plans for a Switch console release. No word back yet. However, perhaps they're keeping it for a surprise. Yes, yes, that's it. A surprise! Just don't go scaring me with any sudden noises if and when the announcement does finally roll around. I'm already petrified over here.
Have you played The Séance of Blake Manor? Enjoyed it? Waiting for it to hit Switch consoles? Make sure to let us know in the comments.