The Tartarus Key Reviews

Final girl protagonist wakes to demonic murder mansion and meets the middle-aged women of her dreams (and some other guys). A real delight: puzzle-heavy escape room tension with a terrific "true ending" that I wish had been the vibe throughout! Shout-out to the dev team for a pitch perfect PRINCE OF DARKNESS (1987) homage.

Not really a scary game, albeit it has a certain ominous atmosphere. Puzzles are mostly entertaining, I would say quite easy, but there were 2 instances I couldn't figure out because - and that was quite upsetting flaw - clues just weren't visible with my brightness settings. Which is strange since otherwise game looks alright being darker and there's no indication it should be otherwise (I stumbled upon the first case midway through). Writing is a mixed bag - it works, but characters are mostly one dimensional - either they are good or bad. While I'm onboard with the story's overall message ([spoiler]to put it simply, wealthy people with power shouldn't be above the law[/spoiler]), it comes across quite naive, but then again, this is a small indie game so I don't mind it that much. Not sure how I feel about true ending, but part of me wishes bigger portion of the game would be like those last 20-30 minutes when it visually throws some solid punches.

I recommend trying the demo for this one. I felt like I was on the same wavelength as the devs, and whenever they wanted me to assume a rule they hadn't stated, it was the kind of assumption I'd been trained to expect. I'm not sure whether the average person would know what the devs wanted in some of these puzzles.

LOW on pixels but HIGH on easy puzzles and story. Worth your time to check it out!!

Tartarus Key is the definition of short & sweet! Lovable characters (not you William)! Smart and fair puzzle design that avoids falling into Moon's logic. The only suggestion I have is to add voice acting, I'm sure voice actors will have a blast voicing the characters. Definitely give it a try! For anyone worried about the price/hours spent, you may want to wait for a sale, but the game is definitely worth it if you like spooky escape rooms! Even at full price if you can afford it!

Just an absolute joy to play. I am always a sucker for PSX horror aesthetics, but the quality of the puzzles and the cast really are what made this for me. Especially the latter; I found at the end I that I still wanted to spend time with them all, this gang of odd people drawn together by a plot that is Saw mixed with Cabin in the Woods. The puzzles themselves were clever and never frustrating. Well made, well thought out, and I am sure I will be coming back to experience it all over again!

Short and sweet little puzzle game. Lovely artstyle,great atmosphere and music. Although me and my partner got a little stuck on one puzzle for a while, none of them felt too hard or illogical. there are some horror elements, but i wouldnt say any of it is scary. but works well to set a relatively spooky mood. be warned that there are some (at least i think they are) timed sections were you have to do puzzles, so if you get stressed easily by doing things on a time limit this game might not be for you bc it happens multiple times throughout the game! overall i really enjoyed my time with this one. I only wish more the plot was explained at the end. Why where all of us chosen? etc. Hope to see more games in the future!