A relatively short game that harnesses both a slow burn folk horror narrative and the old-school nostalgic vibe of games like King's Quest. The pacing was darn near perfect, and the puzzles were both challenging and felt "fair." The voice acting really clinched this as a fun, yet harrowing, experience. The pixellated art style also allowed for wiggle room in a trope that I've found hilarious since the Victorian era. When Lord Byron tells me the monster is unknowable and if he even attempted to describe it I'd go mad so he'd better not, just trust him bro, it's pretty clearly a cop out. When my imagination effortlessly fills in the blank between that blood red pixel and that bone white one, it follows a similar convention, but it's also genuinely chilling.

Plus, any game where I'm allowed to hug a chicken is an automatic 10/10.

Aye up, as a proud Yorkshireman, I can say The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow does a cracking job of capturing the eerie charm of our moors and quiet villages.
There’s summat deeply unsettling about the way it turns the familiar moors and villages I've grown up around, into something straight out of a Lovecraftian nightmare. The slow, creeping dread is handled masterfully, like a fog rolling in across the dales (Which is a fairly common occurrence when cresting on the M62), and the folk you meet feel as real as any you’d find down the local, with about the same amount of sinister secrets.

The storytelling’s top-notch, the pixel art’s grand, and the sound design?
Proper chilling.

It’s rare to see a game that understands the way our landscapes can feel both beautiful and ancient, like they’ve got secrets best left buried. If you’ve a love for folk horror, cosmic dread, or just fancy seeing Yorkshire through a darker lens, this one’s well worth a go.
Or ya can go t' Hebden during Halloween (Results may vary)

5 hours of delight, get it