Many years ago in the small town of Spirit Bay, there lived a mean old man named Zachary Graves. Old man Graves was not a very well liked person. He rarely left the old mansion and spent most of his life brooding about the decaying four-story house. When he died, the house was condemned and locked up.
The townspeople claim that old man Graves knew the whereabouts of a magic urn, a family heirloom of the first family of Spirit Bay. It seems that the mansion was the family’s first home and that the magic urn, which broke into several pieces during the earthquake of 1890, is still in the old house.
To this day, no one has mustered the courage to search the mansion for the pieces of the urn. It is common knowledge that the ghost of old man Graves still haunts the mansion. Some of the neighbors claim to have seen lights flickering in the windows. Some say that they have heard eerie sounds, doors slamming, and heavy footsteps. Some even claim to have seen shadows running through the mansion.
The mysterious mansion has 24 rooms connected by long corridors and staircases. Some of the rooms have been locked for over 50 years. There is supposed to be a master key hidden somewhere in the mansion. Without the key, it might be impossible to travel from room to room. There is also an ancient scepter hidden in the mansion. Old man Graves always carried this scepter. He believed it scared off evil spirits.
Do you dare enter the frightening old mansion? If you do, remember to carry matches; the Haunted Houseis very dark.
About the Game
Haunted House was the first of several horror games released for the Atari 2600 and one that many would argue is perhaps the best in this genre released in the first few decades of home videogames. This game looked great on the Atari 2600, plus the sound design was extremely detailed. As most critics will say, it is incredibly easy to tell what you are looking at the entire time while also being spooked by the sounds affected by your actions.
The game is simple in the sense that there seem to be only a few different directions to run and the rooms are rather wide open. However, it is quite the opposite. There are eight different hallways, some with locked doors, others with stairs, and still others that will take you to a floor with a creature ready to pounce. There is also a great amount of strategy needed in order to play Haunted House.
The game will most definitely keep you on your toes, as one minute you are concentrating on what to do next and then the next minute you are running for your life.
Object of the Game
The object of the game is to find the three pieces of the magic urn and carry them back to the mansion’s main entrance before losing all nine lives. Your score is based on the number of matches and lives used during your search.
How to Play
So far, we’ve told you some of the things to expect while inside the Haunted House. The following section reveals information to help you understand the objects and characters in the game, as well as the progressive levels of difficulty.
The urn pieces are randomly scattered throughout 24 rooms. There are four floors, each with six rooms. Staircases connect the floors, while corridors and doorways connect the rooms. Some of the doors are locked, so you must find the master key (also hidden in the mansion) to unlock them.
What makes finding the urn so difficult is the fact that the mansion is so dark. To see your way around, you are given an unlimited supply of matches, which you light by pressing the red controller button.
Once you can see, be warned that you’ll encounter several types of creatures in the mansion. Be prepared to see a vampire bat, hairy tarantulas, and the ghost of old man Graves himself! Each time a creature touches you, you’ll be “scared to death” and—consequently—lose a life.
Objects
The urn is broken into three pieces. To see the pieces and other objects, you must light a match. To pick up a piece of the urn, you (the eyes) must touch it. When you touch it, the piece appears at the bottom-right corner of the screen. The urn pieces automatically attach to the other pieces once new ones are found. They eventually bond together to form the entire urn as one object.
If you are carrying one object and pick up a new one, the new object will replace the old object. You will quickly learn that you can only hold one object at a time. When you have successfully put the three pieces of the urn together, you must return to the mansion’s main entrance with the urn.
The Scepter
The scepter is a magic stick used to make you invisible to all creatures in the mansion. To use the scepter you must drop any other object and touch the scepter. As long as you hold the scepter, you cannot be “scared to death.”
Like all other objects, while you are holding the scepter, it appears at the bottom-right corner of the screen.
Locked Doors
Games 3 through 9 include locked doors that connect some of the rooms. To open these doors, you must find the master key. It is hidden in one of the unlocked rooms. To use the key, you must touch it. When you hold the key, it appears at the bottom of the screen. As is the case with other objects, you cannot hold anything else while holding the key.
Doorways
As you travel through the mansion, you’ll encounter several doorways. Some are locked, while others aren’t. To see the doorways in Games 2 through 9, light a match.
Tarantulas
Tarantulas are giant, hairy spiders that slowly move around the mansion. If a tarantula touches you, you lose a life unless you are carrying the scepter.
Vampire Bats
Vampire bats fly quickly around the mansion. If touched by a vampire bat, you lose a life unless you’re carrying the scepter.
Ghosts
There is one very fast ghost in the mansion. It can pass through locked doors and walls to chase you. If the ghost touches you, you will get “scared to death” and lose a life. Carrying the scepter in Games 1 through 7 will protect you from the ghost.
Sounds
The game sounds in Haunted House provide important gameplay clues. You will hear a sound when you run into walls or locked floors. You will hear and see flashes of lighting. If the wind blows, don’t be surprised if it blows out your match. When you walk through doorways, you’ll hear the doors open and shut.
The mansion is so creaky you can hear your own footsteps. When you climb up or down stairways, you will even hear a spooky tune. A tune plays low musical notes to high notes while ascending stairs. As you go downstairs, the tune plays high notes to low notes.
Controls
Move the joystick up, down, right or left to move around the house.
Your eyes (the player character) will move in the same direction as you move the joystick. Press the red controller button to light a match. When you light a match, a circular area around you becomes visible. All game variants have an unlimited supply of matches.
To pick up an object, use the joystick to guide the eyes to touch the object. To drop an object, use the joystick to touch another object. The two objects will automatically change places. You can also drop an object by pressing the red controller button if a match is lighted.
Use the joystick controller to move up or down stairways. Each stairway travels only in one direction: up or down. Stairways leading down start with large steps decreasing in size, while stairways leading up start with small steps increasing in size. To change floors, use the joystick to move to the end of the stairway and then move the joystick in the opposite direction to enter the room.
Each floor is numbered and color-coded. The number is located in the lower-left portion of the screen. The number changes as you move from one floor to the next. The entire lower portion of the screen changes colors with each of the four floors in the house.
Game Options
Game 1
Game 1 is the beginning level. It includes lighted walls to help you see the rooms. There are no doors, so no key is required, but you need to light matches to see objects. There are three creatures on the prowl: one bat, one tarantula, and one ghost.
Game 2
In Game 2, the mansion is completely dark and there are unlocked doors. Three creatures, as in Game 1, attempt to scare you to death.
Game 3
Game 3 is like Game 2 except that some doors are locked, but you’ll find the master key in the first room you enter.
Game 4
Game 4 is the same as Game 3 except that the master key is in a different location each time the game is played.
Game 5
In Game 5, everything is the same as in Game 4, but there are two additional tarantulas in the mansion.
Game6
In Game 6, all five creatures are scurrying about the mansion but only the ghost can pass through a locked door.
Game 7
In Game 7, any object you are holding will be dropped and moved to another room in the mansion when a bat touches you.
Game 8
Game 8 is the same as Game 7, but all of the creatures move faster. To make things even tougher, the ghost is not affected by the scepter.
Game 9
This is the ultimate Haunted House challenge. Game 9 has the same gameplay as Game 8, but the floorplan is different and you’ll find yourself in a completely different maze of rooms. For an added element of surprise, all the creatures can chase you from room to room, even through locked doors!
Game Difficulty
Left Difficulty
With the left difficulty button in the B position, periodic flashes of lightning will make it easier to see in the mansion as the creatures chase you.
With the left difficulty button set to the A position, you must feel your way around, listening to sounds and bumping into walls.
Scoring
Your score is based on the number of matches used and the number of lives remaining at the end of the game. The game ends when you return to the main entrance of the mansion carrying the urn, or when all nine lives have been lost.
The number of matches used appears in the lower-left corner of the screen. The first number to appear here is 00. The number then increases by one each time you light a match. The lower the number, the better your score.
Each game starts with nine lives, indicated at the bottom-right corner of the screen. You lose one life every time you get “scared to death” (touched by a creature). The more lives remaining at the end of the game, the better your score.