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Edward Carnby is thrown back across Derceto's attic past a red trunk as a creature attacks

Survival horrorHaunted houseCosmic and Lovecraftian horrorHorror puzzlePS1 horror

Alone in the Dark 1

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The 1992 original: alone in Derceto, and something is in the attic.

Platforms
PC
Stores
Steam, GOG
Price
Paid
Rated
Very Positive on Steam (92% of 455 reviews)
Players
1
Controls
Keyboard and mouse
Made by
Infogrames
Released
1992
Get it on Steam GOG (Alone in the Dark: The Trilogy 1+2+3)

What frightens After Jeremy Hartwood's suspicious suicide, you enter his Louisiana mansion Derceto alone; a creature attacks you in the attic, howls resound from its shadowy halls, and its secrets lead into Lovecraftian evils of unimaginable power.

Content: violence, monsters.

Alone in the Dark 1 is the 1992 survival horror game by Infogrames, sold on Steam with the bonus adventure Jack in the Dark. As private investigator Edward Carnby or niece Emily Hartwood you explore Derceto, a cursed Louisiana mansion, after its owner's suspicious suicide, and face Lovecraftian evils with whatever you can find.

About Alone in the Dark 1

Alone in the Dark was made by Infogrames and directed by Frédérick Raynal, and came out in 1992. It drew polygon characters over pre-drawn backgrounds seen from fixed camera angles, and it is widely seen as the first 3D survival horror game; it shaped Capcom's Resident Evil four years later. This Steam release from THQ Nordic is the first game alone, with the short spin-off Jack in the Dark included. It is not the 2024 reimagining or The New Nightmare, which have their own pages here; GOG sells it inside Alone in the Dark: The Trilogy 1+2+3.

Jeremy Hartwood, owner of the mansion Derceto, has died in what looks like suicide. You choose to play Edward Carnby, a private investigator, or Emily Hartwood, Jeremy's niece. Either way you enter the house alone, and something is waiting from the first minutes in the attic.

Derceto is a house of shadowy corridors and gloom-filled rooms. You search them for objects, weapons, and old books whose words explain what Jeremy found, while the inventory's weight limits what you can carry. You can face a creature with a weapon, get past it by solving a puzzle, or avoid it altogether, so the game is as much puzzle as fight. The store calls it the grand-daddy of the survival horror genre, inspired by Lovecraft's universe of ancient evils.

It shows its age: blocky figures, fixed angles and a slow pace. It suits players curious about where survival horror began, and anyone who played the 2024 reimagining and wants the original.

How to play Alone in the Dark 1

  1. Choose Edward Carnby or Emily Hartwood.
  2. Explore Derceto room by room, starting in the attic.
  3. Search furniture and shelves for weapons, tools and books.
  4. Read the books and notes to learn what happened in the house.
  5. Fight, solve your way past or avoid each threat, and find your way through the mansion.

Screenshots

Carnby draws a bow in a dark green room beside a wooden door and a red and green woven tapestry
View from the attic window of Derceto down a winding garden path to the drive

Tips

  • Be ready from the first moments: the attic is not safe.
  • Read the books and notes you find; they explain what Jeremy discovered.
  • Mind the weight of what you carry and drop what you no longer need.
  • Not every creature has to be fought; some can be avoided or passed with a puzzle.

Questions

Is this the 1992 Alone in the Dark?

Yes. Alone in the Dark 1 on Steam is the original 1992 game, with the bonus adventure Jack in the Dark.

Is it the same as Alone in the Dark (2024)?

No. The 2024 game is a reimagining of this one, also set in Derceto, and has its own page.

Where else can I buy it?

GOG sells it as part of Alone in the Dark: The Trilogy 1+2+3, with the second and third games.

  • third person
  • fixed camera
  • 1992
  • classic
  • mansion
  • louisiana
  • 1920s
  • two protagonists
  • edward carnby
  • emily hartwood

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Alone in the Dark 1 is played on store.steampowered.com and its makers' stores; this page links to them and is not part of it. Pictures are from the game's own pages and remain its owner's. Terms and pictures.

Sources: store.steampowered.com, gog.com, en.wikipedia.org