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A dim stone cellar with stacked barrels and a shovel, a figure standing in a dark doorway at the back

Survival horrorHaunted houseCosmic and Lovecraftian horrorHorror puzzlePS1 horrorFixed camera horror

Alone in the Dark 1

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

Platforms
PC, Mac
Stores
Steam, GOG
Price
Paid
Rated
Very Positive on Steam (92% of 378 reviews)
Length
about 4.5 hours
Players
1
Controls
Keyboard and mouse
Made by
Infogrames
Released
1992

On GOG: one of the GOG horror games.

No. 14 of the cave horror games · No. 19 of the detective horror games

Get it on Steam GOG (Alone in the Dark: The Trilogy 1+2+3, Windows and Mac)

What frightens Jeremy Hartwood has died by suicide in his Louisiana mansion Derceto. You go in alone, the doors slam shut behind you, monsters attack you in the attic, and the books you find point to occult rites in the caverns below.

Content: violence, blood, monsters, dead bodies.

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 Jeremy Hartwood's niece Emily you explore Derceto, a Louisiana mansion said to be haunted, and fight, outwit or avoid its monsters with whatever you find.

About Alone in the Dark 1

Alone in the Dark was made by Infogrames, directed by Frédérick Raynal, and came out on MS-DOS in Europe in 1992, reaching the United States the year after. It drew polygon characters over pre-drawn backgrounds seen from fixed camera angles, and it is widely seen as one of the first 3D survival horror games; Capcom's Resident Evil followed in 1996. On Steam, THQ Nordic sells it inside the Alone in the Dark Anthology with the second and third games and the 2008 game, and it includes the spin-off Jack in the Dark. GOG sells it in Alone in the Dark: The Trilogy 1+2+3 for Windows and Mac. It is not the 2024 reimagining or The New Nightmare, which have their own pages here.

It is 1925, and Jeremy Hartwood, an artist and the owner of the mansion Derceto, has died by suicide. Few are surprised, because the house is said to be haunted by an evil power. You choose Edward Carnby, a private investigator sent to fetch a piano from the loft for an antique dealer, or Emily Hartwood, Jeremy's niece, who believes the piano hides a note explaining his death. The doors slam shut behind you, and once you reach the attic, monsters attack.

From there you work your way down through the house. The attic and third floor come in a fixed order; after the puzzle at the end of the third floor, the first and second floors open up to explore in any order, and later the caverns beneath the mansion. Most enemies can be beaten with fists and kicks or with weapons you find, some only by solving the right puzzle, and some cannot be killed and must be avoided. Your inventory is limited by weight, not by the number of items, so you drop things to make room; dropped items stay where you left them. Books and documents scattered through the house tell its history, and the library holds grimoires taken from Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, among them the Necronomicon.

It shows its age: blocky figures, fixed angles and a slow pace. It suits players curious about where 3D 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. Enter Derceto and climb to the attic, where the first monsters attack.
  3. Search the rooms for weapons, tools and books, and open doors and push objects to get on.
  4. Read the books and documents to learn the house's history.
  5. Solve the puzzle at the end of the third floor to open the lower floors, then explore them in any order.
  6. Fight, outwit with a puzzle or avoid each creature on your way down to the caverns beneath the house.

Screenshots

A figure in green is thrown across Derceto's dim attic past a red chest as a dark creature attacks
A woman in a purple dress stands by an iron bed in a grimy attic lit by one bare bulb, a body slumped on the bed and another on the floor
Derceto at night, one attic window lit, seen from an overgrown path with an iron gate and a stone urn
A man in a green jacket in a curtained dining room among zombie-like figures, a table set with plates and wine glasses in front
A character with a long sword faces a pale, green-clad creature in a dark red room lined with cabinets
A man walks past a statue in an ivy planter while small purple spiders crawl across the floor
A dim stone cellar with stacked barrels and a shovel, a figure standing in a dark doorway at the back

Tips

  • Be ready from the first moments: the attic is not safe.
  • You can fight most enemies with fists and kicks, but some cannot be killed, so learn which to avoid.
  • When a creature seems unbeatable, look for a puzzle or an object that deals with it.
  • Inventory space goes by weight: drop heavy things you no longer need, and remember where, since dropped items stay in the room.
  • Read what you find; the documents explain what happened in Derceto.

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.

How long is Alone in the Dark 1?

An average playthrough takes about four and a half hours, more if the puzzles hold you up.

Can I buy it on its own on Steam?

The Steam store sells it inside the Alone in the Dark Anthology, with Alone in the Dark 2, Alone in the Dark 3 and the 2008 game.

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 in Alone in the Dark: The Trilogy 1+2+3, with the second and third games, for Windows and Mac.

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

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Guides with Alone in the Dark 1

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, store.steampowered.com, gog.com, en.wikipedia.org, gamerant.com