Barrow Hill: Curse of the Ancient Circle

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One night in the Cornish woods, and something waking under the barrow.

Platforms: PC
Stores: Steam, GOG
Price: Paid
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (83% of 218 reviews)
Players: 1
Controls: Mouse: point and click to move between scenes and use items
Made by: Shadow Tor Studios
Released: 2016

What frightens Deep in the woods of Cornwall on the night of the autumn equinox, an archaeologist has gone missing and something old is stirring under the burial mound of Barrow Hill; you explore its dark lanes, shrines and dig site alone, to creepy music and chilling sounds.
Content: disturbing atmosphere.

Barrow Hill: Curse of the Ancient Circle is a first-person point-and-click horror adventure set in the woods of Cornwall. Following the trail of the missing archaeologist Conrad Morse, you have one night of the autumn equinox to find out what is stirring beneath an ancient burial mound and its standing stones.

About Barrow Hill: Curse of the Ancient Circle

Barrow Hill was made by the British studio Shadow Tor Studios, and this Steam edition from 2016 is its digital re-release for the game's tenth anniversary. A follow-up, Barrow Hill: The Dark Path, is sold separately.

You arrive near Barrow Hill, an ancient burial mound deep in the Cornish woods, on the night of the autumn equinox. The well-known archaeologist Conrad Morse has been digging there, and something has happened to him. Following in his footsteps, you find that the barrow is more than a ring of forgotten standing stones, and that a forgotten myth is waking up beneath it.

You move through still, pre-rendered scenes of dark lanes, a deserted dig site, old shrines and buildings at night. You use real archaeological techniques to unearth artefacts, gadgets to find clues and talk to other characters, and CCTV footage to see what happened. The fear is quiet and slow: an empty landscape at night, creepy music, spine-chilling sound effects, and Cornish folklore of sorcerers, piskies and beasts of the moor behind every hedgerow.

It suits players who like old-fashioned British ghost stories and folk horror, and slow point-and-click adventures with atmosphere rather than action.

How to play Barrow Hill: Curse of the Ancient Circle

Click to move from scene to scene through the woods and lanes around the barrow.
Examine everything and pick up items; many are needed later.
Use your gadgets and the CCTV footage to find clues and contact other characters.
Dig and study artefacts to learn what the standing stones hide.
Solve the puzzles and rituals before the night is over.

Screenshots

Barrow Hill screenshot: a path through dark woods at night lined with stones and lamps on tripods

Barrow Hill screenshot: a lit dig-site tent in the woods at night with buckets and pots on a table

Barrow Hill screenshot: Stop the Dig leaflets scattered on a table beside an oil lamp and a camping stove

Barrow Hill screenshot: a mobile phone showing a woman's face through static, in front of a house at night

Tips

Play at night with headphones; the sound carries most of the dread.
Keep notes of symbols and numbers you find at the shrines.
If you are stuck, go back over places you have seen and look again with the items you now carry.