Burnhouse Lane

About Burnhouse Lane

Burnhouse Lane is a horror adventure by Harvester Games, the studio behind The Cat Lady (2012), Downfall (2016) and Lorelai (2019). It came out on Windows through Steam on 2 December 2022 and is also sold on GOG. Feardemic published it on PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series X|S and Nintendo Switch on 29 June 2023.

You play Angie Weather, an agency nurse who is ill and close to death. Reviewers describe her as recently widowed and facing terminal cancer when a phone call sends her on one last job: looking after George, an elderly farmer in Devon. On the farm she finds a door to Burnhouse Lane, a decaying other world, and is told that if she completes five impossible tasks she can win her life back. Much of the game takes place on the farm and around it, with trips to the Lane between, in stark painted scenes lit in cold blue and blood red.

The store describes it as a mix of classic adventure games, choose-your-own-story games in the manner of Telltale's The Walking Dead, and light survival horror shooting inspired by Silent Hill and Resident Evil, where ammunition is sparse, enemies hit hard and every shot counts. Most of the time you explore, talk and solve inventory puzzles from a small action menu; branching dialogue and decisions shape how the story plays out and which ending you reach. Combat, stealth and platforming come in short sections, and Dread Central found them more roadblocks than full systems. Every line is voiced in English, and the text is translated into ten more languages.

The fear here is the slow kind. The store warns of disturbing scenes and fear throughout, strong violence and gore, and adult themes including addiction, domestic abuse, animal cruelty, depression and suicide, and the ESRB rates it Mature for blood and gore, intense violence, sexual themes and strong language. Like The Cat Lady, it pairs that with dark humour and a story its makers call one about death, friendship and hope; critics single out Angie and the friends she makes along the way. A main run takes about 11 hours by HowLongToBeat's count. It suits players who want a story-led horror adventure for adults rather than a game of constant scares.

How to play Burnhouse Lane

1. Move Angie left and right through each 2D scene and pick an action, such as Examine, from the menu that appears over whatever she can use.
2. Pick up items and use or combine them from the inventory to solve the puzzles in your way.
3. Talk to the people you meet and choose your answers; your choices change how the story goes.
4. When enemies appear, run, hide or shoot, making each bullet count because ammunition is sparse.
5. Complete each of the five tasks to move Angie closer to winning her life back.

Tips

• Examine everything in a scene before moving on; puzzle items are often small and the scenes are dark.
• Avoid fights you do not need, and save ammunition for enemies that block your way.
• Think about how you treat the people you meet; critics note that your bonds with them affect the ending.
• Keep separate saves at key choices if you want to see other endings: there is no chapter select after the credits, and a replay is long.

Questions