Cosmic and Lovecraftian horror Horror puzzle Psychological horror

Darkness Within 1: In Pursuit of Loath Nolder

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A detective chases an occult murder suspect into his own nightmares.

Platforms: PC
Stores: Steam
Price: Paid
Rated: Mostly Positive on Steam (73% of about 640 reviews)
Players: 1
Made by: Stormling Studios
Released: 2007

What frightens Detective Howard E. Loreid investigates the murder of a wealthy occultist, and his routine case turns into horrifying dreams and paranormal experiences that blur the line between sanity and insanity.
Content: occult themes, murder, disturbing imagery.

Darkness Within 1: In Pursuit of Loath Nolder is a first-person point-and-click horror adventure inspired by H.P. Lovecraft. As police detective Howard E. Loreid you investigate the murder of a wealthy occultist, while dreams and paranormal events begin to wear down your mind.

About Darkness Within 1: In Pursuit of Loath Nolder

Darkness Within: In Pursuit of Loath Nolder is a point-and-click horror adventure first released in 2007 and brought to Steam in 2014, by Iceberg Interactive, as a slightly enhanced edition with new visual effects. The store credits Stormling Studios and describes it as inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft.

You are Howard E. Loreid, a police detective sent to solve the murder of Clark Field, a wealthy man involved in the occult. The main suspect is Loath Nolder, a respected private investigator who abandoned his last case, vanished and resurfaced five years later. The investigation does not stay routine for long.

You explore in a panoramic first-person view and collect items and thoughts on a thinking screen, where clues can be examined, researched and combined. Next to classic adventure puzzles, you decipher dreams and underline passages in documents to find what matters. A built-in hint system comes with three difficulty levels: Standard, Detective and Senior Detective.

The horror is slow and mental. Horrifying dreams and paranormal experiences torment the detective, and the case leads into the occult and his own mind. It suits players who like reading-heavy detective adventures with a cosmic horror bent, and it costs very little.

How to play Darkness Within 1: In Pursuit of Loath Nolder

Buy it on Steam for Windows and choose Standard, Detective or Senior Detective mode.
Explore each location in first person and click on objects to examine them.
Collect items and thoughts on the thinking screen, then research, combine or use them.
Underline important lines in the documents you read to turn them into clues.
Use what you learn to follow the trail of Loath Nolder.

Screenshots

A detective's office with a desk covered in newspapers, drawings and folders, lamps glowing by the window blinds

A dim wood-panelled hallway lit by two lamps, a door at the end and a staircase to the right

A grotesque bronze mask with a twisted horn and empty eyes hanging on a dark wall

A cluttered occult room with shelves of jars and a pentagram drawn on the floor among candles

Tips

Pick Standard mode if you want the most help from the hint system.
Read every document carefully; underlining the right passages is how many puzzles are solved.
Check the thinking screen often, since combining thoughts can open new leads.