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Puppet House

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A detective, a ventriloquist's empty mansion, and the puppet he left behind.

Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox
Stores: Steam, Epic, GOG
Price: Paid
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (89% of 209 reviews); 4.3 of 5 stars on the PlayStation Store (650 ratings)
Length: about 2 to 3 hours
Players: 1
Made by: Vecube Studio and Spirit Games Studio
Released: 2024

On PlayStation: one of the PlayStation horror games.

Get it on Steam GOG Epic Games Store PlayStation Store (PS5)Xbox (Series X|S)

What frightens An old ventriloquist's puppet, brought to life as a demonic killer by a freak ritual, hunts anyone who enters its dead owner's mansion. You go in alone as a detective looking for missing townspeople, solving puzzles in dark rooms where, as the store puts it, any wrong decision could have dire consequences.
Content: blood, gore, violence, strong language, jumpscares.

Puppet House is a first-person puzzle-adventure horror game with escape room elements. As detective Rick you search an abandoned ventriloquist's mansion for missing locals and solve its puzzles, while the old puppet, brought to life by a ritual, kills anyone who comes inside.

About Puppet House

Puppet House was developed by Vecube Studio and Spirit Games Studio and published by Gaming Factory in October 2024, on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. People in the quiet town of Field Town have been disappearing, and detective Rick follows the clues to the abandoned house of the late ventriloquist Peter Hill.

Inside, the game plays as an escape room in a decaying mansion. You walk its dark corridors and grounds, look closely at old memorabilia that hide the keys to the next door, and work through puzzles that ask for logic as much as attention. Reviewers note that there is no combat; when the puppet catches up with you, you fend it off with a quick time event. Some puzzles only ask you to find an item, such as a key or a valve handle; others ask you to work out a riddle or a note left nearby.

The fear is the puppet. A freak ritual brought it to life as a demonic killer, and it is loose in the house. One critic describes it toying with you, sometimes seeming almost to help and at other times out for blood, so you never quite know what it will do next. The look draws on VHS-era horror films, and the store leans on sound and lighting to keep every room tense. There are a few jump scares, and the ratings boards note blood, gore, violence and strong language: ESRB rates it Mature, PEGI 16.

It suits players who like Poppy Playtime or The Tartarus Key: a puzzle game first, with a sinister toy-like figure in the walls rather than a monster to fight. Critics agree it is short: one finished in under two hours, another in about three, so it fits in an afternoon or an evening. The voice acting is in English, with subtitles in thirteen other languages, and one critic found the subtitles poor.

How to play Puppet House

Buy it on Steam, GOG, the Epic Games Store, the PlayStation Store (PS5) or the Xbox store (Series X|S).
Start a new game and follow detective Rick to the ventriloquist's mansion outside Field Town.
Explore each room and look closely at objects: the memorabilia hide keys, codes and clues.
Solve the puzzle that bars the way to move deeper into the house.
Watch for the puppet and be ready for the quick time events that come when it appears.

Screenshots

The ventriloquist's puppet, its face grimy and stained and its jaw hanging open, peering round a white door in a dark room

The mansion's dim entrance hall: a wooden staircase rising to a balcony, a red rug, and a pale mask on the wall surrounded by blood splatter

The puppet standing behind a barred iron gate next to an electrical box

A pipe-connecting puzzle on a metal panel with a red and a green light

A decaying bedroom in the mansion with an old television, a single bed and peeling walls

The wooden mansion at night, seen across a foggy yard of sheds and planks under a street lamp

Tips

Read every note and riddle you find: the harder puzzles take their clues from what is written near them.
When a door or machine will not open, look for a missing item first; some puzzles only need a key or a valve handle found elsewhere.
Stay ready for quick time events: when the puppet catches up with you, a prompt is how you fend it off.
Play with headphones; the game leans on sound to build its tension.
There are 35 Steam achievements; one critic replayed parts of it for the ones missed on a first run, which a short game makes easy.

Questions

Is Puppet House on PS5 and Xbox?

Yes. It came out on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S on the same day as the PC version, 24 October 2024. On PC it is sold on Steam, GOG and the Epic Games Store.

Can you fight the puppet?

No. There is no combat; you explore, solve puzzles and fend the puppet off with quick time events.

How long is Puppet House?

It is short. One critic finished it in under two hours and another in about three; expect two to three hours on a first play.

Is Puppet House suitable for teenagers?

ESRB rates it Mature for blood and gore, strong language and violence, and PEGI rates it 16. One Spanish critic thought it soft enough for teenage players, but the ratings boards set the bar higher.

Who made Puppet House?

Vecube Studio and Spirit Games Studio developed it, and Gaming Factory published it.