The Tartarus Key

About The Tartarus Key

The Tartarus Key was made by Vertical Reach and published by Armor Games Studios, and came out on May 31, 2023 on PC (Steam, GOG and itch.io). It is also sold for PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch. Its art is by Leonor Parra, who founded the studio, and the maker calls it a first-person mystery thriller inspired by the look and feel of classic horror games: low-poly rooms, soft pixelated textures and dim candlelit interiors.

The last thing Alex Young remembers is being alone in her apartment. Now she is locked inside a strange mansion, its doors sealed by bizarre puzzles and traps, with cameras tracking her every move and shapes she cannot quite see at the edge of her vision. She soon finds other captives, and getting them out is part of the job. Fail, and the maker warns they meet a grisly end.

It plays like a run of escape rooms set inside a horror mystery. You search rooms for items and clues, combine what you find and work out the mansion's odd locks: Push Square's review mentions turning on the right hobs of a stove to open a door and working out codes from star constellations. Between puzzles you talk with the captives you have freed, over walkie-talkies and in conversations shown with character portraits much like Metal Gear Solid's. The writing is text only, with no voice acting. There is no combat and there are no chase sequences; the tension comes from the traps, the captors and the question of who is behind it all. The maker hated jumpscares and set out to make a game that is spooky without them.

Reviewers liked its puzzles and its cast more than its challenge. Push Square called it quality PS1 horror all about puzzles, though a few puzzles sent its reviewer to a guide, and Gamer Escape found the brainteasers easy for seasoned puzzlers and the endings rather abrupt. A first run takes about five and a half hours, and there are three endings to find.

It sits near The 7th Guest Remake as a mansion full of puzzles, and near Is this Game Trying to Kill Me? as a game where a captor makes you solve your way to freedom. Adventure Game Hotspot's review likens it to both The 7th Guest and the early 3D mansion of Resident Evil. It suits puzzle fans who want dread rather than jumpscares, and players who like the low-poly style of late-90s horror.

How to play The Tartarus Key

1. Explore the room Alex wakes in and pick up anything that might help.
2. Read notes and look closely at the furniture and walls for clues.
3. Use or combine items from your inventory to work the mansion's locks, mechanisms and traps.
4. Talk with the other captives you free; they have their own knowledge and their own fates.
5. Work deeper into the mansion to learn who took you and why, and aim to bring everyone out alive.

Tips

• Take your time; the game is not timed and you can save anytime.
• Examine items in your inventory, since clues are often on them.
• Keep notes on symbols and numbers you find, as puzzles often draw on clues from other rooms.
• If you want the best outcome, treat every captive's life as part of the puzzle.
• If a puzzle has you stuck, step back and look at the room again: the solutions are deliberately odd, so a strange idea is often the right one.

Questions