Hugo's House of Horrors is a computer game released in 1990. Gray Design Associates (GDA) created a parser

Text parser

In an adventure game, a text parser takes typed input from the player and simplifies it to something the game can understand. Usually, words with the same meaning are turned into the same word and certain filler words are dropped .The parser makes it easier for the game's author to react on input...

-based adventure game

Adventure game

An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...

, reminiscent of the Sierra Entertainment

Sierra Entertainment

Sierra Entertainment Inc. was an American video-game developer and publisher founded in 1979 as On-Line Systems by Ken and Roberta Williams...

 "Quest" games (such as King's Quest

King's Quest

King's Quest is an adventure game series created by the American software company Sierra Entertainment. It is widely considered a classic series from the golden era of adventure games. Following the success of its first installment, the series was primarily responsible for building the reputation...

) and thematically similar to Maniac Mansion

Maniac Mansion

Maniac Mansion is a 1987 graphic adventure game developed and published by Lucasfilm Games. It was Lucasfilm's first published video game, and it was initially released for the Commodore 64 and Apple II. A comedy horror parody of B movies, it follows teenager Dave Miller as he ventures...

. The game also features tongue-in-cheek

Tongue-in-cheek

Tongue-in-cheek is a phrase used as a figure of speech to imply that a statement or other production is humorously intended and it should not be taken at face value. The facial expression typically indicates that one is joking or making a mental effort. In the past, it may also have indicated...

 comedy.

Plot

In the game, the player controls the protagonist, Hugo, who has come to a haunted house to look for his girlfriend Penelope, who hasn't been seen since she went to babysit there. The premise bears similarity to LucasFilm Games' Maniac Mansion

Maniac Mansion

Maniac Mansion is a 1987 graphic adventure game developed and published by Lucasfilm Games. It was Lucasfilm's first published video game, and it was initially released for the Commodore 64 and Apple II. A comedy horror parody of B movies, it follows teenager Dave Miller as he ventures...

, released in 1987, where the main character enters a mansion in order to rescue his girlfriend from a mad scientist.

Gameplay

The player moves Hugo around by using the arrow keys on the keyboard, and controls his actions by entering commands on the keyboard (or, in the later-released Windows version, one can use the mouse).

Inspiration

In an interview, the game's designer David Gray claimed that he had never played Maniac Mansion and was only aware of the game's similarities after it was released, "Unbelievable as it may seem, when I wrote Hugo's House of Horrors in 1989 I was completely unaware of Maniac Mansion and to this day have never played it. Why? So I can truthfully say I've never played it! The truth is that Hugo's House of Horrors was actually inspired after playing the original Sierra game Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards

Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards

Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards is the alliterative title to an adventure computer game first released in 1987, the first part of the Leisure Suit Larry series. It was a completely graphical adventure game with 16 color EGA graphics. It utilizes the Adventure Game Interpreter ...

and as far as game mechanics and look, Hugo should have more in common with that game".

Sequels

In 1991 GDA released a sequel, Hugo II, Whodunit?

Hugo II, Whodunit?

Hugo II, Whodunit? is an adventure game released for DOS in 1991. It is the sequel to 1990's Hugo's House of Horrors.-Plot:In the game, the player controls Hugo's girlfriend, Penelope, who must investigate Hugo's mysterious murder during a romantic getaway at her uncle's mansion.-Gameplay:The...

, and in 1992 a third installment, Hugo III, Jungle of Doom!

Hugo III, Jungle of Doom!

Hugo III, Jungle of Doom! is an adventure game released for DOS in 1992. It is the third game in the series, following 1990's Hugo's House of Horrors and 1991's Hugo II, Whodunit?.-Plot:...

. Nitemare 3-D

Nitemare 3D

Nitemare 3D is a first-person shooter PC game with a horror theme, released by Gray Design Associates in June 1994 on MS-DOS and Windows 3.x platforms. It consisted of three episodes, the first of which was released as a demo...

, a game that came out in 1994, is arguably the fourth (and so far final) installment of the Hugo series, though Nitemare 3-D, instead of being an adventure game, is a Wolfenstein 3D

Wolfenstein 3D

Wolfenstein 3D is a video game that is generally regarded by critics and gaming journalists as having both popularized the first-person shooter genre on the PC and created the basic archetype upon which all subsequent games of the same genre would be built. It was created by id Software and...

clone, in which Hugo ventures into the haunted mansion to rescue Penelope by shooting enemies with various guns.

External links

• Official site
• Hugo's House of Horrors at GameFAQs
  GameFAQs
  GameFAQs is a website that hosts FAQs and walkthroughs for video games. It was created in November 1995 by Jeff "CJayC" Veasey and was bought by CNET Networks in May 2003. It is currently owned by CBS Interactive. The site has a database of video game information, cheat codes, reviews, game saves,...
  
  
• Classic DOS Games has all of the Hugo shareware demos for download.