When it comes to puzzle games in a 3D realm, atmosphere is what consistently keeps me hooked into the world whose mysteries I’m unraveling. Games like The Witness and The Talos Principle did so in a way that had me reflect on existentialism, and as such, remained very impactful in my experience. When I first looked at The House of Hikmah, I had a feeling this would be another special experience to immerse myself in, this time in the realm of Middle Eastern inspiration.
While I did get a decent experience with a fascinating narrative about grief, loss, and navigating such feelings as someone in a “coming of age” journey, the game experience was marred by bugs that made it difficult to enjoy.
The House of Hikmah initially stands out as an interesting foray into Middle Eastern culture. The characters you interact with are historical scholars of the Islamic Golden Age, including the likes of Ismail al-Jazari and Fatima al-Fihri who are known for their pursuits in mechanical engineering and founding the world’s first university, the al-Qarawiyyin Mosque, respectively. This dedication to featuring real scholars from different periods in Islamic history is something I really appreciate, as I feel like this culture is not nearly as often represented in media as other cultures.
Each of these scholars host their own trials to train Maya, the protagonist, to unlock the secrets of her device called The Key. With The Key, you are able to manipulate the composition of objects around you to make them transparent, heavy as steel, or reflective as glass. The puzzles in this game get really creative with how these abilities are utilized, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time exploring each scholar’s domain.
However, as much as I loved the narrative and puzzle mechanics, my experience went downhill with some bugs related to loading saves and progress not loading properly.
There were times where after loading my save, it was difficult to progress and I’d have to redo entire rooms all over again. At one point, I thought I had locked myself out from continuing the story, only to find that not talking to NPCs prevented the barrier from spawning that held me back from continuing my playthrough. There were even occurrences where NPCs stood around but I couldn’t interact with them.
Often times, I would reload a save only to find that objects were not loaded properly, so puzzles were just left unsolvable unless I loaded an earlier save from when I first entered the room. This only happened a couple of times, but for such a short game, those moments matter a lot.
At just around 4 to 5 hours per playthrough, The House of Hikmah is a short game that offers an interesting story, though I think it would have been nice to see more areas for Maya to explore and more puzzles to solve, as I did enjoy the ones that were present. Beneath the progress-reducing bugs, there are elements of a good game in The House of Hikmah. If more time had been put into polishing the game, I think it would have been a far more enjoyable experience. Thankfully, the producer has been very receptive to technical feedback, so these technical issues are being addressed.
The House of Hikmah is an enjoyable window into Islamic history, with puzzles that let you experiment with different forms of matter as you progress through a coming-of-age story about grief and not letting loss completely weigh you down. It’s a game with fantastic ideas that struggles with mechanical issues that inhibit the gameplay experience.
When it comes to puzzle games in a 3D realm, atmosphere is what consistently keeps me hooked into the world whose mysteries I’m unraveling. Games like The Witness and The Talos Principle did so in a way that had me reflect on existentialism, and as such, remained very impactful in my experience. When I first looked at The House of Hikmah, I had a feeling this would be another special experience to immerse myself in, this time in the realm of Middle Eastern inspiration.
When it comes to puzzle games in a 3D realm, atmosphere is what consistently keeps me hooked into the world whose mysteries I’m unraveling. Games like The Witness and The Talos Principle did so in a way that had me reflect on existentialism, and as such, remained very impactful in my experience. When I first looked at The House of Hikmah, I had a feeling this would be another special experience to immerse myself in, this time in the realm of Middle Eastern inspiration.
While I did get a decent experience with a fascinating narrative about grief, loss, and navigating such feelings as someone in a “coming of age” journey, the game experience was marred by bugs that made it difficult to enjoy.
The House of Hikmah initially stands out as an interesting foray into Middle Eastern culture. The characters you interact with are historical scholars of the Islamic Golden Age, including the likes of Ismail al-Jazari and Fatima al-Fihri who are known for their pursuits in mechanical engineering and founding the world’s first university, the al-Qarawiyyin Mosque, respectively. This dedication to featuring real scholars from different periods in Islamic history is something I really appreciate, as I feel like this culture is not nearly as often represented in media as other cultures.
Each of these scholars host their own trials to train Maya, the protagonist, to unlock the secrets of her device called The Key. With The Key, you are able to manipulate the composition of objects around you to make them transparent, heavy as steel, or reflective as glass. The puzzles in this game get really creative with how these abilities are utilized, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time exploring each scholar’s domain.
However, as much as I loved the narrative and puzzle mechanics, my experience went downhill with some bugs related to loading saves and progress not loading properly.
There were times where after loading my save, it was difficult to progress and I’d have to redo entire rooms all over again. At one point, I thought I had locked myself out from continuing the story, only to find that not talking to NPCs prevented the barrier from spawning that held me back from continuing my playthrough. There were even occurrences where NPCs stood around but I couldn’t interact with them.
Often times, I would reload a save only to find that objects were not loaded properly, so puzzles were just left unsolvable unless I loaded an earlier save from when I first entered the room. This only happened a couple of times, but for such a short game, those moments matter a lot.
At just around 4 to 5 hours per playthrough, The House of Hikmah is a short game that offers an interesting story, though I think it would have been nice to see more areas for Maya to explore and more puzzles to solve, as I did enjoy the ones that were present. Beneath the progress-reducing bugs, there are elements of a good game in The House of Hikmah. If more time had been put into polishing the game, I think it would have been a far more enjoyable experience. Thankfully, the producer has been very receptive to technical feedback, so these technical issues are being addressed.
The House of Hikmah is an enjoyable window into Islamic history, with puzzles that let you experiment with different forms of matter as you progress through a coming-of-age story about grief and not letting loss completely weigh you down. It’s a game with fantastic ideas that struggles with mechanical issues that inhibit the gameplay experience.
by Michael Fertitta
