The House of Tesla: Definitive Edition
Our verdict
7/10
- Difficulty: Medium
- Players: 1
- Playtime: 6–12 h
The House of Tesla: Definitive Edition is a first-person puzzle adventure from Blue Brain Games, the studio behind The House of Da Vinci. You explore Nikola Tesla's abandoned Wardenclyffe facility, his New York lab and the Chicago World's Fair, solving mechanical puzzles to power up his inventions, with a special device that channels electricity. It suits solo players who like long, handcrafted puzzle-box adventures in the style of The Room.
Players rate it Mostly Positive, with about 73 percent of nearly 600 reviews in favour. Fans praise the gorgeous locations, music and steady pacing, and say puzzles are challenging without feeling unfair, helped by a well-judged hint system. Several returning players found it a little easier than Da Vinci, and one notes the electricity device is underused. Playtimes run from about six hours to well beyond ten.
Criticism centres on presentation and story: one player disliked the fixed point-to-point movement and found a late occult, Egyptian-themed section tacked on, and another hit a game-breaking hang. At full price it is a sizeable purchase. Fans of Blue Brain's earlier games should get it; others may want to wait for a sale.
Pros
- Tactile mechanical puzzles built around Tesla's inventions
- Handsome historical locations and a strong soundtrack
- Hint system that guides without spoiling
Cons
- Fixed point-to-point movement irritates some players
- Story and late occult turn draw criticism
- Pricey, with at least one report of a game-breaking hang
About
We invite you to step into the eerie abandoned halls of Tesla’s Wardenclyffe facility and uncover the story behind one of history’s greatest unfinished innovations: Nikola Tesla's ambitious vision of wireless electricity transmission. You can expect new handcrafted puzzles, hauntingly beautiful locations and challenges for your brain’s gray (or blue) matter. You will be able to look at the world through the eyes of one of the most famous inventors, the father of electricity, the man behind alternating current, the science wizard, Nikola Tesla.
You will need to be industrious and peer under the surface to prevail.
Science brings mysteries toward the light one by one, strips them of their secrets, and makes them part of something greater. It is true that some myths are rooted too deeply, are too resilient, and even seem like having a mind of their own as they resist men of science trying to shine the light of understanding. But in the end, science and mystery are anything but anathema to each other. On one stormy night, a person was brought to this world. A child of darkness and a child of light, full of mysteries and full of scientific curiosity, just starting to build a myth of their own.
You will explore the eerie abandoned industrial buildings of Nikola Tesla’s most ambitious facility in Wardenclyffe, which was meant to become an important city where the future is today and every societal process is improved upon by the principles of free wireless electrical energy.
Through the eyes of the man himself you’ll watch the important moments that lead to the construction and later to the fall of the famous Wardenclyffe Tower, and slowly uncover the mystery that left you stranded among deserted machines.
Fresh locations based on real places and plans of the enigmatic Nikola Tesla
Mysterious story from our take on the Progressive Era America
New dynamic approach to storytelling using flashbacks into the past
Use a device that allows you to see and influence the flow of electricity
New handcrafted puzzles to challenge yourself
