Doctor Arcana, a famous magician who lived in a sprawling Gothic mansion known as Arcana Manor, disappeared without a trace several years ago. You feel drawn to the mansion and compelled to find a way in. But once you do, you’re locked inside.

The Cabinets of Doctor Arcana is a throwback to the early computer puzzle games such as The Seventh Guest, Shivers and Jewels of the Oracle. You’ll explore a shadowy realm of magic and illusion and resolve over 50 logic puzzles, word puzzles, mazes, riddles and codes to unlock Doctor Arcana’s darkest secrets. Fail, and the Manor will hold you prisoner forever.

Developer  Joseph Vargo is an artist, writer, musician, founder of the band  Nox Arcana  (which also does the game’s music) and owner of publishing company  Monolith Graphics. I’ve always loved puzzles and adventure RPGs. I’ve designed several board and live-action mystery games throughout the years and have always wanted to create a gothic adventure computer game set in a mysterious mansion filled with diabolical puzzles. The game itself is a puzzle lover’s dream. It’s like the ultimate escape room, or escape house, in this case.

Developer Christine Filipak is an artist, writer and graphic designer, best known as the creator of Madame Endora’s Fortune Cards and for her work as art director for Dark Realms magazine and The Dark Tower book series. It’s a great deal of work to design and create a computer game as involved as this one, especially with a development team of only three people. Each of us had to take on multiple duties, creating the artwork, puzzles, soundtrack and getting everything to work smoothly on multiple platforms. The end result was worth all the time and effort.

Developer Daniel Kennedy is a programmer and game designer. As founder of  The Hideout , he has produced titles such as Manor of the Damned and its upcoming sequel, Isle of the Damned. Daniel is the tech-savvy guru who took all the pretty artwork and crazy ideas and made them function as a game, assembling Arcana Manor one computer file at a time.

For those seeking something more mentally stimulating than the usual arcade game or hidden object adventure, The Cabinets of Doctor Arcana is the game for you. It’s slated for release this Spring on Windows and Mac; exact date TBD.