7 Days a Skeptic

4 Suspense in space with sudden scares and ssss...
7 Days a Skeptic is the second game in Yahtzee’s Chzo Mythos series (preceded by 5 Days a Stranger), and it’s just as worthwhile a trip as its prequel. The first game locked you in the mansion with the only decent reasoning of evil magic, but 7 Days gives a true feeling of isolation; the entire game is set on board a small space vessel. The setting is put to good use, too. The clean interior seems rather stark at first, but after walking outside the ship in your spacesuit, it will seem a LOT more inviting.

In fact, if you don’t follow the steps given to you when trying to go outside the ship, you die. While it may sound unnecessary, it actually adds a touch of realism and feels more like a nice detail most games ignore. The design details are aided by appropriately haunting music and very fitting sound effects. The graphics are also well done, above being simply functional but not quite beautiful. The blood and gore is rather shocking though, to the point that those with rather weak stomachs for violence might have to take a pass on this one.

The writing and pacing of the story are spot-on; this should come as no surprise if you played 5 Days a Stranger. The cast is small, yet distinct. This greatly enhances the loss once things start going awry; the small number of people on board is dwindling, leaving you more and more alone to face the horror. The ending seems rather quick (and the very last thing you see is a movie reference, not “important”), but it’s a really interesting and unexpected twist. It should also be noted that your character isn’t a skeptic the way 5 Days’ Trilby was a stranger; Yahtzee stated in an interview that they were both aesthetic choices and “stranger” was coincidentally fitting.

What of the puzzles? For the most part, they’re just the right difficulty as to not slow down the story, barring one BIG exception. One puzzle requires you to stand in a certain place and use an item, but you can never especially examine that spot to know its importance. Had some sort of “look” description been made for this (as a good place to hide or recollect some past event), the puzzle would’ve been a lot easier. I simply mention it because I know for a fact that many others were equally confounded by the solution, but it’s forgivable considering the high quality of the rest of the game.

There’s really little more I could say to do 7 Days a Skeptic justice. You should certainly play 5 Days a Stranger first, not out of necessity, but because it will greatly improve your enjoyment of the story. Be sure to play Trilby’s Notes and 6 Days a Sacrifice to complete the series!