The 39 Steps is (as most have previously stated) an interactive novel, and NOT a game. There are some elements of interactivity in the form of mouse clicks and even "drawing" patterns with the mouse from time to time, but that's about it. That said, if you know going in you're going to read and occasionally watch/listen to a story, you shouldn't be disappointed.

For the most part, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the story. I would sit down and play one of the 20 or so "chapters" at a time. Having them broken down into 10-15 minute chunks like this helped and allowed me to play at my own pace. The art is very well done, though there is really no actual animation. The voice acting is well done and the ambient sounds and music are a plus.

Being that the story is set prior to WWI (and that I'm American and this is set in the U.K.), some of the dialects and terminology were a bit tricky to follow, but not so much that it detracted form the story itself. Other than that, my only real complaint is that the ending seems somewhat . . . abrupt. I certainly won't spoil anything, but I felt that another couple minutes of gametime could have wrapped it up a little better.

All-in-all, the playthrough was an enjoyable experience and I'm looking forward to The Story Mechanic's next project.

My personal rating for what it is: 7.5/10

Very competent and elegant experiment in literary adaptation to an interactive medium. Not so much a game but an interactive novel. The voice acting is superb and the production values are great. If the developers ever decide to make another game in this same fashion adapting Lovecraft I would buy that in a heartbeat. One can only hope...

This is probably the best book that you will ever play, and with a series of achievements that are unlocked just by going through the story the value is definately worht the price. 10/10 must buy, must read.

"The 39 Steps" is, down to its core, a slightly-interactive-novel. That being said - it's not "bad" by any means. For what it is, it's incredibly well done, and a means in which I would love to continue consume various forms of classical fiction.

Based on the original espionage thriller "The 39 Steps" by John Buchan, you can definitely see where modern day spy stories came from - predating popular fictional characters like James Bond by at least 30 years. This story takes place on the verge of WWI and introduces a character named Richard Hanny, a man on the run after a young American spy divulges sensitive information to him. The game is presented mostly in beautifully painted backdrops, fuzzy silhouettes and the occasional shadow puppet show (of which are quite entertaining). These backgrounds take you from inner-city London, to the moors of Scotland and back again. There isn't much gameplay to be had (to my slight disappointment), but what is present is likened to that of a game like "TRAUMA" - drawing shapes and clicking on things to carry through the cutscene-like chapters.

Simply put - the game is awesome for what it is - but it really needs a bit more interactivity. There is one part that involves the character decoding a notebook. I got really excited, thinking that I'd at least have a mini-game or a puzzle to figure out the code, but alas - the game just carries on like the book. They allow you to zoom in and out on objects you see in the environments - here I am, thinking that I'll have to do some Sherlock Holmes work and pick out clues from the zoomed-in objects, but alas - there isn't much to discover but a few timeline-appropriate advertisements and newspaper articles.

I would love to digest all sorts of fiction this way. From Sherlock Holmes to H.P. Lovecraft to Franz Kafka - I would love to have this sort of artwork and voice acting and sound effects, mood, pacing, attention to detail, and the ease of taking it in via separate chapters (just incase I need to leave and come back to it) - albeit, more interactivity would be preferred.

It is not really a game, it is an interactive story with barely any interaction at all, but I really enjoyed it. A very interesting story and a nicely crafted atmosphere.