Nice little surprise. I'm not sure what the people complaining about characters were expecting but it's not that kind of game. I'm nearly towards the end now, though, so maybe a bit short. But it's extremely atmospheric and quite enjoyable.

In all honesty I love this game.
I remember playing the Witch's house when it came out and the two are very similar.
If you like horror, and games like corpse party, mad father and ib, you'll love this gem of a game.
9.4/10

Initially, I didn't like the game much. I thought the pacing was a little too slow for my tastes, and I didn't have a lot of direction in the beginning so I felt confused too often. I pressed on, though, and I'm glad I did! The puzzles weren't linear (enter the room, do the puzzle, get the reward) which I liked very much, and the story managed to keep me guessing.

I certainly found the game disturbing and suspenseful, but there isn't much typical stuff like jumpscares or whatever, it's slightly more psychological, I guess. Things can be blatantly terrifying, but it doesn't resort to cheap tricks, which I like. I hear it gets compared to Silent Hill a lot, so I suppose that would be accurate.

I found the characters to be very interesting, especially the Goatherd(er...) and the Red Camerlengo, and I thought the patroling aspect of the game kept me on my toes, especially when RC came into play. Scary ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. Creepy whispering. Ugh.

The only complaint I really have about this game is I felt the endings were a bit lackluster, and I expected, at least, for the true ending(?) to have a bit more meat on its bones, but instead it was pretty similar to another ending with different narration. The game itself had a lot more potential than I feel it followed through on. I still enjoyed myself, and I hope that Baroque Decay continues to make more games!

A short little pixel horror. Rewards patience and thinking outside the box.

Holy ♥♥♥♥ play this game 10/10.I love it to death.This like Undertale recommendation level.One of my favorite games

I played this expecting a creepy pixel horror game with some Zelda-like puzzles. I wasn't expecting the story to be so developed and interesting. It was reminiscent of a Grimm fairy tale. The story is told through the view of a child who has some... let's say "issues" to work through, and the story reflects those issues back on him in a creepy, nightmarish fashion. I like that the game presents the player with decisions that alter the story. I'm curious to know what might have happened if I'd made different decisions.

I never leave reviews, but I was a beta tester on this, and couldn't help but tell the guys in my feedback how much I liked the game, so I thought, what the heck, I should write this where it's useful.

As a note, I was a beta tester but I did *not* receive the game for free. I purchased it prior to becoming a beta tester.

I'm not gonna go into too much into details, because it would be spoilery, and the game deserves to not be spoiled. Here goes:

I went in expecting a nice little indie game, with somewhat ok mechanics and an interesting story. I was mainly looking for something to lull me to sleep.
Began the game at 3am, expecting to fall asleep half an hour later. At 6am, I was still fully awake, at the edge of my seat. Somehow, the little blurry pixels manage to create a tension I haven't felt since I was a kid. I actually wrote to the guys "I haven't been that afraid since the first Silent Hill, when I was a kid", before even knowing Silent Hill was referenced in the blurb.

So far, I'm enjoying this a lot. The only downside is the walking speed is a bit too slow for my taste, but I can't deny a faster pace might impact negatively the feeling of tension that I enjoy so much, so I'm not even certain it's a bad point.

Graphically, it's either your cup of tea or it's not. Personally, I love the illustrations, but I liked the in-game graphics a bit less. After playing though, I feel like the lack of details is a smart choice for the game, and I wouldn't want it to look any different. It allows a lot of the action to happen in your head, and that's much more frightening than the most realistically rendered 3D monster.

Otherwise, dialogues are smart and fun, puzzles varied and just challenging enough (and don't really feel like puzzles), mechanics to the point and relevant (you never feel like there's some tacked-on mechanic just for the sake of). Despite the slow walking, they even manage to put in quite a lot of movement-based challenges, so don't be deceived by the stills, this is not a walk-and-talk game. I wouldn't say the challenges are taxing on reflexes (anyone with a bit of gaming experience could probably clear them), but they're still movement and position-based.
Sound design is really good too, layered, deep, and accurate.

Finally, do not think this is an easy game. Sure, it's no Dark Souls, but it's not a walk in the park either. And you have to *buy* save points. This creates a wealth of interesting behaviors on your part as you try to manage your money and your play time efficiently.

I can't say for sure if anyone would like this game, but I'm fairly certain a varied audience can find enjoyment in it. If you like narratives, you'll like it. If you like puzzles, you'll like it. If you like exploration, you'll like it. If you like fright, you'll like it...And so on.

The Count Lucanor borrows from multiple sources but manages to be quite a healthy dose of more than the sum of its inspirations. It is its own thing, not really neatly categorizable (as most interesting games are).

If the screenshots give you any sort of positive feeling, I'd say go for it. My bet is you'll be satisfied.

Best of luck to the developers, I hope you guys sell a lot and go on making other cool games!

I love this game, the monsters are so creepy and there's a perfect mix of suspense and puzzles. I didn't know what I was expecting from the game but I fell in love with it pretty quick and it is my second favourite game (below Undertale).

Already played Undertale? Then play the second best game I've played in a really long time. This one. The Count Lucanor delivers on its promises of having your choices matter. It's got multiple endings, so unless you use a guide and knock them all out in one playthrough *cough* you'll have plenty of replay value here. Even then, there's more than one solution to some problems.

The writing in this game is top notch. I love the characters. I haven't read the story this is based on, cause it's from like 1899 and I'd never heard of it til I played this game, but you shouldn't go looking it up until after you've beaten the game for blatant spoiler reasons. So I dunno how well it sticks to the source material. But I don't really care, either.

In terms of graphics, it's got that whole old school video game vibe going for it, with some pretty portraits and beautiful cutscenes tossed in. If you're bothered by retro graphics then you probably didn't play Undertale either, and you and I just don't have much to talk about. Why are you even reading this? Go back to your shiny new age games, if you can't handle a few pixels.

The music's alright. Fit's the vibe, can be quite creepy at times. I'm not going to be blaring it from my car speakers as I drive to work in the mornings, but it's all well composed and doesn't get too repetative.

The gameplay is one of this game's strongpoints. It may look like a point and click adventure but I played the whole thing using a controller and never had any issues. The Count Lucanor is a challenging game, but it's not an unfair one. There's a few hard achievements and you're going to die in this game (Hans isn't the fastest on his feet so if you walk in front of certain enemies you'll lose a lot of blood before you can get away) but there's plenty of healing items if you know where to look and only use them when you need to. The puzzles are relatively easy; there's no Siera logic to worry about. Just save every time you think you've accomplished something signifigant and you'll be fine. If you didn't do things a certain way you might get stuck on the game's most direct puzzle, but if you keep at it you'll figure it out eventually. Or you'll give up and look up the answer. I'm not gonna judge you. This is a safe place.

Overall I found this to be a very rewarding experience. It's fun, it's creepy, heck sometimes it's downright scary. I get the feeling I'll be coming back to this one again and again over time, even after I've done a full Let's Play of it. You may develop a fear of livestock from playing this game, and you'd come by it honestly. Give The Count Lucanor a shot and you'll be hooked too. Buy it on sale if you have to, but I bought it at full price (it's cheap) and have no regrets. You don't wanna miss out on this trip down the rabbit hole.

Okay, so I just bought this game a few days ago and started playing it, and I love it so far! It's super creepy and interesting... So far, I'd reccomend it. The only thing is... Hans only has 1 hit left before he dies, and I have bread, cheese, nd nuts to heal myself, but when I equip them and press E (use), nothing happens! Can someone help me please?? Thank you!

It was an absolutly adorable game in my opinion. I love pixel games and this one is the best I have seen in a while. I was able to finish one ending in about four hours or so. Its a hard game to really describe but it seems like one of those point and click games but its not. Its kinda like a hide and seek game with monsters as you try and solve the mystery/curse of the castle. Its got a cute story and likeable characters.

If you do happen to want to buy the game, then I believe you will be statisfied with the experience that you get from it. I believe the price is fair but if your in no hurry to buy the game then I think waiting for it to go on sale wouldnt be that bad of an idea as well.

There are mosters in the game but I dont really thik there that scary. You can easily avoid them with the hiding spots that the game gives you and tey give you a reasonable amount of food items to heal you as well. There are puzzles but their not that hard to figure out. This game also rewards you in the long run, if you play the nice goodie too shoes character then a cruel and selfish one. There are some youtubers as well who are playing the game like "rpgminx" is going a series on it right now I believe, so if you want a visiual example of the game then go watch her videos.

But over all, I like the game, it was cute with its pixel art, the music was okay - there wasn't anthing amazing about the music but it wasn't bad either. Would I say to still buy the game, ever after I have played it? Yes I would still buy it. There were also mysteries in the game that i wasnt able to fine in the first play through so if your a dictated gamer then you could probabaly go about three-four runs through the game before you finsih ever thing.

Over all I give the game 8 out of 10!

The only cons were: the music could have been better and there was a boss fight near the end but the boss was kinda irritating but I did beat it on the first try kinda (spoiler you dont really beat the boss but you grab like an item and then leave kinda deal) and the last con is that you need candles in the game to see, so I wish they gave you more candles. They give you a pretty desient amount as you go through the game but I wish they had given you a butt-ton instead.

Nope.

A delightful little pixel horror that encourages you to play it again in order to have a grotesque party, see all of the delightful sights of the castle, and enjoy all of the wonderful things it has to offer.

The game isn't particularly long and the puzzles aren't very difficult. The Count Lucanor is going to push you to be very patient and think for solutions to puzzles and wait for those pesky enemies to pass by so you can pass freely on your way to get rich or die trying. Or something. I don't know. You're ten in this game and you're a total snot-nosed brat. Whatever kids do to get rich in a medieval setting. I guess lemonade stands don't work in this.

Hans is an interesting protagonist, though. He's poor. He's mad. He wants something to change. He's upset his birthday feels like an ordinary day. I feel you, Hans. I feel you. So after he storms off, things become a relative acid trip. This is like a 70s filmed fairytale cartoon, only there's a lot more death. Think of this as Little Red Riding Hood paired with Alice in Wonderland and pepper that with some Hansel and Gretel. Then we throw in a dungeon crawler game with some classic horror hiding mechanics. It's an interesting thing to try and blend together, but it really works. Some of your enemies are terrifying and Lovecraftian. Some look like they're ripped out of a 90s anime. Others look like your standard dungeon crawling enemies. The thing is, you can't actually attack anyone. You're ten. All you can do is run and hide.

The hiding can get very irritating because the enemies are smart. They know about where you disappeared to and they will come after you. They will lurk in the area. If you disappeared behind a door, they will still be there. In a way, this is sort of an improvement upon old games that instantly reset enemies. If someone saw you go into a door, obviously they should be there waiting for you. Realistic, yeah. It's still hard to make a daring escape that way.

Those same smart enemies also have a very nice range of pull so if you didn't get out of the way in the time you needed to, prepare your buns, hun. They will just pull you everywhere and it's um, not polite. Keep your tentacles to yourself. That's quite rude, you know. You didn't even buy me dinner. Speaking of, there's something about this game that does make me very happy. Every time you die, it's your fault. There's no overpowered character. There's nothing there that you can blame on the game. It's always your poor planning or your impatience that killed you. After dying multiple times in one area, I found there was another way around. Let's just place on my little hat that says "Shame on Me" and pretend I didn't have some death run that even some kind of famous youtuber would envy for some views. I learned my lesson.

Anyway, much like all fairytales, this game is incredibly dark and topics of murder and torture are tossed around like a joke. If you don't think fairytales are dark, remember that parent figures regularly murder children in the santized versions. Okay? Okay. So. This is all some blood covered goodness. In fact, that's literal in many parts of the game. Sure, the blue kobold is adorable and Hans has these kawaii anime eyes, but this gets dark. Even the storyline gets pretty dark, though that doesn't really kick in until the last part of the game.

Visually, The Count Lucanor is pleasing for pixels. There's still a lot that can be accomplished with pixels and told in pixels. This game is perfect for it. It's bright and completely tricks you into thinking this game is going to be happy while it mops the floor with a bucket of blood. You know, for the grotesque party we'll have later. Yeah. I can't really comment on the music because it's period appropriate classical music. An untrained ear wouldn't figure out what it is. If you're a mega nerd, you'll just be grinning like a lunatic while you keep playing and whispering music jokes. Please don't. I'm one of these nerds. You'll start groaning at your own jokes. I'm warning you ahead of time not to do that to yourself. Just keep playing and don't do that.

It's not incredibly high horror. The worst jumpscare I got was the loading screen when I had a little kobold staring at me and letting me know my game was loading. If I clicked on it now, he'd still scare me. He doesn't make a noise and it still makes me want to scream. He is not pleasant to look at. A certain Charlemengo is not my cup of tea, but it's more like he gives me the heebie jeebies rather than makes me jump out of my seat. There's nothing that's going to just jump into your screen and latch onto your face. The Count Lucanor wants you to be uncomfortable and increases your discomfort gradually as you progress. As you piece together the story you're about to unfold, you keep finding out more unfortunate things. I'd probably call this light horror, even with some of the chunky and gooey bits we see in game. Don't go into this thinking you're going to scream and start getting jumpscares. This is not that kind of game.

As always because I'm the one who has to make a note of it, here's your health info from someone who does things she shouldn't. There are not that many scenes of flashing lights. It's a video game, you're going to expect some. Sure. But these were pretty low and dimmed. I got the effects of "whooosh magical powers activated" and didn't get flashed into Migraine Town. Or Seizure Ville. (Gee why do I still play video games then? Good question.) There's still a few short scenes and if you're sensitive to them, obviously you shouldn't play. But if you're not too badly off, hey you could probably handle it. Otherwise no other problems.

The only people who should not play this game is if you're not patient. If you're impatient, this game will suck for you. If you can just take five minutes to breathe and think, you'll be fine. I think most people can enjoy this game. If you've got a twisted sense of humor, this is probably something you'll really like. If you just want to send a ten-year-old off to his possible doom for the promise of fame and fortune that may not even be there, then...sure! Sure, great! Get it!

I really enjoyed this game. It felt like it was made with love.

+Fantastic pixel art and soundtrack
+Original game concept
+Creepiness factor
+Classic story without feeling cliche
+Great gameplay
+Good length, not too long or short
+Alternate endings

-Feels slightly unpolished (AI, translations, map, puzzles)
-Unclear achievements
-A few story loose ends

9.25/10

Don't be fooled, this game is serious horror. Most of the time your only option is to run away. And by run I mean walk slowly as fast as you can, dodging horrific denizens of the worst nightmare you've ever had, stumbling through the dark cause you've used your last candle. The Horror, For REAL. Few games have creeped me out as quickly or thoroughly as The Count Lucanor and I'm only two hours in. This is a brilliant game that fools you into complacency then rips your secure feelings from your beating heart. Play it, you will love it. Highly recommended for everyone.

A very clever mix of genres, part Grimm fairytale, part stealth horror survival game in the guise of an old jrpg.
Wonderfully athmospheric, creepy and humorous all at the same time.
Challenging enough to keep the fun factor up while exploring and seeing the story unfold.

What an intriguing, unique experience. I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll be light on details.

This game is short, I think I beat it in an evening of play, certainly within a few; however, the experience is well worth the price of admission.

I do wonder if the developers ran out of time/money as the second act feels far more rushed than the first and the player is left without answers to many mysteries that seem important in the first half. That said, if my greatest complaint is that I was left wanting more...

There need to be more games like The Count Lucanor.

I enjoyed my time with this tile. If you go in not expecting a grand challenge from the puzzles, and just relax and enjoy the atmosphere you'll have a great experience. The characters are interesting to interact with, and the setting crafted takes the cake home. I enjoyed my exploration of the castle, and solving the mystery of the Count, The puzzles were simple, but well designed to lead you quickly into the next area. I only had a hard time with one puzzle from assuming a obvious item was not collectable. So that was on me.

I came straight to The Count Lucanor from Undertale, when I saw the PSA they linked to a Rock, Paper, Shotgun article on this title. I was not dissapointed in taking the chance on The Count Lucanor, And I look foreward to the next title released by Baroque Decay.

I really enjoyed following the adventure of Hans, and his experience in the twisted castle of the Count Lucanor.
The story is simple but intriguing, the puzzles are decent, the characters you meet are twisted, the music is lovely, and the graphics are amazing for being 8-bit/16-bit.

Pros

• Beautiful 8-bit/16-bit graphics!
  
• Music!
  
• Story!
  
• Multiple endings

Cons

• Hans moves a tad slow
  
• No running, even in the face of things that wants to eat your face

You can find my whole review of the Count Lucanor here!

(The review key for The Count Lucanor was supplied by the developer Baroque Decay free of charge)

I wanted to like The Count Lucanor. The trailer showed its beautiful visual appeal, and I'm a sucker for well developed characters and story. I got a huge kick out of Undertale, which while a little simplistic and saccarine at times (at least on the mercy playthrough), had solid pacing and never grew overambitious. I say this because, when I bought The Count Lucanor, I was really hoping for was another Undertale -- solid gameplay (point and click puzzles instead of bullet hell shooting) with strong narrative to keep me invested.

I just don't feel The Count Lucanor met me half way.

Count Lucanor wants to explore the duality of European fairytale: Something that opens with childhood whimsy but seems to turn morbid the moment the storyteller decides their impetuous little charge is starting to lose interest. It wants to be a "Heinrich Hoffman, eat your heart out" kind of story. Good concept, I was behind it 100% of the way. Depth and dichotomy are the cornerstones of good characters and plot. So where were they, Baroque Decay?

I played this game the way I play most creepy games. I get some friends together with some snacks, and we sit around a computer, alternating who plays and who sits around eating snacks, berating the current player's decisions, and making snarky comment on the dialogue. Pounding horror games in single sittings where psychological fatigue would otherwise slow us down. Good old family fun. But by the end of our most recent session, it was kindly recommended that I return the game and get my $10 back. We made it in about 1.75 hours, so I'm going to do just that.

Let's start with the character, Hans. Hans is your stereotypical fairytale child. He's fussy, entitled (somehow, in spite of being a peasant), and wouldn't be bothered to learn any moral lessons if fate didn't occasionally provide some horrifying shoggoth to sprinkling chopped nuts on his head while he considers his life choices. There wasn't inherently anything wrong with this choice, but it doesn't mean the writers had to forgo making him the slightest bit relatable.

Hans is a little prick. Maybe they're setting up his character development for later, but an important part of intriguing characters is that they have redeeming qualities, because otherwise I'm practically thrilled when bad things happen to them. But he's the protagonist, so I'm supposed to be invested in him accomplishing his goals, because otherwise Hans and I have a severe conflict of interest.

In the time I played, no other characters stood out either. Each one was wholly one-dimensional. I'm sure the excuse could be made that this was in keeping with the European Fairytale theme, where complexity is an afterthought at best, but the use of inspiration is that it's a jumping off point, not a pig sty to wallow in. Characters are simple in fairytales because they're geared towards children.

The morally choices early on are also blandly inspired by European fairytale, where nuance flies out the window. 3 people will ask you for handouts on the way to your medieval feverdream. Cast out of your mind any questions of, "will this come back to haunt me later?", the answer is no. The items you're given in the game are either readily replaceable, or just plain unnecessary anyway, so the moral dilemma is "do you want these characters to resent you later or not?"

And because all those characters are bland and uninteresting anyway, the correct answer is yes.

The puzzles are ripped directly from The Legend of Zelda, so maybe that'll be a strong point for you. I'm a heretic who never played the series, so Zelda and his green tunic don't hold any nostalgic value to me, and neither do dated block-pushing puzzles. Indie games have the privilege of getting so beautifully experimental with their puzzles because they're not expected to maintain broad accessibility, why you'd settle for the white noise of the puzzle world is a troubling curiosity.

Maybe the experience starts to pick up past the second hour? Sorry Baroque Decay, you knew you were releasing on steam, I don't think asking you to get me hooked within 120 minutes is an absurd request. Theatres earn their $10 on ~120 minutes of content alone, and I can't even tug it during the boring parts.