Mystiques: Haunted Antiques goes in the running for the ‘best game description’ stakes, describing itself as “an adventure mystery game about the four worst women you’ve ever met running a failing antique store. Also, it is haunted.” A stand-out concept with devilishly cute ‘n’ spooky visuals, I was drawn to their booth at SXSW Sydney, eager to see how my antique dreams would become reality.
In Mystiques: Haunted Antiques, you’ll spend your time raiding the homes of the deceased, run-down motels and more. You’ll have to use your psychic powers to uncover haunted antiques (and un-haunted, but still fabulously retro, antiques), which you can sell back at the shop. You’ll also get to connect with spirits left behind in antiques to uncover their secrets
My demo time started out with the direction to decorate the windows of the shop, in any way I pleased. It is very satisfying and tactile to pick up, look at, and place items in various locations. This isn’t necessarily a puzzle; instead, you can decorate the windows however you like. The player I watched do this directly before me took it upon themselves to place everything as if it were some sort of challenge, while I went for a more minimalist approach, trying to make it pleasing to the eye, symmetrical and appealing (thanks, retail background). It’s cosy in its own way, even though spirits are looming.
“Where would this item fit in my window display? Is it worth taking back with me to show off, or best left to gather dust?”
The next section had me exploring a location to grab antiques I could bring back to the shop to sell; there are a whole bunch of knick-knacks you can choose to pin to your (limited) inventory and bring back with you. My looter brain made me want to grab everything in sight, but even in my short time playing Mystiques, I was considering the aesthetic of my store. Where would this item fit in my window display? Is it worth taking back with me to show off, or best left to gather dust? There’s a lot of variety in the objects, from old musical instruments to strange statues, elaborate vases and everything in between, so part of the fun in Mystiques will be seeing how different folk set up their displays.
The dialogue is snappy and witty, and your main character Gem strolls around the environments casually, checking out the antiques on offer; a meter on the bottom right lets you know if you’re near a haunted item, but you’ll have to investigate items a little more closely to find the spirits within. In my playtime, a record player was the culprit, only triggered by actually placing the needle on the record to give it a spin. The leisurely pace of inspecting the details of items and cataloguing them is charming, and the bright pinks and eerie lighting just add to the mysterious vibe. While I didn’t get too deep into the story, what’s there as a setup has me more than curious at this point.
Delightfully, Mystiques: Haunted Antiques was the recipient of the People’s Choice Award at SXSW Sydney 2024, which means that it had the most votes from industry attendees across the week. Clearly, the team at Lemonade Games in Sydney is doing something right, with a killer concept, executed in a unique way that is easy to pick up and enjoy – with something deeply weird lurking within, of course.
Mystiques: Haunted Antiques is one to keep your spiritual eye on. You can wishlist it now on Steam.
About the Author
Luke Mitchell
he/him
Luke spends his time making radio, playing video games, binge-watching TV, getting unreasonably invested in wrestling, hosting bear events and hanging out with his beautiful pets.
