a point and click adventure, can give you that edge of your seat feel. Dark Fall: The Journal, definitely does this. Although it's not the most technologically advanced of games, it has a gripping story coupled with subtle nuances that add a dimension of fear to the experience. Add in some puzzles and a lot of investigating and what you have is a pretty decent game." Adventure Gamers' Evan Dickens was the first professional critic to review the game when Boakes independently released it in 2002. Dickens scored it 3.5 out of 5, writing "it shows the dedication of a true adventure fan to his genre and the elements that make an adventure game such an enjoyable experience." He also praised the atmosphere of the game; "The best part of Dark Fall is summarized in one word: atmosphere. This game demands that you turn off the lights and turn up the speakers. Boakes has succeeded masterfully at creating a world that is truly creepy." He concluded "It's clear that this is not a big-budget professional game that has been beta tested by large groups. There are small annoyances, such as not being able to skip the intro sequence if you select New Game. These are minor quibbles, though, and do not take away from the fact that Dark Fall is involving and intriguing." GameSpot's Scott Osborne scored it 6.4 out of 10, criticizing the low graphical and sound quality, and writing "Dark Fall breaks no new ground and puts too much emphasis on puzzles, but its meticulously detailed world and paranormal detective story generally keep things entertaining." Of the general gameplay, he wrote, "the game puts too much emphasis on puzzle solving, and some of the puzzles, while quite interesting because of their intricate detail and diversity, can be too obscure and perplexing. It's also a shame that the game so often relies on the old adventure-game cliché of telling its story through clues offered by written materials." GameSpy's Tom Chick scored it 2 out of 5. He was critical of some of the puzzles; "It's driven by the sort of maddening adventure game logic that had a hand in killing the genre. But there's no denying this is part of what defined the genre: clever (and often implausible) solutions from some weird corner of the brain most of us never exercise." He praised the detailed backstory, artwork, atmosphere and