The 8th, 9th & 10th Guest

WHAT FOLLOWED THE 7TH GUEST

■ A sequel to The 7th Guest was sort of announced in the credits of the first game – because it was called The 7th Guest, Vol I there. And according to Graeme, development of The 11th Hour actually began while work on The 7th Guest was still in full swing. A ‘more of the same’ quick-release was planned, which would have been in the shops in March 1994. But then Trilobyte’s ambitions got the better of it. Much more sophisticated filming and lots of modern technology meant that The 11th Hour was not released until November 1995, on four CDS and costing $11 million – but it only sold around 500,000 copies. But that was far from the end: there was a spin-off called Uncle Henry’s Mindblower, which bundled 13 of the well-known puzzles without FMV ballast around it as a quick lunchtime brainteaser on one disc for a small price – and is said to have sold less than 300 copies worldwide, although Graeme denies this figure. There was also a quasi-sequel called Clandestiny, which added comic art from South Korea to the 3D rendered graphics, but remained the same in terms of content – and also flopped. Just like Rob’s pet project, the enormously elaborate interactive psychological thriller Tender Loving Care. The 7th Guest Part III: The Collector was also planned, as was a sequel called The 13th Soul from Legend Entertainment, but neither project ever came to fruition. Unlike The 13th Doll: a fan project that, after successful Kickstarter funding, was released on Halloween 2019 with the official blessing of Trilobyte, essentially following the original game seamlessly.