The Excavation of Hob's Barrow on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information
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The Excavation of Hob's Barrow is a folk horror narrative-driven adventure. Explore the isolated moors of rural Victorian England as you uncover the mysteries of Hob's Barrow. The answers lie in the soil...
The Excavation of Hob's Barrow is a point & click, adventure and horror game
developed by Cloak and Dagger Games
and published by Wadjet Eye Games.
Released on September 28th 2022 is available in English on Windows, MacOS and Linux.
It has received 2,444 reviews of which 2,264 were positive and 180 were negative resulting in a rating of 8.9 out of 10. 😎
The game is currently priced at 12.49€ on Steam, but you can find it for 0.39€ on Eneba.
The Steam community has classified The Excavation of Hob's Barrow into these genres:
Media & Screenshots
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System requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- OS *: Windows XP or higher
- Processor: Pentium or higher
- Memory: 1 GB RAM
- Graphics: 640x360, 32-bit colour: 700 Mhz system minimum
- DirectX: Version 5.2
- Storage: 2 GB available space
- Sound Card: Any
MacOS
- OS: macOS 10.11
- Processor: Any
- Graphics: 640x360, 700 Mhz system minimum
- Storage: 2 GB available space
Linux
- OS: Ubuntu, Debian, Arch - (64bit)
- Processor: 2.7 GHz
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Graphics: Open GL
- Storage: 2 GB available space
- Sound Card: Alsa/DSP/Pulse etc
User reviews & Ratings
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
To me, The Excavation of Hob's Barrow (TEOHB) is first and foremost a love letter to Northern England, and in particular to the beautiful moors around that region. The game does an excellent job at building up a sense of apprehension and intrigue with it's slow-burn plot, and the environment that Thomasina (our protagonist) finds herself in plays a substantial role in the story. The moors are a character to contend with in this game, just as much as any other character we come across. The Lovecraftian horror melds perfectly with this setting - anyone who's travelled to that part of England can attend to its almost alien landscape, both beautiful and yet somewhat inconceivable. I thoroughly enjoyed playing this game, and it gave me a real sense of the 'classic' point-and-click puzzle games I used to play. Although I didn't find the puzzles particularly hard, the rich story and excellent voice acting more than made up for what were some no-brainer challenges. And honestly, sometimes it's nice to just be able to work out a puzzle; this meant that I could stay connected to the story and enjoy what I was playing, without ever feeling frustrated that I couldn't work something out. I have to say, I still came away from the game wishing it had done a few things differently. Firstly, the player learns quickly that that there are conversational choices to be made that hold consequence - I.E. characters Thomasina comes across will behave differently based on what she says or how she reacts. However, upon finishing the game it's pretty clear that these choices ultimately won't change the story's final outcome. This is a shame, as this almost completely negates the desire to replay the game to see how things could be different. Secondly, the plot. It drives towards a conclusion that becomes more and more unattainable in my option - this is because Thomasina, a woman of reason, is faced with clear evidence that her father was clearly trying to do something to prevent something bad from happening. Although it's easy to believe that Thomasina is struggling with the comic mystery of it all, to me it completely went against her character and nature to choose to release Abraxas at the end, knowing that her father wanted to prevent it from escaping. As the player, I would have loved to have been given the choice at the end of the game to NOT give my own blood (and maybe to have some previous conversation choices have their consequences here). Overall, I really did love playing this game. But replayability is close to zero based on the above.
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Great!! Really excellent. This game nails the folk horror atmosphere. It's eerie and beautifully strange. The voice acting is excellent. NPCs have distinct, likeable personalities. The story is genuinely compelling. Puzzles are pretty straightforward and it's always clear what you need to do. Fast travel between locations RULES. The pacing makes this game feel more like a film and I kind of prefer that, but maybe others won't. What I especially love is how grounded everything feels - until it just kinda goes nuts in the final act. Thomasina’s complete obliviousness to the danger she’s bringing upon herself and everyone else builds up this slow, inevitable sense of doom. Watching the train crash in slow motion feels very typical of a Lovecraftian story. My only real gripe is that Hob’s Barrow is labeled a horror game, but it doesn’t feel like one, creating a disconnect in the final act. Thomasina fears nothing, dismisses every supernatural warning, and stays firmly rooted in logic. How can you feel unease when the protagonist doesn't? Even trapped in the barrow, she’s unfazed. Slightly startled by hallucinated cats, then casually picks up a severed hand like it’s nothing. Girl. Fine. Summon the eldritch horror, then. So it ends up feeling more like a jaunty lil romp than true horror - which I kind of dig, but I don’t think that was the intention.
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I have rarely felt compelled to leave a Steam review in the 21 or so years I’ve been on here but I felt compelled to praise this excellent game. I bought it in the sale and have been gripped playing it over the last few days. It’s an English folk horror point and click adventure. For me it was evocative of Lair of the White Worm, American Werewolf in London , Hammer Horror and Wickerman whilst being derivative of none of them. Exploring the world is gripping , the pixel art graphics capturing that wild windy moorland town so well, and the puzzles are fun. The story is excellent and perfectly creepy and the voice acting is outstanding, huge credit to Samantha Beart here , she was just great . Overall I loved this game. Very easy recommend from me.
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The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow is a beautifully crafted folk horror mystery that excels at atmosphere. Its pixel art captures the damp melancholy of the English countryside, and the voice acting is consistently excellent. Samantha Béart’s performance as Thomasina is excellent (many players may recognize her as the voice of Karlach from Baldur’s Gate 3). The musical score fits the tone well, supporting the mood without ever distracting from it, though I wouldn’t call any of it particularly memorable. Together, these elements do create a strong sense of place that carries the game through its slower stretches. The pacing itself is a little uneven. The early chapters feel slow and drawn-out, while the final act feels rushed. The puzzles are generally easy, though a few (like gathering elderflowers, getting milk, or aligning the snake pillar) can be a little confusing. For most puzzles, using the journal clues and exhausting every dialogue option will be key in solving the puzzle or figuring out what's next. There are a few dialogue puzzles or achievement but dialogue choices don’t affect outcomes and mostly serve as flavor, giving only the illusion of choice. Some unskippable sequences, such as having to listen to the entire song by the inn’s musician, are unnecessarily frustrating especially if you are playing through a second time to get missed achievements. The ending left a lot to be desired, in my opinion. Without spoiling specifics, it is bleak and predetermined, stripping away any sense of player agency. This fits the Lovecraftian roots of the story—fate is inevitable, and discovery leads only to ruin—but it doesn’t completely work from a gameplay perspective. Thomasina’s abrupt willingness to participate in rituals feels particularly inconsistent with her earlier rational skepticism, and the heavy foreshadowing leaves little room for surprise. I played 11.4 hours across two and a half playthroughs. That means a single playthrough is likely to take about 4-6 hours. Replay value is limited since there are no branching paths or endings. Achievement hunters will likely appreciate that there are a fair number of achievements and a fair mix of story unlocked vs. missable achievements. There's a little variety in the missable achievements which makes completing the all a bit more fun and challenging. There are 40 total and 15 of them are missable. Do to at least 2 being tied to a choice you will need at least 2 playthroughs to get 100%. Ultimately, Hob’s Barrow is less a mystery to be solved than a tragedy to be witnessed. If you expect branching choices or narrative payoff, you may walk away disappointed. But if you’re open to a slow, beautifully realized descent into inevitable doom, it delivers that experience with style. I think fans of Lovecraftian stories will like this most. P&C adventure fans who like to lean into horror will probably enjoy this too, but they may find the ending dissatisfying as it doesn't feel like a satisfying conclusion to the story arc. It feels like it needs a second part to me, in which Thomasina could redeem hersellf or get revenge or something.
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8.3/10 Pros- * The Writing and Storytelling * The Art and Atmosphere * The Sound Design Cons- * Puzzle Pacing (some puzzles are unintuitive and slows the story down) I didn’t expect this game to get under my skin the way it did. Even though its pixel art, it all feels so alive; the villagers, the unease, the houses, and ofcourse, the moors which feel like they could truly swallow you whole. It is the kind of horror that doesn’t rely on jump scares or gore, but something far more insidious: the horror of inevitability, of ancient truths that care little for human ambition. Days after playing, I still think about the final scenes. About Thomasina. About the barrow. About what we disturb when we dig too deep.
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Frequently Asked Questions
The Excavation of Hob's Barrow is currently priced at 12.49€ on Steam.
The Excavation of Hob's Barrow is currently not on sale. You can purchase it for 12.49€ on Steam.
The Excavation of Hob's Barrow received 2,264 positive votes out of a total of 2,444 achieving a rating of 8.86.
😎
The Excavation of Hob's Barrow was developed by Cloak and Dagger Games and published by Wadjet Eye Games.
The Excavation of Hob's Barrow is playable and fully supported on Windows.
The Excavation of Hob's Barrow is playable and fully supported on MacOS.
The Excavation of Hob's Barrow is playable and fully supported on Linux.
The Excavation of Hob's Barrow is a single-player game.
There are 2 DLCs available for The Excavation of Hob's Barrow. Explore additional content available for The Excavation of Hob's Barrow on Steam.
The Excavation of Hob's Barrow does not support mods via Steam Workshop.
The Excavation of Hob's Barrow does not support Steam Remote Play.
The Excavation of Hob's Barrow is enabled for Steam Family Sharing. This means you can share the game with authorized users from your Steam Library, allowing them to play it on their own accounts. For more details on how the feature works, you can read the original Steam Family Sharing announcement or visit the Steam Family Sharing user guide and FAQ page.
You can find solutions or submit a support ticket by visiting the Steam Support page for The Excavation of Hob's Barrow.
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Last Updates| Steam data | 07 March 2026 06:22 |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 09 March 2026 10:39 |
| Steam price | 15 March 2026 04:25 |
| Steam reviews | 15 March 2026 07:55 |
If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about The Excavation of Hob's Barrow, we invite you to check out a few dedicated websites that offer extensive information and insights. These platforms provide valuable data, analysis, and user-generated reports to enhance your understanding of the game and its performance.
- SteamDB - A comprehensive database of everything on Steam about The Excavation of Hob's Barrow
- SteamCharts - Analysis of The Excavation of Hob's Barrow concurrent players on Steam
- ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck The Excavation of Hob's Barrow compatibility
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Game modes
Features
Online players
11
Developer
Cloak and Dagger Games
Publisher
Wadjet Eye Games
Release
28 Sep 2022
Platforms
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