The Séance of Blake Manor : The Mechanics of The Séance of Blake Manor

The Séance of Blake Manor is a detective mystery set in remote Ireland in 1897. You play as Detective Declan Ward who arrives at Blake Manor hotel, 48 hours before the Grand Séance, to investigate the disappearance of Evelyn Deane. But there is so much more going on than meets the eye…

Using all the clues at your disposal, your wits and information you discover along the way can you find Evelyn Deane before it’s too late?

The Time Mechanic
The Séance of Blake Manor’s story is shaped by your choices. Time here is an important consideration, as you will have to decide what you think is most significant for this case and use the time available to you to investigate it. You have 3 days, use them wisely.

You arrive at Blake Manor in the middle of an unfolding story. Therefore, the choices that you make (what you investigate, explore and discuss) shapes what happens next. Unlike many other games where the sequence of events is already set, your choices here directly impact the experience you have at Blake Manor.

The time mechanic mimics the feel of Ward’s investigation. Time is limited and moving forward as he discovers more about the missing woman and the potential culprits. Although narratively there is no ticking clock over Detective Ward, the time mechanic allows players to feel the passing of time and moving towards an outcome.

The beginning of the investigation when you arrive at the hotel is the tutorial space and therefore time is more limited. From 9am the following day you have far more freedom to explore. Events such as meals do happen at set times and dates, but you will have the choice to attend these or take your investigations elsewhere should you wish.

Although you may miss some clues and evidence by focusing on others, mysteries will not be closed off for you to solve until late into the game. All 34 mysteries are solvable in a single play, but it may take more than one run through the game to know the optimal route to get it all done!

Should you wish to go back and make a different choice, each save slot does contain a timeline of moments with every hour being a saved moment in time.

We have listened to feedback from the community that the demo did not make the initial time limit clear and this is something we will address.

We understand that the time mechanic might not suit everyone’s preferred play style but we hope that those who do enjoy this mechanic are able to feel as though they are investigating with Ward to save Evelyn Deane and perhaps everyone at Blake Manor before it is too late.

Detective Vision
Exploring and interacting with items is how your investigations proceed and progress. Blake Manor is large and filled with portraits, statues, books and much more so knowing what you can interact with comes in very useful.

Detective vision highlights interactable objects to help you zone in on areas of interest around the hotel you may wish to examine.

Keeping Track of People, Places and Events
The in-game menu allows you to record and even set reminders for key events, has a map that shows you an overview of where characters are located in the hotel, once you have learned about their movements. This is useful so you will know when you can, and more importantly should not, enter their rooms uninvited.

Alongside a record of clues and discoveries you have made along the way so you can always take stock of your investigation so far.

You can also keep track of your suspects as you hunt for the culprit, gathering pertinent facts about the staff, guests and residents even eliminating some from your investigations if you feel confident that they aren’t involved.

From this menu you can make sense of all the information you have gathered, piecing together all the observations you have made and form hypotheses to get you closer to uncovering what is truly happening at Blake Manor.

What you learn, see and hear will lead you towards discoveries and answers…or perhaps even more questions and mysteries.

The Séance of Blake Manor is coming 27 October 2025

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1395520/The_Sance_of_Blake_Manor/