Released in 1986, Uninvited is an adventure horror game. Because it uses the same graphical adventure interface as Shadowgate, Deja Vu, and Deja Vu II, all those games are collectively known as the MacVenture series. This particular version of Uninvited came with both the Macintosh and Apple IIgs versions of the game.
I remember going to a friend’s house to play this game. His family had a Macintosh Classic II, and we spent hours in a dark room trying to figure out the end. We were never successful but were frightened quite often.
At the time of release, Uninvited was considered quite innovative. Not only was it a mouse-driven adventure game made during a time most adventure games were keyboard-driven, it made ample use of the Mac GUI, particularly its drag-and-drop capabilities. Because the Apple IIgs had a similar GUI, it mostly works identically to the Mac version.
Uninvited actually has a decent story. While driving with your brother late at night, you see a strange figure. In order to avoid it, you swerve and hit a tree. You lose consciousness, and when you wake up, your brother is missing. In order to find him, you come across a mansion that seems to be abandoned.
I’m not sure Uninvited will be all that appealing to modern gamers because so much of its gameplay is based on rote memorization. You have to do things in a specific order, and clues are few and far between. Sometimes I feel there’s an over-reliance on moonshot reasoning – but this was also par for the course with adventure games during the 80s. Once you figure things out, however, you can actually beat the game within 10 minutes.
Much of this game is about finding and collecting objects, figuring out what each of those objects do, and then using those objects to progress.
The graphics were pretty great for a Mac game circa 1986. One thing to remember about early Macs is that they did not have colour graphics, and most rendering was done through basic black-and-white gradients. For this reason, the Apple IIgs version is actually better since it displays in colour. However, the Apple IIgs’ pixels were chunkier, as you can see in these screenshots.
In terms of sound, there isn’t any. Effects are far and few between. There is no soundtrack. You’re almost playing in complete silence. Almost all PC versions of the game are like this. The only benefit of the NES version is that it had sound.
Virtually any PC can run this game. You just need 2MB of RAM. While my version of Uninvited was made natively for Windows and Mac, it runs well on Linux via Proton. I was able to run it great on my Steam Deck.
Uninvited has been ported to multple platforms: DOS, C64, Amiga, Atari ST, NES, Windows 3.x, and Windows Mobile.
Briefly, I need to talk about the NES version of Uninvited. It annoys me to no end that this is the lone version where the brother is gender-swapped for a sister. The Windows 3.x port, which came out later, had a brother – not a sister. I can only speculate that the fine folks at Nintendo demanded that the gender swap happen.
There’s no microtransactions, nor is there any DLC.
ICOM Simulations (a.k.a., Rabid Entertainment) made Uninvited. They also developed other games in the MacVenture series. Addtionally, they’re known for the Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective series as well as various licensed games for the TurboGrafx 16.
On Steam, Uninvited has an 84% positive rating based on 52 reviews. Most people say it is a classic adventure game for the early Mac. Others say that the puzzles are overly difficult, depend too much on trial-and-error, and requires a walkthrough.
Generally speaking, Mac gaming isn’t as celebrated as gaming on other computer platforms. However, Macs have given us some real bangers. Myst, Marathon, Escape Velocity are certainly favourites of mine. Uninvited, as well as other MacVenture games, are certainly one of the best Mac games of all time.
But I think Uninvited really can only be appreciated in its historical context. If it was made now, it wouldn’t find much of a fanbase due to moonshot reasoning and difficult controls by modern standards. Yet, in 1986, this was the very definition of intuitive gaming.
On Steam, Uninvited sells for C$3.29. Do I recommend it? If you’re a modern gamer, you might find it too tough. However, if you like old adventure games or you just like having a piece of gaming history, then Uninvited definitely justifies its price.
One further thing: if you’re going to get any version of the game, go with a PC version and not the NES version. Uninvited loses something once it no longer has its point-and-click interface.
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