"We wanted to recreate some of the atmosphere of the golden age of Atari Classic games, so we drew on the source of old teen horror/teen friends movies."

The original Haunted House is over 40 years old at this point. What prompted the decision to go back to the classic and reimagine it?

The classic game has simple mechanics that work very well: The player has to search the haunted house in search of the three parts of the urn. This would be a great starting point for creating a roguelite, fusing the simplicity of the original with modern gameplay mechanics.

Haunted House is touting a gorgeous aesthetic. What was the process like of settling on this art style for the game?

Thank you very much for the gorgeous! We wanted to recreate some of the atmosphere of the golden age of Atari Classic games, so we drew on the source of old horror movies/teen friends, the main ones being Monster Squad and The Goonies. Of course, the aesthetic of Stranger Things also influences a lot. We didn’t want something full-on horror but something that could scare you a bit but still invite exploration and be colorful overall.

Haunted House is going to make some significant changes as it looks to redefine the original game. What was your approach to balancing the need for changes against ensuring that you remain true to the original game’s identity?

We tried to keep as many elements and references from the classic game as possible. Just like in the original, the urn is the object that moves the game’s story. Enemies like bats, giant spiders, and the ghost are all in the new version.

How did the idea to adopt roguelite mechanics for the game first come about? Was there ever a discussion about perhaps developing a full-fledged survival horror experience, especially given the genre’s current popularity?

We believe the roguelite mechanics would fit the game’s concept very well. The house is always changing, and in each game, the player having to explore a different room was one of the main reasons for choosing this genre. We chose to make a roguelite because we believe it would be the most creative way to revitalize this classic. A survival horror could be interesting, but I believe it would be less innovative and more difficult to stand out among so many games.

"We tried to keep as many elements and references from the classic game as possible"

Haunted House will differ from most roguelites in some key ways, chief among them being how it deemphasizes combat and instead focuses on things such as stealth and traps. For those unfamiliar with the fundamentals, what does the game’s core loop constitute, and what level of variety does the moment-to-moment gameplay have?

The game’s main objective is to gather the three parts of the urn to imprison the creatures that are loose around the house. Each part of the urn is assigned to a boss who is on a floor of the house. The player must go through several rooms in the house to find the boss of the floor and face him in order to recover the part of the urn. Each room has different challenges that the player must solve to proceed. In the house, there are also residents who will ask for the player’s help to carry out different tasks. For example: The butler wants to renovate the house, and the housekeeper’s cats have run away and are scattered around the house.

How expansive are Haunted House’s stealth mechanics? What kind of options will players have in attempting to sneak past or avoid enemies?

Each game room will present the player with a challenge, and he will be able to decide which will be the best way to face it. For example, one of the challenges is looking for a hidden object in a chest and taking it to a totem pole. The player will be able to pass without being seen by the enemies, or he will be able to face them with a surprise attack using the flashlight. You can also use the traps you’ll find around the house. Attacking an enemy can draw the attention of others, so this is not always the best strategy. One of the challenges is to survive multiple enemies for a period of time, so in this case, the best strategy is not to be seen.

How many playable characters will Haunted House feature? How significantly will they differ from each other in terms of gameplay?

There are 5 playable characters in the game. In terms of gameplay, they have different characteristics from each other, such as stamina, speed, and stealth, all of which can be increased over several runs. In terms of aesthetics, each character has his personality expressed in his look, we try to ensure that there is always a character that each player can identify with.

Overarching progression across runs can be tricky to balance for roguelite games more often than not. What should players expect from Haunted House on this front? What kind of a balance will it strike between permanent upgrades and losing progress from run to run?

The player will be able to progress by buying permanent improvements in the store outside the run through gems, collected as a reward when fulfilling the challenges within the run. These improvements can be increased stamina, increased health, more slots to carry traps, among others. You can also buy temporary upgrades within the run using coins. In addition to gameplay progression there is also progression of cosmetic items, such as house renovation, in the butler side quest.

"We believe the roguelite mechanics would fit the game’s concept very well. The house is always changing, and in each game, the player having to explore a different room was one of the main reasons for choosing this genre."

What frame rate and resolution will the game target on the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S?

We are aiming for 1920×1080 and 60fps for both consoles.

What frame rate and resolution will the game target on the Switch in docked and undocked modes?

We are aiming for 1920×1080 and 30fps for both modes.

What are your thoughts on the Steam Deck? Do you have plans for any specific optimizations for the device?

We believe that the game will run fine on the Steam Deck. The goal for this is to have the game running at full HD and 60 fps.

Atari (or the current company that is using the Atari brand name- at this point, it should be well known that the Atari of today isn’t the Atari that essentially almost single handedly created video games back in the 1970s) has made waves recently by announcing classic, hardcore focused reboots and revivals of some of its classic brands and properties- a reboot for Alone in the Dark, a reboot for Haunted House, and also a reboot for RollerCoaster Tycoon. And considering especially that these games all actually look good, one has to stop and wonder- is this all too good to be true? Will it last?

Well, Atari certainly thinks it will, as it promises that there will be more revivals and reboots of classic franchises that we can expect from them in the future.

“In having this great catalog of over 220 IPs, it affords us a lot of challenges and benefits,” Atari’s chief operating officer, Todd Shallbetter, said to Polygon. “The challenge side is what do you select? What is it that we really want to put resources behind and really blow out for this fan base that is clamoring for these new things? On the other side, you have the benefit of having that back catalog to choose from.

“[At Atari], we all have our favorites that we’ve had ideations on. What would this look like leveraging new technologies, new delivery methods, and what makes sense from an artistic, creative and also commercial perspective?

“Our goal is to create new experiences with classic gameplay,” he said. “Full, sustained relevance.”

Well, I wish you the very best of luck, because nothing would please me more than seeing a fully relevant and powerful Atari returned.

Before there was Resident Evil, or Silent Hill, there was Alone in the Dark, and there was Haunted House. Both were the original horror games, released by Atari for the PC, and though they struggled to keep pace after the release of their much more popular Japanese counterparts (in spite of a poorly thought out misguided reboot of Alone in the Dark last generation), they’re still brands treated with some reverence.

Now, shortly after announcing Roller Coaster Tycoon World, the revival of another popular Atari PC series, the publisher has announced that it will be bringing reboots of both, Alone in the Dark, and Haunted House, to the PC this fall. Playable demonstrations for both will be shown off at PAX East.

We’ll keep you posted on both these games, as well as Roller Coaster Tycoon World, and PAX East in general, here at GamingBolt, so stay tuned for more coverage.