WaxWorks (1992, DOS/Mac) is a horror game that doesn’t just want to scare you—it wants to traumatize you a little. Set in cursed wax museum exhibits, each scenario drops you into a different era filled with gruesome surprises and sudden, graphic deaths. And yes, the gore was shocking at the time, even by early ’90s standards. The gameplay mixes first-person dungeon crawling with puzzle-solving, but the real star is the atmosphere: oppressive, cruel, and unapologetically nasty. Fail a puzzle and the game often rewards you with a vividly illustrated demise. Cheerful! Despite its rough edges, WaxWorks commits fully to its dark vision, and that confidence carries it far. It’s not for everyone, but horror fans with a tolerance for pixelated blood will find it disturbingly effective.
Techtite: "You must use the magical exhibits to go back to moments in time where your family had twins (you take the role of the "good" twin, searching for your evil counterpart). These areas are each quite amusing, including the foggy streets of old London (Jack the Ripper, allegedly, was an evil twin), an old mine (weird mutants!), and even ancient Egypt (your ancestors helped build the pyramids? Cool.). You could even complete these four areas in any order! Afterwards, you must use artifacts from each moment in history, and go back in time to when the witch first cursed your family, stopping it from ever happening! While the overall story is a bit of a stretch, it was certainly an inspired concept, and led to a fun experience; almost as fun as Evira II..."
Computer Gaming World (1993): "However, Waxworks does manage to scare tip some enjoyable (though often frustrating) relief for the terror-starved gamer. Quality adventures with a honor theme have been lacking for much too long a time. With a little more attention to detail and the elimination of the above weaknesses, a sequel to Waxworks could truly send chills down one’s spine. As it currently stands, while Waxworks may not appeal to some fantasy role-players, it will certainly fill the void for those who revel in the macabre. For anyone who enjoyed the Elvira series, Waxworks continues to satisfy the bent toward the supernatural."
More information on WaxWorks
Status: NOT abandonware Also published for: Amiga Abandonware DOS views: 12573
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These are some of the abandoned games similar to WaxWorks in some way.
The Journeyman Project 2: Buried in Time
Elvira: Mistress of the Dark
Elvira 2: The Jaws of Cerberus