On the bad side, the kleptomaniacal, Wile-E.-Coyote-esque aspect of the adventurer doesn't mix well with lurking horrors. Lovecraft (HPL) On the good side, a lack of dialogue and human interaction (which HPL felt to be antithetical to the atmosphere he was trying to create) makes sidestepping classic IF NPC issues easier. 'The Awakening' is a short-short horror with a clear and admitted homage to H.
For its length it's really a fine example of the art, capturing in its story, and convincing in its atmosphere. 'The Awakening' is a short piece of interactive fiction, and therefore due to lack some fleshing out that a bigger game perhaps would have had. The only real problem here is that the game's main audience, Lovecraft fans, are likely to figure things out far too early. The best thing about the game is the prose, which is expansive but not wordy. The puzzles are logical and sensible, and objects are found in logical places. A short, simple horror game in the Lovecraftian mode.
