Adventure Gamers: Any time the words "haunted house" are mentioned, people automatically equate the image with "horror". Would you describe Rhiannon as a horror game, or is it more of a suspenseful mystery?

Noel Bruton: There is no gore and no real violence in Rhiannon. But you are being haunted and you will be reminded of that regularly, and even more so as you resolve significant challenges. Is it horror? I like the term Jonathan Boakes uses, a “supernatural adventure”. With your feet firmly on the ground in a farmstead in present-day Wales, you take on a number of metaphysical and intellectual challenges. And yes, on occasion something will suddenly go “Boo”, and at others you’ll be aware of a nebulous mocking. Llwyd has killed people and is jeopardizing you, there’s no getting away from that. One player has referred to it as “a good game to play at night”, and another called it “seriously creepy”. But purely from a gameplay point of view, you can’t “die” in Rhiannon.

AG: Every culture has its own myths, but there seems to be such an enduring fascination with Celtic legends that manifests itself in a wealth of modern day ghost stories. Why do you think that is?

NB: The thing about the Celtic myths is they are so many and varied. The Celts are truly amazing, starting in Eastern Europe and eventually populating the damp edges of Europe where they resisted the Moors, Saxons, Romans, Vikings and others, while building the sort of non-warlike economy that made their wealth of such interest to those invaders. They have all these stories coming from a long history and the many places they settled. All legends have odd things going on in them, but some of the stuff happening in the Mabinogion is simply outrageous. I feel the Celtic myths are attractive because they are indisputably old and such great stories.

AG: Do you personally believe in ghosts or paranormal phenomena?

NB: Do I “believe” in the paranormal? Tricky question. If we “believe” in it, then we risk exhibiting an irrational faith. If we don’t “believe” in it, then we arrogantly ignore everyday apparent anomalies that suggest the world is not as cut and dried as ‘conventional wisdom’ would have it. The problem is in how the word 'believe' has come to be used, and the quasi-religious overtones it carries. Yes, I personally have observed phenomena that would belie rationale, but then, I suppose, so has every quantum physicist. Weird, nonsensical stuff is part of life. We only have to observe it without pigeonholing it or distorting it with dogma. It can be quite an eye-opener.

AG: The focus here has been on the story and background of Rhiannon, but of course it's the gameplay that really makes or breaks an adventure. What can we expect from Rhiannon along those lines?

NB: There are no ‘minigames’ as such. There are a couple of order-based puzzles, but most of the challenges are based firmly around the plot and the inventory. As to puzzle difficulty, there are a couple of simple, almost mundane ones to get you started – but they are there only to reveal bigger challenges. You have to understand what motivates Llwyd to defeat him. You’ll be using a mixture of technology and magick, because it is magick that has created the situation at Ty Pryderi. You will have to think laterally. There is a poster on the wall in one of the rooms, saying “The Symbol’s the Thing”, to remind you not to take things too literally, because you’re dealing with magick and archetypes. The use of archetypes and symbols means that often your assumptions may have to be put aside – take the old glove you find in Chapter Two. It is an old glove – but it means something else.

The game is entirely first-person. There are no conversations, although there are a few voice-overs. There’ll be some reading to do, because you’ll need to understand the situation. Nobody ever tells you “you can’t do that here.” You can’t pick up an item ‘just in case’ you’ll need it. You can examine objects throughout the game but they won’t go to inventory until you have witnessed somewhere you could make use of them. It’s strictly point-and-click and using usually left mouse button, but also right when there are two ways to use an item. The challenges come from finding and combining objects, intellectually surmounting things that get in your way. One of the first things you will discover in each chapter is a suggestion of what you are up against at this phase of the game. Understanding that gives you your objectives for that chapter. But Llwyd and practicality will get in your way.

AG: What else would you say really defines Rhiannon that will set it apart and make it memorable?

NB: Most definitely a woman leading the project – it’s given the gameplay a certain flavour. It deliberately contains all the features Karen most likes in an adventure game. Point-and-click, no dying, first-person, music only when it means something, no long dialogue, figure the game out by yourself without asking in-game characters, logical challenges that would really make sense, you can’t clog your inventory with stuff you can’t use, a BIG inventory, identifiable plot and puzzle themes, no sliders.

The blokes had their say too – for example, Richard and I had great fun imagining to what uses an Edwardian engineering industrialist and a hippie commune would have put Ty Pryderi.

A tale spanning four eras over the past thousand years, each with their own significance and contribution to the plot. Theme-based music with proper tunes - a ‘soundtrack’ approach to the music some may find unusual. No loose ends in the parallel plot themes. The discovery that in this game, Rhiannon is not just the name of a teenage girl. A classic ‘ages of life’ story arc, and though we say it ourselves, a very satisfying finale.

AG: I’m sure that list will come as welcome news to a great many gamers. You're currently shooting for a Halloween release. That must mean you're making good progress. Where are you with the game at this point?

NB: We have recruited a number of volunteer beta testers around the world and they started work in early August, playing a virtually complete working version of the game. We’ll still be making improvements while that is going on, finalizing the music and tweaking some of the graphics and sound effects.

AG: Well, since you're facing crunch time, you don't need us holding you up any longer. But we do appreciate your time, and we're looking forward to the finished results in a few months.