Henry Stauf's toys and puzzles were once much in demand and the delight of every child for miles around. But when the first child died clutching one of his dolls, then another child and still others, all clinging to one of his beloved toys, Stauf locked himself away in his mansion and disappeared from public view.

Years later, the house still stands with overgrown plants creeping up the walls, flaking paint and crumbling plaster. The children in town dare one another to walk through the rooms, all the while chanting a well-known children's song:

"Old Man Stauf built a house,
And filled it with his toys.
Seven guests came one night;
Their screams the only noise."

Yet even that song doesn't stop the six people from around town from responding to the strange invitations to visit the house. Each one imagines was Stauf and his fortune could do for them, once they meet the fabled toymaker. All they need to do is spend the evening in the house, solving the puzzles Stauf has in store for them, unlocking the secrets of the house and finding the mysterious 7th guest.

Sounds easy, right? But Stauf's puzzles are anything but easy. Especially the puzzle of the house itself....

As a fan of the game, I liked learning more of the back story to Stauf, and the weaving of the puzzles from the game itself into the book was done well. I fondly remember those exact puzzles, too, so it was nice having those added. It would have been disappointing not to include them since they form such an integral part of the gameplay. I also liked that when a character in the book solved a puzzle, it unlocked a room or door somewhere in the house, just as it did in the game.

As for the story in the book, it began well mixing Stauf's history and how he came to create his puzzles and toys with the modern-day story of the six guests finding themselves invited to the house. But once inside the house, the history of Stauf stops altogether, and I would have liked to know more about what happened to him inside the house, what exactly was behind the forces that drove him to create, and how the puzzles and toys were able to act upon living beings.

As for the characters, they felt very flat and pretty much the same: all greedy and trying to find a way out of their bad financial situations. The only truly likeable character Elinor Knox, who started as the meek, henpecked housewife and morphed into the semi-heroine of the story, even after briefly falling prey to the powers of the house.

Overall, "The 7th Guest" is just okay. If I weren't a fan of the game, I probably would have passed this one by on the shelf. ( )

If you enjoyed "The 7th Guest" game, then the book is a must. A lot of the confusion of the game is explained. However, the book is great on its own for those who have never played the game. ( )