The 7th Guest

The 7th Guest
Developer(s)Trilobyte
Publisher(s)Virgin Interactive Entertainment
Producer(s)Stephen Clarke-Willson
David Luehmann
David Bishop
Designer(s)Rob Landeros
Graeme Devine
Programmer(s)Graeme Devine
Artist(s)Robert Stein III
Rob Landeros
Writer(s)Matthew Costello
Composer(s)George Sanger
Platform(s)DOS, CD-i, Mac OS, Windows, iOS, Android (operating system), OS X, Linux, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
Release
April 28, 1993
  • DOS
    CD-i
    • NA: October 1, 1993
    • EU: November 17, 1993
    Mac OS
    • NA: February 1994
    Windows
    iOS
    • NA: December 15, 2010
    Linux
    • WW: October 19, 2013
    Android
    • WW: April 14, 2015
Genre(s)Interactive movie, puzzle adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

The 7th Guest is an interactive movie puzzle adventure game, produced by Trilobyte and originally released by Virgin Interactive Entertainment in April 1993.[4] It is one of the first computer video games to be released only on CD-ROM. The 7th Guest is a horror story told from the unfolding perspective of the player, as an amnesiac. The game received press attention for making live action video clips a core part of its gameplay, for its then-unprecedented amount of pre-rendered 3D graphics, and for its adult content. The game was very successful, with over two million copies sold. The game alongside Myst, is widely regarded as a killer app that accelerated the sales of CD-ROM drives. The 7th Guest has subsequently been re-released on Apple's app store for various systems such as the Mac.[5] Bill Gates called The 7th Guest "the new standard in interactive entertainment".

The game has been ported in various formats to different systems, with Trilobyte mentioning the potential for a third entry in the series.[6][7]

  1. ^ "Celebrating The 7th Guest's 25th Anniversary". theescapeeffect.com. April 28, 2018. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
  2. ^ Smith, Elliot Blair (April 25, 1993). "Mutiny on the PCs". San Francisco Examiner. p. 64. Retrieved January 8, 2024. By the time Virgin Games Inc. debuts the "Seventh Guest," its new video-game mystery, which cost $1 million to develop, it will have already conceded one market — Latin America. If not for a tough-minded distributor in the Far East, Virgin owner Sir Richard Branson — whose British empire includes luxury airliners, Nintendo cartridges, and his own investment bank — might concede the Asian market for the game, which is scheduled to be shipped this week.
  3. ^ "Bits & PCs". The Press Democrat. April 29, 1993. p. 16. Retrieved January 8, 2024. New Games//7th Guest (CD)...59.95
  4. ^ Wolf, Mark J. P. (2008). The Video Game Explosion. Milton Park, Abingdon, UK: Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 192. ISBN 9780313338687.
  5. ^ Geoff Keighley. "Haunted Glory: The Rise and Fall of Trilobyte". GameSpot. Archived from the original on December 5, 2006.
  6. ^ "The 7th Guest: Infection Launches for iPad". Dread Central. Archived from the original on March 30, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
  7. ^ "Products". Trilobyte Games. Archived from the original on October 29, 2012. Retrieved November 1, 2012.