Man, have you seen those boards from Vinegar Gulf? That Gingermuffins knows his art, I tell you what. Download that, too. End of plug.
Eli's house is game involving a mysterious mansion. And this mansion is pretty decently deranged. There are action elements, including a couple of bosses, but exploring the mansion and solving puzzles are the main course.
The story is rather obscure. You're a dude with a camera. I think you're on a mission of some kind, where you have to take pictures of weapons, but it's not important of the game at all.
There are other people in the mansion. Apart from the staff - a burglar, a lady, a magician named Sintan and a reticent and self-serving fellow who calls himself Steadfast. Their roles are modest, but they do contribute to the development of the story. They also add to the general weirdness of the game.
Gingermuffins makes great use of all the colours in ZZT, but he's not afraid of using black. The colours make for pretty scenery and the black adds that special flavour of darkness & mystery. Some boards are very nicely drawn, especially the outside view of the house and the balcony. There are a couple of neat animations, too.
The length of the game is commendable. The game will taunt you, but your trails will not be in vain. You will be spending time looking for fake walls and stuff that you don't really need, but the more thorough your effort, the greater the reward in the end.
In conclusion: this a great game. The people and the puzzles are weird, the story is vague and you hardly get to know the main characters of the game. But the game gives you just enough occasions to get involved, without taking any mystery away. And that's the main selling point: wandering around in a nicely decorated mystery, finding secrets around every corner of the game.
