Reception
Originally intended by Trilobyte as a "collectible compilation," the game was not well-received critically and sales capped at 27 copies in the US with only 176 copies worldwide. Diehard GameFAN's Alex Lucard described the game as one of "the biggest flops in PC gaming history." Amongst other problems, the game's plot has been singled out by reviewers as lacking.
The few positive critical reviews tended to emphasize the game's connection to its parent series and the fact that new content had been added to further the story of Henry Stauf, and emphasis was placed on the quality of the puzzles in contrast to the game's low price. Other more mixed reviews suggested that the game was decent for what it was—a compilation of puzzles from the 7th Guest series. Comparing the game to the 1995 puzzle classic, Hodj 'n' Podj, Computer Games Magazine even went so far as to claim that the puzzles in Uncle Henry's Playhouse worked better in a compilation format than they did as show-stoppers in the original games.
In modern times, the game has become something of a collector's item due to its rarity on the secondary market. The game has been re-released once as part of Encore's puzzle collection, Puzzle Madness.
Read more about this topic: Uncle Henry's Playhouse
Famous quotes containing the word reception:
“Aesthetic emotion puts man in a state favorable to the reception of erotic emotion.... Art is the accomplice of love. Take love away and there is no longer art.”
—Rémy De Gourmont (1858–1915)
“To aim to convert a man by miracles is a profanation of the soul. A true conversion, a true Christ, is now, as always, to be made by the reception of beautiful sentiments.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“But in the reception of metaphysical formula, all depends, as regards their actual and ulterior result, on the pre-existent qualities of that soil of human nature into which they fall—the company they find already present there, on their admission into the house of thought.”
—Walter Pater (1839–1894)