Batty Zabella certainly seems inspired by certain horror hostesses as it has you solving puzzles to feed bat-boys and avoid the spooky phantoms in your home.
Batty’s dear Husbano has gone missing, her son is hungry, and things are just in uproar around the house. Luckily, all the tools you need to solve your problems are (mostly) lying around this place. So, best start poking around your home to find what you need to fix things. Or make them vastly worse. That’s the trouble with adventure games, sometimes. I can’t help but use every item on everything, and that sometimes causes bigger issues than when I started. Batty seems to have the same issues as I do, as she awakens something she really shouldn’t have while puttering about the house. Remember kids: just because your hairpin fits in a creepy statue doesn’t mean you should put it there.
With bizarre, grinning phantoms all over the place, you’ll need to be careful as you explore. These ghouls can hurt you, and while they won’t kill you outright like in some adventure games, contact with them does take its toll over time. If you tread carefully, at worst you’ll deal with a lot of corny jokes, horror spoofs, and general silliness. The Elvira inspirations don’t stop at the heroine’s appearance, after all, as the game is loaded with oddball descriptions that make looking around for items a lot more fun. That’s great, as I found it really easy to get lost as I explored. Having some funny explanations as I wandered around made getting lost feel less stressful as I could count on something to make me chuckle or groan.
Batty Zabella is a solid throwback to games like Shadowgate and Monkey Island, giving you a ghoulish place to explore that’s filled with danger and thoughtful (if ridiculous) puzzles. If you like your scares with a certain amount of campy humor, this will definitely put a smile on your face.
Batty Zabella is available now on itch.io.
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