The Excavation of Hob's Barrow

The Excavation of Hob's Barrow is a folk horror narrative adventure set on the isolated moors of Victorian rural England. Antiquarian Thomasina Bateman is writing a book on the burial barrows of England, documenting the treasures buried within, when an intriguing letter summons her to the small village of Bewlay, tucked away in the remote countryside.

Things start going wrong immediately. The man who summoned her cannot be found. Her assistant never arrives. A stubborn landowner refuses access to the barrow itself. The locals are wary of a woman traveling alone in trousers. And then Thomasina starts having strange dreams about the barrow that the village has been trying to keep her away from.

The gameplay is traditional point-and-click adventure with a modern interface, set against an evolving folk horror storyline that interweaves elements drawn from real English folklore. The cast — suspicious villagers, sickly vicars, lordly landowners — each carry their own stories and motives. Evocative pixel-art graphics, animated cut-scenes, and an atmospheric original soundtrack from one half of the duo behind the Football Game soundtrack carry the rest of the tone home.