The latest entry in our classics series, Helsing’s Fire (2011), was an innovative puzzle game that redefined the ‘love’ aspect of ‘carrying a torch’ – as ‘I love killing the undead’.
Helsing’s Fire, back in 2011.
What was Helsing’s Fire?
A puzzle game, featuring the ‘implacable Professor Helsing and his assistant Raffton’, who travel to The Shadow Blight to defeat Dracula and his evil horde. Your goal was to battle a range of monsters by cunning use of a torch and colorful tonics. The puzzle mechanic was simple but ingenious: the torch illuminated only certain monsters in a room, hiding others in shadow. You then used tonics to take out monsters (or their shields) of the same hue. But if you got the color wrong, monsters would gain shields of that color. That meant you had to carefully experiment with torch placement and shadows, in order to eradicate all the monsters before your tonics ran out.
Why was it a classic?
Aside from the unique and tactile puzzle mechanic, Helsing’s Fire had a lot going for it. Once you completed the main storyline, there were tougher challenges, an endless survival mode, and an online bounty mode for worldwide fame and adoration. And it was a rare game where you’d even eagerly devour the cutscenes, which found Helsing and Raffton bantering with foes in brilliantly illustrated and amusing comic-strip-like form. This mix of smart puzzling, varied level types, and lashings of character and whimsy resulted in a game that shone a light on many of its contemporaries, banishing them to the shadows of your device. Probably.
Helsing’s Fire on a modern iPhone.
Where is it now?
Helsing’s Fire – and iPad version, Helsing’s Fire HD (which is the same, just bigger) – are both still on the App Store. As is often the case with classic games, this one hasn’t been updated in years and has issues. Most notably, the game has quite large top and bottom black borders on iPhone, and the online bounty mode is gone, crashing the game when you try to access it. But Helsing’s Fire otherwise remains a blast (literally when blowing up those potions), with its bold visuals, precision controls, and healthy dollop of humor. In fact, it’s one undead iPhone game that we reckon would add some fire to Apple Arcade. How about it, Apple?
Visit the Helsing’s Fire web page or get Helsing’s Fire ($0.99/99p) or Helsing’s Fire HD ($2.99/£2.99) from the App Store.