As young Hamlet, you must avenge the death of your father and become the new
King of Denmark. You enter the court of Elsinore Palace to find clues about
the mastermind that is behind the corruption in Denmark. Your task is to kill
the murderer but to prevent the deaths of innocents. That provides an
interesting take on original play giving the ability to change the course of
events and save some important characters. That includes actually killing rats
instead of Polonius and saving Ophelia from madness and ultimate death.

The game is narrated by Renaissance Man who serves also as a guide to the game
outlining your objectives. In order to revenge your father’s death you should
gain ten wits. Wits are certain aspects of man’s nature, as believed by people
of Renaissance era. They include five inner and five outer wits. Inner wits
deal with man’s senses: Hearing, Sight, Taste, Touch and Smell. Outer wits
comprises the man’s psyche: Judgment, Invention, Memory, Instinct and
Imagination.

Each wit has a specific puzzle connected to it. In order to attain a certain
wit, a corresponding puzzle must be completed. The order in which wits are
gained and puzzle solved is set. More so, player cannot move freely around the
castle or the forest. One can only take a predetermined route that will lead
him either to the next puzzle or to the video clip.

Most of the puzzles are closely connected as to the play so as to the wit that
puzzle is responsible for. For example, in order to acquire a Wit of
Imagination player must correctly reconstruct the course of events based on a
poem versed in Middle English, or seeing a man behind the curtain in
Gertrude’s bedroom will award player a Wit of Sight and helping Ophelia choose
flowers (that also play a prominent role in the play) brings player a Wit Of
Smell. Once every wit is acquired the player will be ready to face Cladius and
in role of Hamlet serve the justice.

The game includes 40 minutes of full-screen film clips from the Kenneth
Branagh film version of Hamlet. The game has a few mild arcade scenes, such as
the duel scene at the end. You can play the game “to be” or “not to be”. If
you choose “not to be”, you access the complete and unabridged text of the
original Hamlet play including the commentary showed next to the play itself,
linked to fifteen Books of Lore that give insights into the Renaissance world
and clues to some of the puzzles of the game. You can switch between the two
options at any time you like.