This does a lot with very little, and the atmosphere and the way the gameplay builds kept me interested for the whole ~5 hour game time. The gameplay mechanics are ultimately just clunkier, unrefined versions of the ones in Yuppie Psycho, but I still found some enjoyment from this shorter, simpler game. The major issue that frustrated me playing this is that the MC is the slowest walker ever, and there’s no run option in the game. Seriously unbearable at times, but this is still worth a play if you enjoyed Yuppie Psycho and want more of the same, albeit a bit crappier in most ways. Ig this isn’t the most flattering review, but for $2 on steam this was worth a play for me and had more good than bad.

Serving as developer Baroque Decay's debut game, The Count Lucanor is a short, sweet and deliciously spooky horror-adventure game.

You play as Hans, an adorable but incredibly rude boy who grows bored of being happy and leaves home at the age of ten to seek fame and fortune (what is this, Pokemon?) As Hans finds out, the things that go bump in the night can come right out of a creepypasta. The Count Lucanor has a fair few 'scenes of explicit violence and gore.' There are shocking moments, along with enemies who look, feel and act threatening. It's a thrilling game to play - not particularly difficult, but gripping all the same. Exploring the Count's castle evokes the same feeling as exploring the Spencer mansion in the original Resident Evil. As the developers are avowed fans of the Resident Evil and Silent Hill series, this feels intentional, and it's well done.

I really enjoyed The Count Lucanor. It doesn't give the best first impression, but quickly turns into a worthy adventure. It's cute, gothic, and has superb sound design. It's also very short, and can be finished easily in just two sessions, but that's part and parcel of games like these - it's still worth the money (especially on sale), and I wouldn't mind replaying it. While Yuppie Psycho would bring Baroque Decay far more success, and is a solid game in its own right, the seeds of greatness were planted here. I look forward to what this developer does next.

The count Lucanor is an excellent child's fairy tale in an horror way. I enjoyed this game nearly as much as Dolls, the movie by Stuart Gordon ; which is also mixed those themes but with a good bunch of humour in addition. There is also some humour in this game but not really the same, nor in same amount.

The game is slow-paced but that fit very well the storytelling and let the player enjoyed both beatufull pixel art and ambiance. By the way, as the game is rather short, it's not really a bad point.

From the innocent colorful first minutes to the weird and creepy following, the adventures of the ten years old Hans into the Count Lucanor's castle are well wrote and done. The attention is kept alive until the end. It was a pleasure to help Hans to investigate and solve all the mysteries and finally discover the truth about the castle. On its way, Hans will encountered some very peculiar characters.

Besides the narrative part, you have many things to do before reaching the ending. There are some rewarding puzzles, which are not too difficult nor too easy ; infiltration and investigation ; cat and mouse game with fatal enemies. Some of your choice or discovery may impact the following of your adventure and the end.

This indie game may be a real wonder if you play it like you'll watch a good 80's horror movie.

Hans, who has just turned 10, leaves home when he gets tired of poverty and decides to explore the world to get rich. But as soon as he doesn't expect it, he finds himself in the mysterious castle of Count Lucanor. In order to get to the treasure of Count Lucanor and lead a rich life with his mother, he solves many dangerous puzzles inside the castle and witnesses many atrocities. This is the story of the game briefly. Although the gameplay time is also quite short, The Count Lucanor is a very enjoyable experience. Although it is not as hit-making as the producer's other game, Yuppie Psycho, it is definitely a production that should be tried.

The pace of which the characters move may bother some people. Compared to similar titles it felt slow and there was more than one occasion I felt like making a sandwich while walking to another location. The puzzles take a bit of intuition to solve but none I would consider overly difficult. Completing the puzzles feels extra rewarding for as you progress more of the outrageously weird story is revealed to you. After getting over the fact that Hans walks too slow, I really started to get captured in the mythos surrounding the castle. The story was engaging and the puzzles were satisfyingly difficult, the only issue being it really is only a one and done experience. A worthwhile experience, but you can really only be shocked by a decapitated head surrounded by dancing goats once.

Count Lucanor is kind of an oddity, I started it on a whim because Yuppie Psycho looked kinda neat and I wanted to play all the studio games that I knew of and Lucanor was in the way but I wasn't really that much extatic about it because it looked kinda bland, lets be fair, it looks exactly like a low effort RPG maker affair and the first minutes were kinda bland, but then something happened, once the game gets going i felt a weird tingle in my gut...
I WAS PLAYING RESIDENT EVIL
Yeah, the camera ain't there, there are no zombies and no guns, but the game kinda went there and in the steam page it quotes proudly "Inspired by silent hill", well yeah, it really does, the game is short but has an hell of a pacing, it just goes and goes, it has multiple ways of doing almost anything and it feels great when you stumble on the solution by doing something else and feel that happy chemical from within that very few games actually make me feel anymore, this game got some serious heart beneath those chunky sexy pixels.

The story is actually quite cool and not really strong enough to make the whole game stand up but it's a nice whipped cream on top of a pixely cake, it's charming and gets you going, but the main draw here is the gameplay that got some amateuristic charme while still having quite some hands in the design department, everything feels purposeful.

It gripped me for the 5 hours or so that took me to get the best end and boy if it's quite good.

Maybe 5 starts are too much, but my scores are mostly my enjoyment rather than some snob way to score how objectively stuff is worth so be it, yuppie psycho it's still in my to do list and now I got more interest than ever.

The underdog to the Yuppie Psycho.
A good game that is a must play for the fans of the latter.

SMALL SPOILERS
Endings can be pretty lame tho. Not to say they ruined it for me, but they felt underwhelming.

A wonderful little game that plays to my tastes in lots of ways, from the German setting to the central plot device to its measure of cruelty and grotesque. It's executed really well, with a few lush and intriguing pixel art cutscenes that do a lot to elevate the rest of the game.

I was impressed enough with my first playthrough that I was motivated to do two more to figure out what was really going on, and while the game aggressively invites the player to do that, I'm not sure it really merits it. Its puzzles, exploration, and evasion mechanics don't have a ton of replayability and the story doesn't deliver much more than was implicit the first time. Still, I don't begrudge it even playing it through 3 times in a row so that's not a huge mark against it for me.