House of Tales
| Company type | GmbH |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 1998 |
| Founder | Tobias Schachte, Martin Ganteföhr |
| Defunct | 2010 |
| Fate | Integrated into Cranberry Production (DTP subsidiary) |
| Successor | Cranberry Production (integration) |
| Headquarters | Bremen , Germany |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Tobias Schachte, Martin Ganteföhr |
| Products | Point-and-click adventure games |
| Owner | DTP Entertainment (from 2008) |
| Parent | DTP Entertainment (from 2008) |
House of Tales Entertainment GmbH, operating under the name House of Tales, was a Bremen-based German video game developer focused on creating point-and-click adventure games.
History
Established in 1998 by Tobias Schachte and Martin Ganteföhr, who previously worked on children's video game projects for the ZDF, House of Tales launched its first game, The Mystery of the Druids, in 2001 with CDV Software as publisher. The company was notable for its decentralized structure, functioning entirely through online collaboration without a physical office—a distinctive model at that time. In 2008, DTP Entertainment acquired House of Tales; however, the studio initially continued to operate autonomously. By the end of 2009, disagreements arose between House of Tales' leadership and DTP concerning company strategy and the underperformance of 15 Days. Schachte departed in January 2010, followed by Ganteföhr in March. Afterwards, DTP shifted House of Tales’ base from Bremen to Hannover, integrating it into Cranberry Production, another DTP subsidiary, which led to the effective dissolution of House of Tales as an independent entity.
In December 2014, THQ Nordic, a Swedish publisher, acquired the rights to House of Tales’ adventure game portfolio and subsequently reissued these titles via digital distribution channels.
Games
| Title | Publisher | Genre | Date | Platform | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Mystery of the Druids | CDV Software | Adventure | 2001 | Windows | |
| Black Hole | elkware | Adventure | 2003 | J2ME | |
| The Paper Menace | elkware | Adventure | 2003 | J2ME | |
| The Moment of Silence | DTP Entertainment | Adventure | 2004 | Windows | |
| Secret of the Lost Link | elkware | Adventure | 2004 | J2ME | |
| The X-Files: The Deserter | elkware | Adventure | 2004 | J2ME | Part of The X-Files franchise |
| Verliebt in Berlin | DTP Entertainment | Adventure | 2005 | Windows | Part of the Verliebt in Berlin franchise; co-developed with Radon Labs |
| Overclocked: A History of Violence | Anaconda (DTP) | Adventure | 2007 | Windows | |
| 15 Days | DTP Entertainment | Adventure | 2009 | Windows | |
| The Mystery of the Ghost Ship | DTP Entertainment | Hidden object game | 2010 | Windows |
All titles produced by House of Tales utilized their proprietary development platform named Inca ("Interactive Narrator's Companion for Authoring"), which combined a graphical user interface with a scripting language tailored for adventure games.
Awards
The Moment of Silence earned the title Adventure of the Year in 2004 from both PC Games and Adventure-Treff. Additionally, Overclocked was honored with the Innovation Award at the 2007 Deutscher Computerspielpreis.
See also
- Daedalic Entertainment – German studio specializing in adventure games
- King Art Games – German developer known for adventure titles
- Frogwares – contemporary creator of adventure games
- Pendulo Studios – German-favored adventure game developer active during the same era