Enclosure 3-D (2022)
Following in the wake of Leisure Suit Larry, I was reminded of the 2004 graphical text adventure Enclosure, which uses the same Sierra AGI engine as the original Larry 1. In 2022, Enclosure received an update where the pixels were turned into voxels — resulting in a kind of retro 3D. The change isn’t dramatic but clearly noticeable. The graphics seem to lift off the screen, less flat than before; to my eyes, the characters now look more like LEGO figures than pixel sprites. Enclosure is a lovingly made fan project, available for free. What originally drew me to it was the premise: a pair of fraudulent mediums invited to a haunted Arctic station.
Enclosure was created by the Dutch duo Femo Duo Entertainment, known for a handful of other non-commercial games. The voxel update is by Mausimus, who developed the Retro VoXel graphics framework (RVX). You can switch between the original Enclosure and Enclosure 3-D at any time during play by pressing F2. Inspiration came not only from early Sierra titles but also from 1980s horror films. To my delight, Enclosure 3-D has also become available on Steam.
Frauds as Experts
The protagonists, Mike Goodman and Sarah Parker, try to make a living in a dubious way: by staging fake séances for clients hoping to contact their deceased loved ones. It’s not exactly a lucrative business. One day a session goes badly wrong, exposing them as frauds. While lamenting his poor finances in a bar, Mike is approached by a wealthy heir, William Mayfield, who makes an offer he can’t refuse: ten thousand dollars if the couple joins a research expedition to Greenland. According to William, his father once tried to drill for oil there but was forced to abandon the site after strange and terrifying events. William wants to find out whether the haunting is real — and so he gathers a team of “experts”. Sounds promising enough!
Plenty of Talk in a Shifting Environment
Mike and Sarah join a ten-person team that includes both scientists and paranormal experts. I had some trouble remembering who was who, but the game conveniently allows you to list everyone present in a room at any time. Getting to know the characters is vital to the story, and you have to talk to them repeatedly to move things forward. “Repeatedly” meaning not only across several encounters, but also multiple times within a single conversation — squeezing new lines from the “talk to” command over and over. Fortunately, there’s also a shortcut key that repeats your previous command. The player controls Mike, while Sarah is one of the NPCs — though emotionally, a central one.
Aside from conversation, exploration is key. You can’t be too thorough. The Arctic station contains over twenty rooms and more than ten outdoor areas. There’s no in-game map — something I would have appreciated. The only map can be found pinned to a corridor wall. The graphics are coarse pixel art, though in the 3D version voxelized. Scaled up to modern resolution, everything looks big and blocky — but I liked the style. The characters are distinguishable, and the variety of rooms and outdoor scenes adds welcome diversity. I did a lot of walking. My mental map was hazy, and I often had to double-check door signs to recall whose room I was entering.
The story unfolds one day at a time. There are four days in total, each beginning with Mike waking up. This means revisiting the base: seeing what has changed, where people are, and what new clues have emerged. The changes trigger tasks and reveal leads. Gradually, Mike learns more about the others. The constant shifts build tension, and the atmosphere slowly turns from mysterious to outright horrific.
The narrative feels cinematic, full of twists and with a dramatic, action-heavy finale. The idea of an American oil station in Greenland haunted by a vengeful spirit feels oddly timely now that the U.S. president dreams of owning the island. The game even touches on Inuit rights to their land.
There are moments of dark humour and some startling animations. Cutscenes offer variety with different camera angles. The Arctic base hums with eerie ambient sounds — unsettling in just the right way — and music appears in key scenes.
Observation and Precision Required
Although Enclosure is built largely around free exploration, there are several real-time action scenes. They gave me some unexpected timing and graphical troubles — a single misstep could mean death. Mike can indeed die, so frequent saving is strongly advised.
Enclosure 3-D took me just under five hours to finish. Inventory puzzles aren’t particularly hard, but spotting items in the environment can be tricky. My advice: explore carefully, and recheck rooms each day.
The text parser is straightforward. Commands are mostly two-word combinations, and the verbs are the usual adventure staples: look, use, take, read, talk.
The game offers hints through quirky interjections, sometimes directly from the developers or by referencing other vintage games.
Achieving the maximum score unlocks bonus content, revealing behind-the-scenes bloopers — a fun little reward for completionists.
Verdict
Enclosure 3-D is a small gem — the kind that’s always a pleasure to find trickling down some quiet side stream, away from the mainstream flood. Built on Sierra’s ancient game engine, it pays homage to the 1980s in a modern way. Mausimus’s voxel update is subtle yet effective. The story fits naturally into a changing world. It has a sense of realism and dynamism, even though the player controls the pace. This modest parodic horror thriller earns a total score of 67 out of 100 from me.
Availability
Enclosure 3-D is available for Windows, macOS and Linux on Itch.io and Steam.