This is the bone-chilling premise upon which the classic computer game The 7th Guest is built. When the Trilobyte game launched in the early 1990s, it not only scared the pants off of adults and children alike, it also became a huge hit that helped popularize the CD-ROM. Because the home computer has evolved considerably since Windows 95, The 7th Guest was unplayable on modern machines until just a couple of weeks ago, when it was released for the iPhone and iPad. Now a new generation of gamers as well as old-school fans can experience the horror that is Old Man Stauf, for a small fee.

You may have heard the basic plot before: a handful of people are invited to a creepy old mansion, and the one who survives the night wins the game. Stauf has promised six guests their most secret desire, so long as they solve the many puzzles hidden within the house. Throughout the night, the guests are involved in betrayal, seduction, and murder, with most of them willing to stop at nothing to get what they want. The player watches these events unfold while also solving Stauf’s riddles and unraveling the disturbing mysteries of the mansion, though seemingly not for the same selfish reasons.

The 7th Guest is a first-person adventure game, with the bulk of the gameplay focused on various puzzles in the many rooms of the house. The controls are simple; point in a direction to move, click a door to open it, and all of the puzzles translate well to the iPad’s touch screen. Solving puzzles or touching certain items will trigger full-motion video cut scenes, and while they’re certainly dated and a little cheesy, they still manage to be effectively creepy. The player will most likely uncover these story moments non-chronologically, depending on the direction he or she takes while exploring the house, but the uncertainty actually adds to the tension. The more puzzles that are solved, the more doors will unlock, and there are also a few shortcuts and secret paths to find throughout the mansion.

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In developer Pop Cap’s latest game, Plants Vs. Zombies, you fend off ravenous zombies with a variety of war-ready plants. The game combines zombies and tower defense gameplay in a fresh take on the two genres (zombies are a genre, right?). The game is packed with humorous characters and situations and has a style all its own. Where else can you dispatch a zombie Michael Jackson with an angry jalapeño pepper?

As in most tower defense games, you choose and place different towers in strategic positions, hoping to eliminate waves of enemies efficiently. All the standard tower types are incorporated in clever ways through the plants that you set up on the field. There are projectile towers in the form of peashooters, bombs in the form of jalapeño peppers and cherries, and defense makes an appearance as ice-peashooters and nuts. You’ll choose from upwards of forty unique plants for maximum zombie braining.

Each plant is unique and has a use. I found myself falling back on a trusty lineup of four plants for nearly every battle with the remaining two or three choices depending on the zombies, stage and conditions. While I had my staple choices, I could easily see how a different combination of plants would be equally effective. It all comes down to personal preference, and it’s impressive that people can create their own strategies and plant lineups based on their play-style. Some plants are better for certain situations, but there are always numerous ways to get the job done.

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