Last year The 7th Guest developer Trilobyte launched a crowdfunding campaign for a third game in the series. The effort was a failure though, with the developer only raising $41,218 of its $65K goal. Yet a group of fans at Attic Door Productions have raised even more than that to fund their own fan-made sequel, The 13th Doll.

Currently at $41,891 with another 15 days on the clock, Attic Door's successor was given the go-ahead by The 7th Guest's license holder to move forward with the project if it could raise the funds to do so. The fledgling studio has done just that, as it shot past its $40k goal only halfway through its campaign.

How did the unofficial fans do what the original series creator's couldn't? The jury is still out on that one, but based on The 13th Doll's Kickstarter page, it seems like Attic Door knows what it's doing with a smart pitch, lots of stylish early gameplay footage, a coherent outline, and a firm grasp of what made the original game so special.

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The 13th Doll's story is set a decade after the events of The 7th Guest and the protagonist of that game, Tad, is now an inmate at a mental asylum. His skeptic therapist, Dr. Richmond, decides it would be helpful for to bring Tad back to the horrific mansion he once escaped to show him that there's really nothing to fear. Or is there?

Like Resident Evil before it, The 13th Doll's two leads will get separated en route to the haunted mansion and players will choose who they want to play as. The two different characters will have their own storyline and Attic Door recommends playing both as one campaign will shed extra light on the other.

Aside from Stauf's mansion, The 13th Doll will also be set in an abandoned toy store and a mental asylum.

Attic Door's licensing agreement allows the studio to bring back actor Robert Hirschboeck to reprise his role as sinister toy creator and owner of creepy mansion Henry Stauf. This hasn't been officially confirmed as it will depend on whether the studio can afford him, but given the success of the campaign so far that's looking very likely.

The 13th Doll is slated for a PC, Mac and Linux release in January 2016. It may also come to consoles and receive Oculus Rift support if it can meet enough of its stretch goals.

Players can reserve a copy of The 13th Doll right now for $15. The campaign will run until 27th August.