Neil Gaiman's puzzle-adventure Wayward Manor coming next month

Wayward Manor , the puzzle/adventure game being created by Neil Gaiman and The Odd Gentlemen, was supposed to come out last fall. Obviously, it did not. But one year to the day after the game was revealed to the world , the studio has announced that the wait is almost over.

I'm not familiar with the work of The Odd Gentlemen, but Neil Gaiman—he of Sandman , Death , Books of Magic and so much more—is a different matter entirely. And that, with all due respect to the Gents, means considerable interest in Wayward Manor, a "puzzle/adventure game hybrid" in which you play a ghost trying to convince the new owners of your haunted house to clear out. Naturally, asking nicely won't get the job done: You'll have to discover and play on their deepest fears if you want to hustle them out the door.

"We've been working day and night to make sure Wayward Manor is the best game it can be. This ultimately meant making the tough decision to delay the game," The Odd Gentlemen wrote in the launch date announcement . "After adding more puzzles, an extra level of polish, and maybe even some paranormal surprises; we're finally ready to announce a release date for Wayward Manor. You'll get to scare the Budds on July 15, 2014."

Wayward Manor is listed on Steam now, although you can't actually pay for it just yet. You can, however, preorder from the Humble Store for $10, which will get you a Steam key when the game is released and also shoot ten percent of the purchase price to charity.