From the creators of Myst, comes a great journey full of humour, wonderful music and unforgettable moments.
Prepare yourself for a grand adventure in the world of epic wonder and whimsical magic. A world where every character comes to life and every new hallway leads to another wild dream. A word of mystery and magic. The world of ...The Manhole.
Though officially for children, this game is a delightful experience for players of all ages.
Minimum system requirements: Windows XP or Windows Vista, 1 GHz Processor (1.4 GHz recommended), 256MB RAM (512 recommended), 3D graphics card compatible with DirectX 7 (compatible with DirectX 9 recommended), Mouse, Keyboard.
Average customer rating 4.0 out of 5.0
A Fascinating Journey Through A Magical Land
(by
mrbillsenior)
This classic critically acclaimed, award winning (and collectible!) children's game is the first game ever produced by Rand and Robyn Miller, the brothers who later created Myst, the most famous and best selling adventure game of all time. It is a wonderful game that will appeal to any child, as well as to the child in you. It was first released in 1988 and then re-released in the... full review 1994 Masterpiece Edition upgraded with voices, color, music, and some new characters.
The question that they posed was: What might a kid find if they ventured beneath any ordinary-looking street? And the answer they came up with is both magical and unforgettable. You follow Mr. Rabbit down a manhole (sort of like following 'Alice in Wonderland' down a rabbit hole) and discover a wondrous world of strange places and new friends.
It is a point and click game that is very easy to use for even the smallest children. It is a vast land with over 600 interconnected screens, where you can click on anything you see and something wonderful will happen. Practically everyone you meet has a song to sing, a story to tell, or a secret.
It's a make believe world where you can climb up a beanstalk to a castle in the sky, or go beneath the ocean waves and explore a sunken ship. You can see where the animals live (did you know Mr. Rabbit has carrots on his wallpaper?) and which ones like TV or naps.
It's a world filled with richness, warmth and humor, and friendly, adorable animals all dressed up in clothes. You'll meet an elephant in a canoe and a walrus in a sea captain's hat. You can visit a dragon who lives in Rook Tower and play his stereo, and he may even offer you a hot(!) biscuit.
The animated graphics are original, beautiful and whimsical, with fine attention to detail. There is nearly an hour of wonderful music, and the music on the CD can be played independently on your audio equipment.
It's a great introduction to computers. It isn't a game that you try to win, it's a fascinating journey through a magical land that both you and your child will love ..... and will never forget. We love it!
I remember playing this as a child when it first came out, and it was thoroughly mesmerising. The world is a wonderul mish-mash of absurd and fantastical creatures and settings, and as an adult it has lost none of this charm. Bear in mind that the game is almost entirely focused on exploration, with the point and click interface being used for the basic interactions with the world,... full review which amount to clicking on something and seeing what happens. Despite its simplicity, the game is a jolly afternoon's distraction, and definitely a lovely early experience of interactivity for children.
Just don't make the mistake I did as a child; don't look for an ending. That led to a confused extra couple of hours...
Sophisticated Slide show: Really only for small kids
(by
maelh)
If you are a dreamy adult, then don't expect too much from this game. You go from one place to another without a real story and the characters mostly make random comments. Sometimes there are subtitles/bubbles to help you understand the different accents, sometimes there are none (especially when the characters are talking longer where it would be most useful).... full review
Clicking on many objects produces random sounds, instead of saying or writing the names (which would help young kids or people learning English). You cannot interact with them.
At one place in the game you can play on a keyboard (kind of a synthesizer) but when you can only click individual keys, so it more of a gimmick. You aren't given notes to play or anything. It's just there.
Exploring is also not very pleasant because the objects you can click aren't highlighted and you don't really know why you should go along a path or not. It's walking for the sake of walking, but there isn't something interesting at the end of a path. (See random comments of characters and no real interaction). Finally handling is one-dimensional (just click) which makes it boring rather quickly.
In summary it feels like a sophisticated slide show. I'm severally disappointed.
Although not actual games, Dr. Snuggles series and Alice in Wonderland have a much more interesting story while still managing to be simple.
mrbillsenior)
FinBen)
maelh)