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Mystery House (1980)

Sierra On-Line

Apple II · FM-7 · PC-8800 Series · PC-9800 Series · iOS

3.30 from 10 ratings

45 members have it in their collection · 1 playing now · 20 backlogged · 15 wish listed

How long? · with extras 1h · 100% 1h (from 2 logged playthroughs)

In the first graphic adventure game ever, the player along with seven other people is in an old mansion hunting for some jewels. All too soon it becomes obvious that someone is killing one member of the group after another. It is the player's task in this murder mystery to find out who the murderer is before the player is killed himself.

Details

Developers
Sierra On-Line
Publishers
Sierra On-Line, StarCraft
Genres
Adventure
Themes
Mystery, Thriller
Series
Hi-Res Adventure

Release dates

  • May 05, 1980 (Full Release) (North_America) Apple II
  • Apr 01, 1983 (Full Release) (Japan) PC-8800 Series, PC-9800 Series
  • 1983 (Full Release) (Japan) FM-7
  • May 04, 2013 (Full Release) (Worldwide) iOS

Related

Remakes

Rating distribution

5 stars
0
4 stars
6
3 stars
2
2 stars
1
1 star
1

Community All Reviews Statuses

giopep

Review giopep 4/5 · Aug 17, 2022

Mystery House is the first graphic adventure of all time and the first game designed by Roberta Williams, which also makes it the first Sierra game ever (even though it still wasn't named Sierra). It undeniably is a huge milestone in the history of video games (which is basically the reason why I gave it four stars) and I'm happy …

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Mystery House is the first graphic adventure of all time and the first game designed by Roberta Williams, which also makes it the first Sierra game ever (even though it still wasn't named Sierra). It undeniably is a huge milestone in the history of video games (which is basically the reason why I gave it four stars) and I'm happy I finally played it. Honestly, though, that kind of curiosity is the only reason to play it today. I can try to imagine how impactful having those visuals in 1980 was, but today it's really rudimentary and it cannot hide how simple the game is. The commercial version of Zork, which is contemporary, is not particularly better in terms of narration but is so much more fascinating from a structural and complexity point of view. But I have to admit I enjoyed the brutal approach to violence and creative murders. It's basically a mix between a whodounit and a slasher movie. And you can clearly see Roberta Williams' love for splatter, before she hid it from us by working on King's Quest for such a long time and expressed it again fifteen years later in Phantasmagoria.

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Mixplit

Status Mixplit Apr 7, 2022

Disc version is on Computer Gaming World 200 cdrom. This has a few demos:Sacrifice, Star Peace, Advanced Civilization, Diablo, Warcraft 2, Quake, Need for Speed, Tomb Riader, Mechwarrior 2, Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Duke Nukem 3D, HalfLife. As well as a number of full games: Crusader No Remorse, Mystery House, Betrayal at Krondor, X-Com, B-17 Flying Fortress, Kampfgrup, Acheton, Alphaman, Alternate …

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Disc version is on Computer Gaming World 200 cdrom. This has a few demos:Sacrifice, Star Peace, Advanced Civilization, Diablo, Warcraft 2, Quake, Need for Speed, Tomb Riader, Mechwarrior 2, Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Duke Nukem 3D, HalfLife. As well as a number of full games: Crusader No Remorse, Mystery House, Betrayal at Krondor, X-Com, B-17 Flying Fortress, Kampfgrup, Acheton, Alphaman, Alternate Reality:The City, Avoid the Noid, Blance of Power, Bunni-flip, Elite, Elite Plus, Empire, Net Hack, Pirates 2, Rogue, Super Dune 2, Tac Ops, Zelda Classic for Dos.

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scoopings

Review scoopings 4/5 · Jan 25, 2022

Excellent Early Graphic Text Adventure - Playful Murder Mystery

Look: 8/10 I love the colors and the setting is so well-executed with the wireframes. I had a lot of fun looking at the graphics, this could even be a 9. Great title screen, in particular.

Play: 8/10 It's interesting to have no enemy or danger in a text adventure which normally I prefer but this is almost too simple. …

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Look: 8/10 I love the colors and the setting is so well-executed with the wireframes. I had a lot of fun looking at the graphics, this could even be a 9. Great title screen, in particular.

Play: 8/10 It's interesting to have no enemy or danger in a text adventure which normally I prefer but this is almost too simple. But as I kept playing it, I had a blast beating it once and wanted to get that 100%. Only barely had to rely on a guide. Only annoying part I can think of is the forest part, but even that was manageable with some guidance. I wish there were the 100/100 concept or more treasures to collect like in other adventures, but this has to be one of the most successful non-treasure-collecting-based text adventures I’ve played yet. The concept is simply well-executed.

Feel: 9/10 I loooooove these early graphic text adventures so far, excited to revisit the adams ones in their graphic form in the 80s. The wireframe graphics, along with the setting and the “zooming in” by looking into cabinet etc, gave me very Crimson Room vibes, albeit in text form instead of point-and-click. Also, Clue vibes with the storyline, figuring out the murderer it's all just great. Oh, there's even an explicit reference with Dr Green ha, my fave character from Clue coincidentally :-p And good humor in the writing too!

Attachment: 8/10 Whenever I return to text adventures, this will likely be on the list! Especially as an early graphic text adventure. I sure do seem to like the Apple II graphics. Good stuff.

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