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Mystery House

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Mystery House

May 5, 1980

Main game

3.30 average rating based on 10 ratings

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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.
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
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User Stats
45
In Collection
15
Wish Listed
1
Playing
20
Backlogged
How Long Is Mystery House?
Main + extras: 1.0 hours
100% completion: 1.0 hours
Total completions: 2
Related Content
giopep
giopep gave Aug 17, 2022
giopep gave Aug 17, 2022
giopep's review of Mystery House
This review is for the PC (Microsoft Windows) version

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.

scoopings
scoopings gave Jan 25, 2022
scoopings gave Jan 25, 2022
Excellent Early Graphic Text Adventure - Playful Murder Mystery
This review is for the Apple II version

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 …

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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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Mixplit
Mixplit updated their status Apr 7, 2022
Mixplit updated their status 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 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.