Mixed-Up Fairy Tales

Last updated
Mixed-Up Fairy Tales
Mixed-Up Fairy Tales Cover.jpg
Developer(s) Sierra On-Line
Publisher(s) Sierra On-Line
Director(s) Lori Ann Cole
Bill Davis (creative)
Producer(s) Stuart Moulder
Artist(s) Douglas Herring
Composer(s) Mark Seibert
Platform(s) MS-DOS
Release1991
Genre(s) Adventure, Educational
Mode(s) Single-player

Mixed-Up Fairy Tales is a graphic adventure game released by Sierra On-Line in 1991. It is a follow-up to Mixed-Up Mother Goose and was made for younger players than those of Sierra's King's Quest or Space Quest series. In it, the player controls a child - selected from one of six and named at will by the player. Commercial copies of the game provided a fairy tale themed coloring book with a set of crayons. [1]

Contents

Plot

The player is transported to the land of make believe by the magical dragon Bookwyrm, who needs their help unknotting the mess that has become of five famous fairy tales (Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast , Bremen Town Musicians, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Snow White) thanks to the machinations of a spiteful troll named Bookend. For instance, the prince cannot find Cinderella because her glass slipper was stolen, Jack's axe is missing so he cannot chop down the beanstalk, Snow White is lost and needs help finding the seven dwarves' house, etc. Bookwyrm, who had the book all the stories were recorded in, may be consulted by the player for advice at any time.

Gameplay

The game has a simplified interface different from other Sierra games of the period; instead of several different icons to move the character, look at objects, places and people, operate scenery fixtures, or talk to other characters, Mixed-Up Fairy Tales has only a general icon to interact with the environment, move the player's character and initiate conversation with other characters, and another to look at the player's surroundings. The player cannot "die", and it is impossible to reach a point where onward play is not possible because of lacking an important item or piece of information. The game saving feature was simplified as well, with each game saved automatically when the player quit and merely labeled by their character's name.

Although it allowed children to interact with the characters of their favorite fairy tales, most of the stories' major events would happen off-screen, with the player's movement limited to a four-by-four screen area.

Reception

Cynthia E. Field of PC Games called Mixed Up Fairy Tales an engaging, nonviolent, challenging game that appeals to both genders. [3]

Related Research Articles

<i>Simon the Sorcerer</i> Point-and-click adventure game

Simon the Sorcerer is a 1993 point-and-click adventure game developed and published by Adventure Soft, for Amiga and MS-DOS. The game's story focuses on a boy named Simon who is transported into a parallel universe of magic and monsters, where he embarks on a mission to become a wizard and rescue another from an evil sorcerer. The game's setting was inspired by the novels of the Discworld series, and incorporates parodies on fantasy novels and fairy tales, such as The Lord of the Rings and Jack and the Beanstalk. The lead character's design was inspired by that of the fictional British television character Blackadder, with the character voiced by Chris Barrie in the CD re-release.

<i>Kings Quest</i> Video game series

King's Quest is a graphic adventure game series, released between 1980 and 2016 and created by the American software company Sierra Entertainment. It is widely considered a classic series from the golden era of adventure games. Following the success of its first installments, the series was primarily responsible for building the reputation of Sierra. Roberta Williams, co-founder and former co-owner of Sierra, designed all of the King's Quest games until the series' reboot in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roberta Williams</span> American video game designer (born 1953)

Roberta Lynn Williams is an American video game designer and writer, who co-founded Sierra On-Line with her husband, game developer Ken Williams. In 1980, her first game, Mystery House, became a modest commercial success; it is credited as the first graphic adventure game. She is also known for creating and maintaining the King's Quest series, as well as designing the full motion video game Phantasmagoria in 1995.

<i>Gobliiins</i> Puzzle adventure video game series

Gobliiins is a puzzle adventure video game series, consisting of five entries, released by Coktel Vision for the Amiga, Atari ST, DOS, and Macintosh platforms. The first three titles were released in the early 1990s, the fourth in 2009. The visual look of the series and its characters were created by French artist Pierre Gilhodes, whose style was used in another game from Coktel Vision: Woodruff and the Schnibble of Azimuth.

<i>Lineage II</i> 2003 video game

Lineage II is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) for Microsoft Windows and the second game in the Lineage series. It is a prequel to Lineage and is set 150 years before the first game. It has become popular since its October 1, 2003 launch in South Korea, reporting 1,000,918 unique users during the month of March 2007. To date, the game has been played by more than 14 million users, most of whom are based in Asia.

<i>Kings Quest I</i> 1984 video game

King's Quest: Quest for the Crown is an adventure game developed by Sierra On-Line and published originally for the IBM PCjr in 1984 and later for several other systems between 1984 and 1989. The game was originally titled King's Quest; the subtitle was added to the games box art in the 1987 re-release, but did not appear in the game.

<i>Kings Quest VI</i> 1992 video game

King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow is a point-and-click adventure game, first released in 1992 as the sixth installment in the King's Quest series produced by Sierra On-Line. Written by Roberta Williams and Jane Jensen, King's Quest VI is widely recognized as the high point in the series for its landmark 3D graphic introduction movie and professional voice acting. King's Quest VI was programmed in Sierra's Creative Interpreter and was the last King's Quest game to be released on floppy disk. A CD-ROM version of the game was released in 1993, including more character voices, a slightly different opening movie and more detailed artwork and animation.

<i>Kings Quest VII</i> 1994 video game

King's Quest VII: The Princeless Bride is a graphic adventure game developed and published by Sierra On-Line for the MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows and Macintosh computers in 1994. It features high-resolution graphics in a style reminiscent of Disney animated films and is the only King's Quest game with multiple protagonists: Queen Valanice and Princess Rosella, who are both spirited away to the realm of Eldritch, and Rosella is transformed into a troll. They must find a way to return Rosella to normal and find her true love, get rid of a powerful evil force threatening this realm, and get back to their kingdom Daventry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Coles</span> Video game designers

The Coles is a colloquial term referring to Corey Cole and Lori Ann Cole, a husband and wife team who are both video game designers. Working together they designed the Quest for Glory series. They have also each designed games independently.

<i>The Simpsons: Bart & the Beanstalk</i> 1994 video game

The Simpsons: Bart & the Beanstalk is a platform game released in February 1994 for the hand-held console Game Boy. It was developed by Software Creations and published by Acclaim Entertainment, and is based on the animated television series The Simpsons. The game is a parody of the fairy tale "Jack and the Beanstalk"; a large beanstalk grows far up into the sky outside the home of Bart Simpson, whom the player controls. Bart climbs the beanstalk all the way to the top and adventure ensues. Bart & the Beanstalk has received mixed to negative reviews from critics.

<i>Mixed-Up Mother Goose</i> 1987 video game

Roberta Williams' Mixed-Up Mother Goose is a computer game first released by Sierra On-Line in 1987. It is, in essence, an edutainment title, directed specifically at young gamers, as well as an adventure game. It was the first multimedia game released on CD-ROM in 1991. A second game in the series, Mixed-Up Fairy Tales, was released in 1991.

Hoyle's Official Book of Games is a series of games developed and published by Sierra On-Line. Volume 1, released in 1989, featured multi-player card games. Volume 2, released in 1990, featured 28 varieties of Solitaire. Volume 3, released in 1991, featured board games. Volume 4, was a remake of Volume 1, with two additional games. Sierra continued to publish more games to the series up to its demise. Encore Software has continued publishing entries to the series since then. According to Hoyle 1, it was essentially a spiritual sequel to Sierra's Hi-Res Cribbage (1981).

<i>Leisure Suit Larry Goes Looking for Love (in Several Wrong Places)</i> 1988 video game by Al Lowe

Leisure Suit Larry Goes Looking for Love (in Several Wrong Places) is the second game in the Leisure Suit Larry series of graphical adventure games, designed by Al Lowe and published by Sierra On-Line in 1988. Like its predecessor, Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards, it was developed for multiple platforms, including MS-DOS, Atari ST and Amiga. It utilizes Sierra's Creative Interpreter (SCI0) engine, featuring 16-color EGA graphics and a mouse-based interface for movement. The story continues the exploits of Larry Laffer, who becomes stranded on a tropical island during an ill-fated vacation.

<i>Police Quest: Open Season</i> 1993 video game

Police Quest: Open Season is a 1993 police procedural point-and-click adventure video game developed and published by Sierra On-Line. It is the fourth installment in the Police Quest series. Departing from the fictional setting of Lytton, California from the first three installments, Open Season follows police detective John Carey as he investigates a series of brutal murders in Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Linehan (entertainer)</span> Northern Irish entertainer

John Joseph Linehan, MBE is an Irish entertainer, most known for his drag queen character May McFettridge. Linehan has, in character, been a long-running feature on local radio and television, as well as a regular pantomime dame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack and the Beanstalk</span> English fairy tale closely associated with the tale of "Jack the Giant Killer"

"Jack and the Beanstalk" is an English fairy tale. It appeared as "The Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean" in 1734 and as Benjamin Tabart's moralized "The History of Jack and the Bean-Stalk" in 1807. Henry Cole, publishing under pen name Felix Summerly, popularized the tale in The Home Treasury (1845), and Joseph Jacobs rewrote it in English Fairy Tales (1890). Jacobs' version is most commonly reprinted today, and is believed to be closer to the oral versions than Tabart's because it lacks the moralizing.

There have been several King's Quest fangames both original and retellings/remakes of the original games that have been released by various developers.

<i>Kings Quest</i> (2015 video game) 2015 video game

King's Quest is an episodic video game series developed by The Odd Gentlemen and published by Activision under the Sierra Entertainment brand name for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. It is a new re-imagining of the long-running King's Quest series. While it is an adventure game like the previous games in the series, the interface is not fully point-and-click.

<i>Revolting Rhymes</i> (film) 2016 British animated television film

Revolting Rhymes is a 2016 British computer-animated fantasy comedy drama television film written for the screen and directed by Jakob Schuh and Jan Lachauer, based on the 1982 book of the same name written by Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake.

Fairy Tale about Father Frost, Ivan and Nastya is a 2000 Czech adventure game developed by Centauri Production and Bohemia Interactive. It was published by Bohemia Interactive.

References

  1. Eddie Huffman (July 1993). "Computer! - Issue 154". Compute!. No. 154. p. 108. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
  2. South, Phil (May 1993). "PC Zone, Issue 3". PC Zone . No. 3. p. 82.
  3. Field, Cynthia E. (August–September 1992). "Mixed Up Fairy Tales". PC Games (1): 77, 78.