 | |
| Developer(s) | Mulawa Dreaming |
|---|---|
| Publisher(s) | Mulawa Dreaming |
| Director(s) | Peter Hewitt |
| Producer(s) | Peter Hewitt |
| Designer(s) | Peter Hewitt |
| Programmer(s) | Peter Hewitt |
| Artist(s) | Peter Hewitt |
| Writer(s) | Peter Hewitt |
| Release | 2000 |
| Genre(s) | Puzzle, adventure |
Xiama is a 2000 puzzle adventure game by Townsville-based Australian studio Mulawa Dreaming, released on Windows. The game was self-published by its developer, Peter Hewitt, off his website [1] and at a stall in Townville's "Cotter's Markets". [2]
Peter Hewitt based the game on a trip he had through a national park, and used the photos he took there as the backdrop of the title. [3] The game, developed solely by Hewitt, took around a year to complete. [4] The title is an acronym. [5] The game was playtested by a young puzzle lover named Penny, and were crafted to allow novices to have a go while challenging long-time puzzlers. [6] Hewitt's favourite puzzle is The Venus Jigsaw. [6] Some of his puzzles, such as the three turtle puzzles, don't require prior knowledge and can be completed with by press buttons and experimenting. [7] Hewitt expected some of the more challenging puzzles to last more than one play session. [8] He found the cave system one of the highlights to develop. [9]
On March 15, 2000, Hewitt developed the concept of the Xiama "books" in order to get away from the usual games saving mechanism. The Xiama website went live on March 19. On April 24, Bill Basham gave permission for the use of his midi version of Waltzing Matilda. The post-its idea was implemented on May 18, as Hewitt had long wanted to add personal touches to the game. The puzzles were completed on June 1. On June 3, he negotiated a deal with Listening Earth to use their bird calls and dingo howls. On June 4, Bill Basham agreed to his use of "The Rejection" in the project. The game uses the ClickTeam Installation program. [10]
The game had no marketing efforts either for or against women. [11] Hewitt's "personalised and artisanal" web presence invited players ton open and direct dialogue, with items such as a diary detailing the game's development. [2] Hewitt followed up this game with the puzzle adventures Magnetic and Magicama. [12] Xiama Revisited was made in 2007 using BlitzBasic 2D, Paintshop Pro 9, Bryce 5, and CoolEdit 2000. It was play tested by Doug Bradley, and dedicated in the memory of Penny Cadwell. [13] [14] At the beginning of 2017 in January, both versions became free. [15] [16]
The game is set in the North Queensland rainforest Alligator Creek Falls, located at Bowling Green Bay National Park. The player arrives at the park to meet up with their friend Peter for a trek, only to receive a note saying he's gone on ahead. The player proceeds to wander on alone, discovering a rich landscape along the way.
Xiama is a first person game primarily in 2D. The player progresses through a series of static screens, and interacts with hotspots to access puzzles. [11] Like its follow-up Magnetic, Xiama blends 3D graphics with slideshow-styled photo backdrops. [17] There are 24 puzzles placed within the 100 environments. Completing puzzles will unlock further areas and puzzles, and progressing through the game increases the player's score. The last puzzle is only unlocked after the player completes the other 23. The puzzles are superimposed onto photos of the national park. When the player completes a puzzle, a sticky note is added to their journal which contains some of the player's thoughts and reflections. Puzzles a re-scrambled when the player leaves the area, to enable the revisiting of old puzzles The soundscape consists of bird calls, campfire cracking, stream water, and animal noises; meanwhile, two puzzles revolve around the traditional folk song Waltzing Matilda.
The game is completable within a 24-hour period. [18]
MrBillsAdventureland felt the game reminded them of Jewels of the Oracle, due to its exotic and fascinating setting, and its challenging and addictive gameplay. [19] The site felt, however, that its follow-up, Magnetic, would have a richer mix of game types and wished both these titles had junior versions for younger players. [17] Quandary noted the game was not an adventure in the traditional sense, due to lacking inventory, item collection, and an unfolding story. [4] [20] Pibweb noted that the game was not 100% accurate, due to it including a cave scene, when Alligator Creek doesn't have a cave system. [21] Just Adventure recommended the game to lovers of puzzles, photography, and nature. [22] GameZone appreciated the fact that the game was not run of the mill. [23] Game Vortex noted that the game's puzzles vary wildly in difficulty. [24] Computer Games Online deemed it a "fiendishly cerebral offering", and felt that the in-game reward for completing the game came off as a "cruel joke". [25] Academic Stephen Granade thought the game's largest deficiencies were in its interface and lack of documentation, and described it as playing like Myst , only more boring. [26]
Adventure Gamers thought the game offered a better experience when played with family and friends. [27] Thanks to the game, GameBoomers looked forward to future projects from Mulawa Dreaming. [28] Mystery Manor felt the game was challenging, particular navigating around the park. [29] BonusWeb forgave the amateurish screens as having a similar charm to the 1995 Czech point-and-click adventure game Ramonovo Kouzlo by Vochozka Trading. [30] According to The Players' Realm, the game is "thoroughly rooted in the lost tradition" of gameplay consisting of progressing through a series of static panoramic screens through puzzle-solving and clue-collecting, as seen in titles such as Myst, Riven, and Jewels of the Oracle, in a genre "so beloved of earlier games scholarship". [2] The book notes that the puzzles turn what would have been a slideshow into narrative architecture, in which the photographs become rewards for the completion of puzzles in the ludic experience. [2]
In addition, Adventure Gamers thought that while far from a perfect game, Xiama captured the spirit of adventure gaming, and gave it the Best Puzzles of 2000 Award. [31] [32]
Interactive fiction (IF) is software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives, either in the form of Interactive narratives or Interactive narrations. These works can also be understood as a form of video game, either in the form of an adventure game or role-playing game. In common usage, the term refers to text adventures, a type of adventure game where the entire interface can be "text-only", however, graphical text adventure games, where the text is accompanied by graphics still fall under the text adventure category if the main way to interact with the game is by typing text. Some users of the term distinguish between interactive fiction, known as "Puzzle-free", that focuses on narrative, and "text adventures" that focus on puzzles.
Puzzle video games make up a broad genre of video games that emphasize puzzle solving. The types of puzzles can test problem-solving skills, including logic, pattern recognition, sequence solving, spatial recognition, and word completion. Many puzzle games involve a real-time element and require quick thinking, such as Tetris (1985) and Lemmings (1991).
An action-adventure game is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres.
Pokémon Puzzle Challenge is a puzzle video game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Color. Released in Japan on September 21, 2000; in North America on December 4, 2000; and in PAL regions on June 15, 2001, it is the second Pokémon-themed entry in the Puzzle League series. While its Nintendo 64 counterpart Pokémon Puzzle League is visually based on the Pokemon anime, Puzzle Challenge instead draws inspiration from the Pokémon Gold and Silver games. The game features multiple modes of play and support for competitive play between two players. Puzzle Challenge was later digitally re-released via the Nintendo 3DS's Virtual Console line on November 6, 2014.
Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon is an adventure game released on Windows, Xbox, and PlayStation 2 in November 2003. It is the third installment in the Broken Sword series, released six years after the previous instalment, The Smoking Mirror. The Sleeping Dragon moved the series to 3D graphics, and is the only game in the series not to use a point and click interface. The player assumes the role of George Stobbart, an American patent lawyer who flies to the Congo to write a patent for a scientist who claims to have found a source of unlimited energy.
Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror is a point-and-click adventure video game developed by Revolution Software for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation. It was re-released on Microsoft Windows, OS X and iOS as a remastered edition in 2010 and on Android in 2012. It is the second installment in the Broken Sword series, and the first game in the series that does not follow the Knights Templar storyline. The player assumes the role of George Stobbart, a young American who is an eyewitness to the kidnapping of his girlfriend Nicole Collard.
The Count is a text adventure written by Scott Adams and published by Adventure International in 1979. The player character has been sent to defeat the vampire Count Dracula by the local Transylvanian villagers, and must obtain and use items from around the vampire's castle in order to defeat him.
Non-games are a class of software on the border between video games and toys. The term "non-game game" was coined by late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, who describes it as "a form of entertainment that really doesn't have a winner, or even a real conclusion". Will Wright had previously used the term "software toy" for the same purpose. The main difference between non-games and traditional video games is the lack of structured goals, objectives, and challenges. This allows the player a greater degree of self-expression through freeform play, since they can set up their own goals to achieve. Some genres that have been considered non-games include language-learning software, digital tabletop games, puzzle games, simulation games, and art games.
Crusader: Adventure Out of Time, also known as Crusader: A Conspiracy in the Kingdom of Jerusalem is a 1997 video game, developed by Index+ and published by Europress. The game was published for Windows, Windows 3.x and Mac OS.
Violet is a work of interactive fiction by American author Jeremy Freese. It is a one-room puzzle game.
An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story, driven by exploration and/or puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media, such as literature and film, encompassing a wide variety of genres. Most adventure games are designed for a single player, since the emphasis on story and character makes multiplayer design difficult. Colossal Cave Adventure is identified by Rick Adams as the first such adventure game, first released in 1976, while other notable adventure game series include Zork, King's Quest, Monkey Island, Syberia, and Myst.
The Westerner is a graphic adventure game developed by Revistronic. It was published in late 2003 in Spain by Planeta DeAgostini. In 2004, it was published worldwide, including in the US, where it was renamed Wanted: A Wild Western Adventure. Set in the Wild West, it is the sequel to 3 Skulls of the Toltecs. The game is in 3D, although it preserves the traditional point and click gameplay and comic style of LucasArts productions. In May 2016, Casual Brothers reintroduced the game on both iOS and Android. By March 2005, The Westerner had sold more than 200,000 units worldwide.
Pilgrim: Faith as a Weapon is a 1997 adventure video game, written by Paulo Coelho, who wrote The Pilgrimage, the novel on which the game is based. Pilgrim has been described as a "commercial cultural heritage game" and "graphic interactive fiction". It is the premiere title of Arxel Tribe and the first in an adventure trilogy, which also includes The Legend of the Prophet and the Assassin (1999) and The Secrets of Alamut (2001).
Chemicus: Journey to the Other Side is a 2001 educational adventure video game by Heureka-Klett as part of Tivola's "Quest for Knowledge" series. A sequel named Chemicus II: Die versunkene Stadt was released in 2002. The game was originally released in Germany.
Reah: Face the Unknown, known in North America as simply Reah, is a 1998 first-person puzzle-oriented adventure game with a non-linear plot, described as a Myst-clone. It was developed by Project Two Interactive / Black Friar and published by Detalion and LK Avalon. It was distributed by Erbe in Spain on October 10, 1998. It was published by Project 2 Interactive in the Netherlands, and distributed in the U.S. and Canada by GT Interactive in 1999.
The Forgotten: It Begins is a 1999 adventure/puzzle video game developed by Ransom Interactive and published by DreamCatcher Interactive. A sequel was to be released called The Forgotten II: The Collection. The Forgotten narrative was originally supposed to last over 7 games ("modules"), but these were never completed.
Missing on Lost Island is a 2000 Slovak adventure game developed by Mayhem Studios, and published by Bohemia Interactive.
Auryn Quest is a jump and run adventure game based on Michael Ende's novel The Neverending Story and his film adaptation of the same name. Originally developed by Discreet Monsters, "bad luck and mishaps" left the company bankrupt, and the game was eventually completed by Attraction. Initially an ambitious adventure game, bankruptcy forced the release to be reworked into a first-person action, 3D platformer jump game vaguely based on its source material. The first entry in a subsequently abandoned series, it became the sole game project for Discreet Monsters.
Magnetic: The Game of Games is a 2003 video game developed by Australian studio Mulawa Dreaming. It was the second game by the studio after Xiama. The game had a players only forum on its web site. Magnetic Revisited was a redesigned and rewritten version released in 2010. The game would be followed by Magicama, and Cooroora.
Nacah is a 2001 educational adventure game developed by American studio Virtue Creations and published by Bible Games Company for Windows. A sequel entitled Derek was released in 2003. Derek was revamped into Isles of Derek in 2005.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)