Bone: Out from Boneville

Last updated
Bone: Out from Boneville
Bone - Out from Boneville Coverart.png
Developer(s) Telltale Games
Publisher(s) Telltale Games
Designer(s) Dave Grossman
Heather Logas
Composer(s) Jared Emerson-Johnson
Engine Telltale Tool
Platform(s)
Release
  • Windows
    • NA: September 15, 2005
    • EU: May 18, 2007
  • Mac OS X
    • WW: October 13, 2006
  • Steam
    • NA: June 17, 2008
Genre(s) Adventure
Mode(s) Single-player

Bone: Out from Boneville is an episodic adventure game by Telltale Games. It was Telltale's first adventure game, [1] and their second game overall, following Telltale Texas Hold'em . A Mac port of the game was released on October 13, 2006, ported by Vanbrio. [2]

Contents

It was released for Microsoft Windows in September 2005 after around seven months in production. The game is based on Out from Boneville , the first volume of the Bone comic series by Jeff Smith. [3] It follows the adventures of Fone Bone and his two cousins, Phoney Bone and Smiley Bone (the first two of which are both playable characters). [4]

Plot

Bone: Out from Boneville screenshot where Fone Bone is talking to the Great Red Dragon. Boneville screen.jpg
Bone: Out from Boneville screenshot where Fone Bone is talking to the Great Red Dragon.

At the beginning of the game, Fone Bone, Phoney Bone, and Smiley Bone have been run out of their hometown of Boneville due to one of Phoney Bone's schemes of robbing. They find themselves lost in the desert with only a mysterious map to help them figure out where they are. The cousins are separated when a swarm of locusts descends upon them. The player must then help Fone Bone and Phoney Bone explore a mysterious valley to find their cousin Smiley. In the process, they make friends with a tiny bug named Ted, a beautiful girl named Thorn, her energetic grandmother Gran'ma Ben, and a trio of playful 'possum kids. The sinister rat creatures are always on their tails but the enigmatic Red Dragon keeps them at bay.

Reception

The game received "average" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. [5]

GamesRadar said the game was "probably too lightweight, too easy and unsophisticated for most adventure gamers... but don't hold that against it". [8] PC Zone said that the game "creates a warm feeling that doesn't provide belly-laughs, but at least fixes you up with a permanent half-grin". [14] However, PopMatters gave it four stars out of 10 and stated that the game "isn’t all that dissimilar from older PC adventure games: for the most part it’s a one-click interface; one clicks on objects and characters to interact with them. There are also several minigame-style segments: a pair of chase sequences, a logic puzzle, a hide-and-seek sequence. The unfortunate thing is that none of this is particularly fun". [15] In PC Gamer US , Chuck Osborn wrote: "Newcomers to Bone are better off putting their money toward the collected graphic novel". He criticized its high cost and short playtime. [13]

Related Research Articles

<i>Sam & Max</i> American media franchise

Sam & Max is an American media franchise about Sam and Max, a pair of anthropomorphic vigilante private investigators. The characters, who occupy a universe that parodies American popular culture, were created by Steve Purcell in his youth, and later debuted in a 1987 comic book series. The characters have since been the subject of a graphic adventure video game developed by LucasArts, a television series produced for Fox in cooperation with Nelvana Limited, and a series of episodic adventure games developed by Telltale Games. In addition, a variety of machinima and a webcomic have been produced for the series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LucasArts adventure games</span> Adventure games produced by LucasArts

From the late 1980s to the early 2000s, LucasArts was well known for their point-and-click graphic adventure games, nearly all of which received high scoring reviews at the time of their release. Their style tended towards the humorous, often irreverent or slapstick humor, with the exceptions of Loom and The Dig. Their game design philosophy was that the player should never die or reach a complete dead-end, although there were exceptions.

<i>Bone</i> (comics) Comic book series by Jeff Smith

Bone is an American independently-published graphic novel series, written and illustrated by Jeff Smith, originally serialized in 55 irregularly released issues from 1991 to 2004. The series was self-published by Smith's Cartoon Books for issues #1–20, by Image Comics from issues #21–27, and back to Cartoon Books for issues #28–55.

Telltale Incorporated was an American video game developer based in San Rafael, California. The company was founded in July 2004 by former LucasArts developers Kevin Bruner, Dan Connors and Troy Molander, following LucasArts' decision to leave the adventure game genre. Telltale established itself to focus on adventure games using a novel episodic release schedule over digital distribution, creating its own game engine, the Telltale Tool, to support this. It closed in October 2018 after filing for bankruptcy protection.

<i>The Matrix: Path of Neo</i> 2005 action-adventure video game

The Matrix: Path of Neo is a 2005 action-adventure video game developed by Shiny Entertainment and published by Atari. The game was written and co-directed by the Wachowskis, who wrote and directed the first three The Matrix films and the 2003 video game Enter the Matrix, also developed by Shiny Entertainment. Players control the character Neo, participating in scenes from the films.

<i>Spider-Man</i> (2002 video game) 2002 video game

Spider-Man is a 2002 action-adventure game based on the 2002 film of the same name. It was released for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Microsoft Windows, and Game Boy Advance on April 16, 2002, in North America, and June 7 in Europe. The Game Boy Advance version was later re-released and bundled on Twin Pack cartridge with Spider-Man 2 in 2005. Published by Activision, the console versions were developed by Activision's then recently acquired subsidiary Treyarch, who had previously ported Neversoft's 2000's Spider-Man to Microsoft Windows and Dreamcast. LTI Gray Matter developed the Microsoft Windows version and Digital Eclipse developed the Game Boy Advance version.

<i>Out from Boneville</i> 1991 comic book by Jeff Smith

Out From Boneville is the first story-arc in the Bone series. It collects the first six issues of Jeff Smith's self-published Bone comics. It marks the beginning of part one of the Bone series, titled Vernal Equinox. The book was first published by Cartoon Books in its original black-and-white version in 1995; excerpts were printed in Disney Adventures over the course of 1994–1998. Paperback and hardback colored editions were published in 2005 by Scholastic.

<i>The Great Cow Race</i>

The Great Cow Race is the second book in the Bone series. It collects issues 7-11 of Jeff Smith's self-published Bone graphic novels, along with the short story "Up on the Roof" which was originally published in Wizard Presents: Bone 13½. The book was first published by Cartoon Books in its original black-and-white form in 1996. Paperback and hardback coloured editions were released in 2005 by Scholastic.

<i>Eyes of the Storm</i> 1996 comic book by Jeff Smith

Eyes of the Storm is the third book in the Bone series. It collects issues 12-19 of Jeff Smith's Bone comic book series along with 5 previously unpublished story pages and 9 new illustrations. It marks the conclusion of the first part of the saga, titled "Vernal Equinox". The book was first published by Cartoon Books in its original black-and-white form in 1996. Paperback and hardback coloured editions were published in 2006 by Scholastic.

<i>Ghost Circles</i>

Ghost Circles is the seventh book in the Bone series. It collects issues 38-43 of Jeff Smith's self-published Bone comic book series and marks the beginning of the third and final part of the saga, entitled Harvest. The book was published by Cartoon Books in black-and-white in 2001 and in color by Scholastic Press in 2008.

<i>Crown of Horns</i> (comic)

Crown of Horns is the ninth and final book in the Bone series. It collects issues 50-55 of Jeff Smith's self-published Bone comic book series. The book was published by Cartoon Books in 2004. The color version was published by Scholastic Press and released on January 21, 2009.

<i>Sam & Max: Freelance Police</i> Unreleased 2004 video game

Sam & Max: Freelance Police was a graphic adventure video game developed by LucasArts from 2002 until its cancellation in 2004, and the final game in the company's adventure game era. Freelance Police was originally intended for release for Windows in early 2004 as a sequel to the 1993 title Sam & Max Hit the Road. The game was based on the characters Sam & Max: an anthropomorphic dog and "hyperkinetic rabbity thing" who debuted in a 1987 comic book series created by Steve Purcell. Freelance Police was announced in August 2002, and showcased at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in 2003. Like its predecessor, Freelance Police was designed as a point-and-click adventure game, but used a 3D game engine in place of the SCUMM and GrimE engines used in older LucasArts adventure games. The project's development was led by Michael Stemmle, one of the original designers for Sam & Max Hit the Road, while Steve Purcell assisted in developing the game's plot and providing artistic direction.

<i>Sam & Max Save the World</i> 2006-2007 episodic video game

Sam & Max Save the World is a graphic adventure video game developed by Telltale Games. The game was originally released as Sam & Max: Season One before being renamed in early 2009. Save the World was developed in episodic fashion, comprising six episodes that were released for Microsoft Windows over the course of late 2006 and early 2007. The episodes were initially distributed online by GameTap and Telltale Games themselves, although the later retail releases of the game were published by The Adventure Company and JoWooD Productions in North America and Europe respectively. A Wii port of the game was published in late 2008, and an Xbox Live Arcade version was released in mid-2009. A remaster of the game by Skunkape Games was released in December 2020 for Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows, in August 2021 for Xbox One, and in September 2022 for PlayStation 4.

<i>Bone: The Great Cow Race</i> 2006 video game

Bone: The Great Cow Race is an adventure game by Telltale Games, the second episode of the Bone video game series. It was released in April 2006 after approximately seven months of production. It is based on the second volume of the Bone comic series by Jeff Smith and follows the adventures of cousins Fone Bone, Phoney Bone, and Smiley Bone.

<i>Treasure Hunters</i> (comic)

Treasure Hunters is the eighth book in the Bone series. It collects issues 44-49 of Jeff Smith's self-published Bone comic book series. The book was published by Cartoon Books in 2002 and in color by Scholastic Press in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jared Emerson-Johnson</span> American video game composer

Jared Nathaniel Emerson-Johnson is an American video game music composer, sound designer, voice director and voice actor. Emerson-Johnson is the Music Supervisor and lead composer at Bay Area Sound, an audio production company specializing in sound design, music and voiceover for video games.

<i>Tales of Monkey Island</i> 2009 video game

Tales of Monkey Island is a 2009 graphic adventure video game developed by Telltale Games under license from LucasArts. It is the fifth game in the Monkey Island series, released nearly a decade after the previous installment, Escape from Monkey Island. Developed for Windows and the Wii console, the game was released in five episodic segments, between July and December 2009. In contrast to Telltale's previous episodic adventure games, whose chapters told discrete stories, each chapter of Tales of Monkey Island is part of an ongoing narrative. The game was digitally distributed through WiiWare and Telltale's own website, and later through Steam and Amazon.com. Ports for OS X, the PlayStation Network, and iOS were released several months after the series ended.

<i>Telltale Texas Holdem</i> 2005 video game

Telltale Texas Hold'em is a 2005 poker video game released by Telltale Games. The game was hinted at by Telltale Games before release when they stated that they would release a mini game or two before the announcement of their first adventure game. Telltale Texas Hold'Em was released by Telltale to examine the benefits of digital distribution. The game would serve as the basis for Telltale's other poker games, Poker Night at the Inventory and Poker Night 2.

<i>The Wolf Among Us</i> 2013 video game

The Wolf Among Us is an episodic graphic neo-noir mystery-drama adventure game developed by Telltale Games, based on Bill Willingham's Fables comic book series, to which it serves as a prequel. The game consists of five episodes that were released throughout 2013 and 2014. Retail versions for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox 360, and Xbox One consoles were made available in November 2014. In the game, players control Bigby Wolf, the sheriff of Fabletown – a clandestine community within 1980s New York City consisting of various fantastical characters from fairy tales and folklore – and must investigate a series of mysterious murders; the first ones to occur in Fabletown in a long time.

<i>The Walking Dead: Season Two</i> 2013 episodic adventure video game

The Walking Dead: Season Two is an episodic adventure video game developed by Telltale Games based on the comic book series of the same name. It is the sequel to The Walking Dead, with the episodes released between December 2013 and August 2014. There was a retail collector's disc edition released after the conclusion of the season. The game employs the same narrative structure as the first season, where player choice in one episode will have a permanent impact on future story elements. The player choices recorded in save files from the first season and the additional episode 400 Days carry over into the second season. Clementine, who was the player's main companion during the first season, is the playable character in Season Two.

References

  1. ↑ Hall, Shannon (2005-11-18). "Bone: Out From Boneville". Just Adventure. Archived from the original on 2005-11-27. Retrieved 2014-04-20.
  2. ↑ "Vanbrio Releases Jeff Smith's Bone: Out from Boneville Now Available for the Macintosh". Business Wire. 2006-10-13. Retrieved 2014-01-04.
  3. ↑ "Telltale announces first adventure title". The International House of Mojo. 2005-02-20. Retrieved 2012-10-29.
  4. 1 2 Michaud, Rob (2005-09-23). "Bone: Out from Boneville review". Adventure Gamers . Retrieved 2012-10-29.
  5. 1 2 "Bone: Out From Boneville for PC Reviews". Metacritic . Retrieved 2013-11-07.
  6. ↑ Green, Sarah Jassler (December 2005). "Bone: Out From Boneville" (PDF). Computer Gaming World . No. 257. p. 110. Retrieved 2017-04-11.
  7. ↑ Reed, Kristan (2005-10-12). "Bone: Out From Boneville". Eurogamer . Retrieved 2014-04-21.
  8. 1 2 Kim, Alan (2006-01-31). "Bone: Out From Boneville". GamesRadar . Retrieved 2013-11-07.
  9. ↑ Lafferty, Michael (2006-01-05). "Bone: Out from Boneville - PC - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on 2009-01-05. Retrieved 2014-04-21.
  10. ↑ Goldstein, Hilary (2005-10-03). "Bone: Out from Boneville". IGN . Retrieved 2014-04-20.
  11. ↑ "Bone: Out from Boneville". PC Format (181): 62. December 2005.
  12. ↑ "Bone: Out from Boneville". PC Gamer UK . December 2005.
  13. 1 2 Osborn, Chuck (March 2006). "Gamut Minis; Bone: Out from Boneville". PC Gamer US . 13 (3): 102.
  14. 1 2 PC Zone Staff (2005-11-28). "Review: Bone: Out From Boneville". PC Zone. Archived from the original on 2014-12-02. Retrieved 2015-07-05.
  15. ↑ Goodness, Richard. "Bone: Out From Boneville". PopMatters . Retrieved 2013-11-07.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.