The Space Mystery

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The Space Mystery
The game's logo, showing the text "The Space Mystery" in front of the Exploriens emblem. The background is set in space with a bright nearby star peaking over the emblem.
Developer(s)Mondo
Publisher(s)The LEGO Group
Engine$HTML
Platform(s)Web browser
Release5 December 1996[1]
Genre(s)Adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Exploriens – The Space Mystery was a 1996 online point-and-click adventure game developed by Mondo. It takes place on a fictional spaceship from the LEGO Exploriens product line. Players assumed the role of an Explorien minifigure tasked with solving a mystery aboard the spaceship. The game was a single-player experience, but featured online communication, allowing players to work together to solve its puzzles.

The Space Mystery was released on LEGO.com in December 1996, following the success of Treasure Hunt in the Pirate Sea during the previous month. It was the second official LEGO browser game; unlike its predecessor, it was available in multiple languages and featured more complex graphics. The game remained online through the first half of 1997 before being taken offline in May. Over one million users had played it by the time it closed. It was a finalist in both the Cresta and Epica Awards for 1997.

As an account was required to play The Space Mystery, it was not archived on the Wayback Machine and is currently lost media.

Gameplay

Screenshot of the game, showing its interface and one of its pre-rendered scenes

The Space Mystery was a point-and-click adventure game played from a first-person perspective. Players could navigate through pre-rendered environments using arrows on the sides of the game window.[2] The game contained collectable items that could be used to solve puzzles; for example, one puzzle required the player to find "orthochromatic spectacles" to read a scrambled message in an image projected by an "ILTAR projection machine".[3] Players could communicate with each other through an in-game chat function, available in four languages, and were encouraged to do so to help each other overcome problems and solve the game's mystery.[4][2]

In the game's backstory, the Explorien Space Lab at the planet Mondo II has lost contact with its SatCraft 001 spaceships. Players took on the role of a Explorien tasked with going into space and solving the mystery onboard one of the spaceships.[5] New players were asked to keep what happened in the game a secret; if they did not check the checkbox agreeing to this, they were told that there was no use for Junior Exploriens who were not willing to fully accept the mission.[6]

Development and release

Icon on LEGO.com

The Space Mystery was developed by Mondo A/S,[2] a Danish web development company that also designed the original LEGO website.[7] The game was programmed in $HTML, an HTML-based language developed by Mondo to create dynamic web pages;[8] Mondo claimed the result was "some of the web's first true game interaction."[2] Player progress was tracked and saved using "Mondo Modules". The game's computer-generated graphics were produced in Mondo's graphic production facilities. Its appearance, navigation, and focus on interaction between players were based on thematic role-playing.[2] It was designed for players of all ages, though it was considered to be potentially difficult for younger players.[4]

The game's language selection

The Space Mystery was first made available on LEGO.com on 5 December 1996.[1] Mondo employees Soren Beck[9] and "Laust" advertised it on rec.toys.lego a few hours after its release.[10] The LEGO Group officially announced the game in a press release on 12 December.[4] The announcement referred to it as an "advertainment" game,[4] as it had been designed advertise the Exploriens LEGO sets that had released earlier in 1996.[2] The game and its chat servers were available in Danish, English, German, and Spanish.[4] Players were required to create a LEGO Surfer Club account to play the game, if they did not have one already.[5]

On 3 May 1997, The Space Mystery was removed from the Play page of LEGO.com.[11] A notice was added to the game's index page on 6 May stating that it had been temporarily disabled.[12] According to Mondo, the game was online for a total of six months, though the archived web pages indicate it was only available for five months. During its time online, over one million participants played the game.[2]

The Space Mystery was a finalist in the Interactive category in the 1997 Cresta International Advertising Awards,[13] held in New York City in November.[14] On 15 January 1998, the game was an Interactive Print finalist in the 1997 Epica Awards for European Advertising,[15] held at the Grand Hôtel in Stockholm. It was one of 277 finalists (seven from Denmark) out of 4,481 entries that year.[16][17]

Additional images

Screenshots

  • Approaching a SatCraft 001

    Approaching a SatCraft 001

  • Exploring a room for items

    Exploring a room for items

Awards

  • Cresta 1997 finalist award

    Cresta 1997 finalist award

  • Epica 1997 finalist award

    Epica 1997 finalist award

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Soren Beck (1996-12-05). "NEW GAME ON WWW.LEGO.COM". Newsgroup: rec.toys.lego. Usenet: [email protected]. Archived from the original on 2024-06-21.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 "LEGO Explorien Space Mystery Game". MONDO. 27 February 1998. Archived from the original on 1998-07-01.
  3. ↑ Camiel Rouweler (1996-12-09). "Orthochromatic glasses in LEGO web game". Newsgroup: rec.toys.lego. Usenet: [email protected]. Archived from the original on 2024-06-25.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Nipper, Mads (December 12, 1996). "Space-travel game on the Internet". LEGO World Wide Web Press Info. The LEGO Group. Archived from the original on 1997-01-10.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Mondo (1996). "LEGO Exploriens - The Space Mystery (English LEGO Surferclub signup)". LEGO World Wide Web Site. The LEGO Group. Archived from the original on 1997-01-10.
  6. ↑ Eileen Keeney (1996-12-13). "Re: Exploriens Game". Newsgroup: rec.toys.lego. Usenet: [email protected]. Archived from the original on 2024-06-24.
  7. ↑ "MODNO A/S - Internetløsninger". 18 April 1996. Archived from the original on 1996-11-11.
  8. ↑ Laursen, Thorkild Stoltze, ed. (December 1997). $HTML. København: Mondo Inc. Archived from the original on 1996-11-11.
  9. ↑ "Experience – Soren Beck Jensen". LinkedIn. Mondo A/S – Nov 1994-Jun 1998, 3 yrs 8 mos – First employee in the company. Started as HTML slave and was involved in many projects. Helped develop MondoSearch and give birth to Mondosoft.
  10. ↑ Jeff Findley (1996-12-10). "Re: NEW GAME ON WWW.LEGO.COM". Newsgroup: rec.toys.lego. Usenet: [email protected]. Archived from the original on 2024-06-22.
  11. ↑ "LEGO Internet Games". LEGO World Wide Web Site. The LEGO Group. May 3, 1997. Archived from the original on 1997-06-15.
  12. ↑ "LEGO: Exploriens - The Space Mystery". LEGO World Wide Web Site. The LEGO Group. 6 May 1997. File date (obtained via wget) and page text. Archived from the original on 1997-06-15. This game has been temporarily disabled.
  13. ↑ Ross, Nancy (1997). "Cresta International Advertising Awards 1997". MONDO. Archived from the original on 1998-07-01.
  14. ↑ Levere, Jane L. (November 13, 1997). "THE MEDIA BUSINESS: ADVERTISING – ADDENDA; McCann-Erickson Wins Top Honors". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2015-05-27. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
  15. ↑ Weill, Alain (15 January 1998). "Epica Finaliste 1997". MONDO. Archived from the original on 1998-07-01.
  16. ↑ "Finalists by Country - 1997". Epica. Archived from the original on 1998-12-03. Denmark – Print Finalists – Mondo (Copenhagen) – Lego Explorien, Online – Internet Game, www.game.mondo.dk
  17. ↑ "Final Results 1997". Epica. Archived from the original on 1998-12-01.
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