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== Gameplay ==
== Gameplay ==
[[File:Mondo Space Mystery 2.png|thumb|left|Screenshot of the game]]
[[File:Mondo Space Mystery 2.png|thumb|left|Screenshot of the game]]
''The Space Mystery'' was a point-and-click adventure game played from a first-person perspective. The player moved through pre-rendered environments using arrows on the sides of the game window. In the game's backstory, the Explorien Space Lab at the planet Mondo II has lost contact with its SatCraft 001 spaceships. The player takes the role of a Junior Explorien tasked with going into space and solving the mystery onboard one of the spaceships.<ref name="index"/> New players were asked to keep what happened in the game a secret, and were told that there was no use for Exploriens who were not willing to fully accept the mission if they did not check the [[Wikipedia:Checkbox|checkbox]] agreeing to this.<ref name="rtl secret"/> The player needed to collect items that could be used to solve puzzles, such as needing to find "orthochromatic spectacles" to read a message in an image projected by an "ILTAR projection machine".<ref name="rtl ortho"/> Players could communicate with each other through an in-game chat function, and were encouraged to do so to help each other solve problems. The game and its chat servers were available in Danish, English, German, and Spanish. <ref name="press 20"/>
''The Space Mystery'' was a point-and-click adventure game played from a first-person perspective. The player navigated through pre-rendered environments using arrows on the sides of the game window.<ref name="mondo game"/> In the game's backstory, the Explorien Space Lab at the planet Mondo II has lost contact with its SatCraft 001 spaceships. The player takes the role of a Junior Explorien tasked with going into space and solving the mystery onboard one of the spaceships.<ref name="index"/> New players were asked to keep what happened in the game a secret, and were told that there was no use for Exploriens who were not willing to fully accept the mission if they did not check the [[Wikipedia:Checkbox|checkbox]] agreeing to this.<ref name="rtl secret"/> The player needed to collect items that could be used to solve puzzles; for instance, one puzzle needed the player to find "orthochromatic spectacles" to read a scrambled message in an image projected by an "ILTAR projection machine".<ref name="rtl ortho"/> 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.<ref name="press 20"/><ref name="mondo game"/>


== Development and release ==
== Development and release ==
[[File:The Space Mystery anm.gif|thumb|Icon on LEGO.com]]
[[File:The Space Mystery anm.gif|thumb|Icon on LEGO.com]]
''The Space Mystery'' was developed by Mondo A/S,<ref name="mondo game"/> the same company that designed the original [[LEGO World Wide Web Site]].<ref name="mondo home"/>
''The Space Mystery'' was developed by Mondo A/S,<ref name="mondo game"/> the same company that designed the original [[LEGO World Wide Web Site]].<ref name="mondo home"/> Mondo produced the game in their graphic production facilities and programmed it in their "$HTML" system, creating what they claimed was "some of the web's first true game interaction." Player progress was tracked and saved using "Mondo Modules".<ref name="mondo game"/> The game's appearance, navigation, and focus on player interaction were based on thematic role-playing.<ref name="mondo game"/> It was designed for players of all ages, though it was considered to be potentially difficult for younger players.<ref name="press 20"/>


''The Space Mystery'' was first made available on LEGO.com on 5 December 1996.<ref name="rtl Soren"/> Mondo employees Soren Beck<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.linkedin.com/in/sorenbeck/details/experience/ |title=Experience – Soren Beck Jensen |website=[[Wikipedia:LinkedIn|LinkedIn]] |quote=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.}}</ref> and "Laust" advertised it on [[rec.toys.lego]] a few hours after its release.<ref>{{cite newsgroup |url=https://groups.google.com/g/rec.toys.lego/c/QMkEjSpjUGo/m/UsbxQJgLzCwJ |title=Re: NEW GAME ON WWW.LEGO.COM |date=1996-12-10 |author=Jeff Findley |newsgroup=rec.toys.lego |[email protected] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240622043247/https://groups.google.com/g/rec.toys.lego/c/QMkEjSpjUGo/m/UsbxQJgLzCwJ |archive-date=2024-06-22}}</ref> The LEGO Group officially announced it in a press release on 12 December.<ref name="press 20"/>
''The Space Mystery'' was first made available on LEGO.com on 5 December 1996.<ref name="rtl Soren"/> Mondo employees Soren Beck<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.linkedin.com/in/sorenbeck/details/experience/ |title=Experience – Soren Beck Jensen |website=[[Wikipedia:LinkedIn|LinkedIn]] |quote=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.}}</ref> and "Laust" advertised it on [[rec.toys.lego]] a few hours after its release.<ref>{{cite newsgroup |url=https://groups.google.com/g/rec.toys.lego/c/QMkEjSpjUGo/m/UsbxQJgLzCwJ |title=Re: NEW GAME ON WWW.LEGO.COM |date=1996-12-10 |author=Jeff Findley |newsgroup=rec.toys.lego |[email protected] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240622043247/https://groups.google.com/g/rec.toys.lego/c/QMkEjSpjUGo/m/UsbxQJgLzCwJ |archive-date=2024-06-22}}</ref> The LEGO Group officially announced it in a press release on 12 December.<ref name="press 20"/> The game and its chat servers were available in Danish, English, German, and Spanish; the previous LEGO web game, ''[[Treasure Hunt in the Pirate Sea]]'', had only been available in English.<ref name="press 20"/>


''The Space Mystery'' was an Interactive finalist in the 1997 [[Wikipedia:Cresta International Advertising Awards|Cresta Internatinal Advertising Awards]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mondo.dk/awards/cresta.html |title=Cresta International Advertising Awards 1997 |year=1997 |first=Nancy |last=Ross |website=MONDO |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/19980701231437/http://www.mondo.dk/awards/cresta.html |archive-date=1998-07-01}}</ref> and a Print finalist in the 1997 [[Wikipedia:Epica Awards|Epica Awards]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mondo.dk/awards/epica.html |title=Epica Finaliste 1997 |year=1997 |first=Alain |last=Weill |author-link=Wikipedia:Alain Weill (art critic) |website=MONDO |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/19980701231423/http://www.mondo.dk/awards/epica.html |archive-date=1998-07-01}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.epica-awards.com/1997/FINAL97.html#den |title=Finalists by Country - 1997 |website=[[Wikipedia:Epica Awards|Epica]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19981203134920/http://www.epica-awards.com/1997/FINAL97.html#den |archive-date=1998-12-03 |quote=Denmark – Print Finalists – Mondo (Copenhagen) – Lego Explorien, Online – Internet Game, www.game.mondo.dk}}</ref>
''The Space Mystery'' was an Interactive finalist in the 1997 [[Wikipedia:Cresta International Advertising Awards|Cresta Internatinal Advertising Awards]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mondo.dk/awards/cresta.html |title=Cresta International Advertising Awards 1997 |year=1997 |first=Nancy |last=Ross |website=MONDO |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/19980701231437/http://www.mondo.dk/awards/cresta.html |archive-date=1998-07-01}}</ref> and a Print finalist in the 1997 [[Wikipedia:Epica Awards|Epica Awards]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mondo.dk/awards/epica.html |title=Epica Finaliste 1997 |year=1997 |first=Alain |last=Weill |author-link=Wikipedia:Alain Weill (art critic) |website=MONDO |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/19980701231423/http://www.mondo.dk/awards/epica.html |archive-date=1998-07-01}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.epica-awards.com/1997/FINAL97.html#den |title=Finalists by Country - 1997 |website=[[Wikipedia:Epica Awards|Epica]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19981203134920/http://www.epica-awards.com/1997/FINAL97.html#den |archive-date=1998-12-03 |quote=Denmark – Print Finalists – Mondo (Copenhagen) – Lego Explorien, Online – Internet Game, www.game.mondo.dk}}</ref>

Revision as of 22:55, 25 June 2024

The Space Mystery
Developer(s)Mondo
Publisher(s)The LEGO Group
Platform(s)Web browser
Release5 December 1996[1]
Genre(s)Adventure game
Mode(s)Single-player

Exploriens – The Space Mystery was an online point-and-click adventure game based on the LEGO Exploriens product line.

As a LEGO Surfer Club 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

The Space Mystery was a point-and-click adventure game played from a first-person perspective. The player navigated through pre-rendered environments using arrows on the sides of the game window.[2] In the game's backstory, the Explorien Space Lab at the planet Mondo II has lost contact with its SatCraft 001 spaceships. The player takes the role of a Junior Explorien tasked with going into space and solving the mystery onboard one of the spaceships.[3] New players were asked to keep what happened in the game a secret, and were told that there was no use for Exploriens who were not willing to fully accept the mission if they did not check the checkbox agreeing to this.[4] The player needed to collect items that could be used to solve puzzles; for instance, one puzzle needed the player to find "orthochromatic spectacles" to read a scrambled message in an image projected by an "ILTAR projection machine".[5] 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.[6][2]

Development and release

Icon on LEGO.com

The Space Mystery was developed by Mondo A/S,[2] the same company that designed the original LEGO World Wide Web Site.[7] Mondo produced the game in their graphic production facilities and programmed it in their "$HTML" system, creating what they claimed was "some of the web's first true game interaction." Player progress was tracked and saved using "Mondo Modules".[2] The game's appearance, navigation, and focus on player interaction 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.[6]

The Space Mystery was first made available on LEGO.com on 5 December 1996.[1] Mondo employees Soren Beck[8] and "Laust" advertised it on rec.toys.lego a few hours after its release.[9] The LEGO Group officially announced it in a press release on 12 December.[6] The game and its chat servers were available in Danish, English, German, and Spanish; the previous LEGO web game, Treasure Hunt in the Pirate Sea, had only been available in English.[6]

The Space Mystery was an Interactive finalist in the 1997 Cresta Internatinal Advertising Awards[10] and a Print finalist in the 1997 Epica Awards.[11][12]

Additional images

Additional screenshots of the game from the Wayback Machine and from Mondo's website. These are the only known images of the game remaining at this time.

  • Landing page with language selection

    Landing page with language selection

  • A SatCraft 001

    A SatCraft 001

  • Exploring a room

    Exploring a room

  • 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 "LEGO Explorien Space Mystery Game". MONDO. 27 February 1998. Archived from the original on 1998-07-01.
  3. ↑ 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.
  4. ↑ Eileen Keeney (1996-12-13). "Re: Exploriens Game". Newsgroup: rec.toys.lego. Usenet: [email protected]. Archived from the original on 2024-06-24.
  5. ↑ Camiel Rouweler (1996-12-09). "Orthochromatic glasses in LEGO web game". Newsgroup: rec.toys.lego. Usenet: ????. Archived from the original on 2024-06-25. {{cite newsgroup}}: Check |message-id= value (help)
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 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.
  7. ↑ "MODNO A/S - Internetløsninger". 18 April 1996. Archived from the original on 1996-11-11.
  8. ↑ "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.
  9. ↑ 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.
  10. ↑ Ross, Nancy (1997). "Cresta International Advertising Awards 1997". MONDO. Archived from the original on 1998-07-01.
  11. ↑ Weill, Alain (1997). "Epica Finaliste 1997". MONDO. Archived from the original on 1998-07-01.
  12. ↑ "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
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