I've been trying to figure out for the past few years what a certain game is called that I used to play as a little girl on the computer.
Does anyone know the title?
Here's what I remember:
It was for Windows (98, I think?), not DOS (I didn't even really know what DOS was up until I discovered Sierra two years ago!).
It was a Fantasy Puzzle game.
It had pretty good graphics for its time (very 90s cartoony).
It starred a Knight in Shining Armor (no, not my usernamesake), whose name I have forgotten sadly. I think you had to rescue a Princess (which makes sense given the Knight's occupation, and it was the Jester who had her.
There were a bunch of rooms in the castle, each leading to a different area with a different minigame puzzle. The only ones that I remember, are the Kitchen, which I think had like a matching puzzle or hidden object puzzle? and the Garden, which had... oh boy, a Chess puzzle! Yeah, that's a GREAT puzzle to put in a game I was playing when I was 5-6 years old who it usually took months to complete ANY game at all!
The Jester was obviously the villain, and what creeped me out back then (although I think it's cool now!) is that every time he would appear in a room, his happy-go-lucky theme music would play and he'd dance around and generally annoy/creep out the Knight before leaving for another room.
The CD box had a castle on it.
I never completed the game.
I don't believe there was much-if any- dialogue other than instructions.
-
I want to find this game again, as I want to see how it ends and relive my childhood!
It's not the first Kyrandia game is it? Malcolm the Jester was the villain in that. The rest of your description doesn't sound quite right for that though. From your description, the game seems very familiar. Now I'm curious, too.
Could it have been one of the following:
Adventure at Chataeu d'Or -- http://www.mrbillsadventureland.com/reviews/c-d/chateaudorR/chateaudorR.htm (http://www.mrbillsadventureland.com/reviews/c-d/chateaudorR/chateaudorR.htm)
Hodj-Podj -- http://www.mobygames.com/game/hodj-n-podj (http://www.mobygames.com/game/hodj-n-podj)
I hope you find out what the title was. This is going to bug me until you find out what it was.
No, it's neither of those.
Mystery at Greveholm - http://www.mobygames.com/game/mystery-at-greveholm (http://www.mobygames.com/game/mystery-at-greveholm)
Nonono! It's a Fantasy, not alien sci-fi!
I Google Image searched "evil jester" but all that came up was Halloween costumes and deviantART pictures. Then I searched for "old game evil jester" but that turned up a guy dressed as a jester playing on a computer. Also, a picture of Harley Quinn from Arkham Asylum, which is definitely NOT an old game. Well, good luck with that.
Unfortunately the information is just to vague to get anything on it.
I certainly looked through lists of kids games and puzzle games.
Can you remember any other TINY details about it?
For example what were the graphics like?
http://www.mobygames.com/game/pandemonium
??
Bt
Just as an aside, I started playing chess when I was 5-6, so that's not really terribly uncommon. Certainly you wouldn't be expected to master the game at that point, but at least knowing how to play is not all that strange. Also, it wouldn't be unexpected in a puzzle game unless the game was specifically geared towards small children. So, I ask--was the game specifically geared towards small children? That'd narrow the search quite a bit, I'd imagine.
I'll confess that I'm now rather curious as to what this game was. I've tried my hand at searching, even hunting around MobyGames, but haven't found anything that looked likely.
I have two questions: First, in roughly what range of years do you recall playing the game? That might help to narrow our searches. Second, if you don't get an answer, do you mind if I repost your question on another forum? As I said, I'm curious as to what game this was, and hope that widening the pool of minds considering it might help.
@bt Nope. Sorry.
@Lamb I think it WAS made for little kids, but again, I'm not so sure. And, even now, I still don't know how to play Chess (nor Poker for that matter), and unless I'm playing an Adventure Game like GK3 or PQ1, I don't frankly care to learn either.
@Thaumaturge 1. Around like, 5 or so. I can remember that I found the disc a few years later (when I was around...9? 10?) when we'd gotten my Windows XP computer (which served me quite well for a great number of years!) and I attempted to install it and play it again.
It did not work to my annoyance.
Then I lost it again (probably in our move to Texas) and never found it. And yet, I've still my discs of other games such as Where In Time Is Carmen Sandiego? (which I LOVED even though I never finished it!) around, even that doesn't work anymore either.
2. Sure! Go ahead!
Actually, you know what I just realised? I thought that my Adventure Game kick began with KQ, but actually it started with the Carmen Sandiego games! They were point-and-click Adventure Games with puzzles and everything!
@Neonivek The graphics? Rather cartoony IIRC. The box art had a castle on it.
*checks her age in her profile* That makes it about fifteen years ago, and thus somewhere around 1998.
I'll hopefully post about it on another forum a little later, and respond here if I get a useful response there, then. ^_^
Why am I not surprised you have no interest in learning how to play chess?
Don't worry, heh, there's a Let's Play of it on You Tube!
Bt
And I have no interest in learning checkers or pinnacle or more than a passing knowledge of poker--it happens.
Oh, and I also watch a lot of LPs of games I'll probably never buy. Time & money, they ain't in large supply sometimes. It happens.
People are of varying means and interests, it's crazy, but true!
Back on topic: I don't have suggestions, I'm afraid. Only games with jesters I can think of are also Kyrandia. And this game that can packaged with Encarta where you wander through a castle maze answering trivia questions that I got really into, and I think some rooms had this jester character passing through. But I'm pretty sure that's not what you mean either. :)
Funnily enough, that's the suggestion that I bring from the other forum, I believe: Encarta Encyclopedia's Mind Maze.
Likewise, I doubt that it's the game, but it's worth checking, I believe.
Mind Maze! That's it! Heh, you'd think I'd remember a name that simple, huh? :P
Quote from: KatieHal on June 13, 2013, 11:10:11 AM
Mind Maze! That's it! Heh, you'd think I'd remember a name that simple, huh? :P
Actually, I just looked that game up, and I'm almost certain that's the game GrahamRocks was describing. I think we've figured it out, people! Now to await confirmation. :)
Hmm. I was thinking it wasn't because it didn't have 'characters' exactly, but, GR, does this look familiar?
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wRpk2a3ToO8/TxVwYMRlnNI/AAAAAAAAAOs/bwJRuf5swCk/s1600/encarta95_screenshot2.jpg)
I see a few potential problems with it being Mind Maze: I'm not sure that Mind Maze had chess problems -- I think that it was trivia only -- that it was ever released in a box separate from Encarta, and thus that it had box art, or that it had a "main character" beyond "you".
Nevertheless, we'll see what GrahamRocks says.
It does have a number of rooms with a chessboard-like pattern...ad memory is often subjective. Though I don't think it had a garden either.. :/
I just watched a bit of a walk through on YouTube and...
No. That's not it either! These graphics look like VGA, and the characters don't really move. My game's graphics, while kinda nice, were cartoony (a bit like KQ7 perhaps?) and the characters moved around with little animations and everything! I especially remember that you could actually see the Knight that you controlled. With MindMaze (from what I can tell anyway), that is first person, while mine is third person.
Also, I don't think the castle was a maze in my game, or at least it didn't have THAT many rooms! I can remember the great hall of the castle, where all the games were, usually through a certain labelled door (like "Kitchen" or "Garden"). Whenever you would successfully complete a puzzle (I think! or was it the opposite? Or both?), The Jester would appear, he'd dance and jump and laugh and his creepy theme music would play, and then before he gets caught by the Knight, he goes into another room.
I always had the nerve to follow the Jester wherever he went, thinking that I'd catch him eventually and... accomplish whatever my goal was. I can remember one particular animation where the Jester popped out of a room on the right, did his little bit of mischief, and then proceeded to skip and dance in a circle around the Knight, while the Knight looked at him rather unhappily (he had an expression that said, "Uhh... What are you doing?") and the Jester dove into a room on the left to continue the game.
I don't remember if there were multiple floors or not. Although it IS a castle!
Dang, and I thought we were so close!
Sorry Lambchop! :( I'm annoyed too, ya know!
Okay. Here's a list of video games with Jesters in them from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_jesters#In_video_games
It may not be complete, but it's something.
Also here is a huge list of adventure games
http://www.mrbillsadventureland.com/reference/gamelist.htm (http://www.mrbillsadventureland.com/reference/gamelist.htm)
Now I'm interested. I hate it when I can't get an answer out of Google. This has now become personal. In addition to Katie's list of jesters, here's a wiki on puzzle games in their various genres:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_puzzle_video_games
And this is why I love Aspergers some days. Without it there would be no wikipedia.
Hopefully something rings a bell. I will keep looking. Do you remember any character names at all? Anything more specific so I can nail down a solid Google search?
The other site offers another suggestion: Clandestiny (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clandestiny).
It has a castle on the cover, apparently includes both first-person (pre-rendered, I think) gameplay and cartoonish animation, and features what appears to be a chess puzzle in the garden area.
The Wikipedia article linked-to above has some information; does MobyGames (http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/clandestiny) has both information and screenshots. If you scroll down a little on this page (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/clandestiny/id408472400?mt=12) you should see the chess puzzle mentioned above.
Hmmm... no. The game was 2d IIRC, not that.
@Damar Names? I can't think of any.
Also, Neonivek, I'm still going slowly through that list you sent me due to me wanting to look in every section just in case. Who knew there were so many Adventure Game titles in the world? And yet, I didn't see The Silver Lining anywhere!
Rise and walk once again, unquiet thread!
Someone on TV Tropes may have found the game that you were looking for: is it Juilliard Music Adventure?
The cover (http://www.mobygames.com/game/juilliard-music-adventure/cover-art/gameCoverId,211394/) (albeit not the English version, it seems)
This (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Juilliard-Music-Adventure-PC-MAC-CD-learn-musical-rhythm-melody-styles-kids-game-/400336873078) EBay item seems to have a screenshot of the game.
This (http://www.cdaccess.com/html/shared/juilliar.htm) page seems to have more information about it, and another cover image (click on the image for a larger view).
Is this it?
I'm not sure...
Any more screenshots? Maybe of the foyer or of the hero?
I fear that I'm having a rather difficult time finding more screenshots than those that I posted. Even MobyGames has a rather limited selection.
MobyGames does have this (http://pics.mobygames.com/images/covers/large/1297804510-00.jpg) back-cover image (I think that it is), which as some (unfortunately rather small) screenshots, and this (http://pics.mobygames.com/images/covers/large/1297804508-00.jpg) image of the CD.
This (http://pianoeducation.org/pnojadvr.html) seems to describe the game a little more, including mention of "[t]he funny King and Queen of the chess board in The Chess Garden".
I was looking for a game from my childhood, and arrived at this topic. Most of the things you mention seem to be shared, except the jester is a skeleton.
Any chance you were looking for "The Mystery at Greveholm" : https://www.mobygames.com/game/mystery-at-greveholm (https://www.mobygames.com/game/mystery-at-greveholm)