Now THIS game is my real childhood. Before I was ever able to get my hands on a game console, or even a real game for PC, I had these I SPY games for my mom's old Windows Vista desktop.
For those unfamiliar, I SPY was first a series of children's books where a riddle would be given and the player would have to 'spy' certain objects listed within a beautifully orchestrated photograph. These photographs were done by the extremely talented Walter Wick with many hidden objects sprinkled throughout, even ones not listed in the riddle.
I SPY Fantasy, Walter Wick
What I'm talking about today isn't these books (although there ARE I SPY books titled 'Fantasy' and 'Spooky Night'), it's the CD-ROM video game adaptations of these books. There's like 6 of these, but I've just finished playing through I SPY Spooky Mansion and I SPY Fantasy, so that's specifically what I'm talking about today.
Just
generally, these games are great at their purpose. The environments look
great, and the objects are cleverly hidden. I've noticed this time
around that the I SPY riddles get slightly more difficult as you
progress through the game, expecting more comprehension out of the
(intended child) player. For example, the game will go from telling you
to find a duck, to asking you to find four birds, of which a duck would
be one. This helps to solidify some of those good ol' critical thinking
skills that children's games are trying to build, and it takes a good
amount of thought and cleverness from the author of the riddle to embed
that, so hats off to them.
They hold up shockingly well today, despite a couple of hiccups on modern hardware, specifically with playing the full motion video cutscenes (not gonna get too much into the nitty gritty of why, just know that it does happen). The charm of the visuals is fully intact, and you can see just how much care went into designing each of the puzzles.
There are a few parts
of the game that definitely show its age, like the inability to skip
past the animations that play with every object you click on. This is of
course a nitpick, but it does get in the way a bit when you're finding
objects faster than the animations will let you click on them. Not a big deal by any means, and this way kids
know what part of the object they clicked on was correct, and also
potentially convey some information about how this potentially unknown
object works (like a yo-yo, do kids still use those?).
I SPY SPOOKY MANSION DELUXE (2005)
I SPY Spooky Mansion Deluxe, Black Hammer Productions
I SPY Spooky Mansion is the most memorable game in this series for me. It features a rhyming skeleton named 'Skelly' to read you the puzzles, with a perfectly on brand voice. The visuals manage to ride a very fine line between properly creepy and childishly endearing, and the sound design is on point all around. I cannot emphasize enough how charming I find the visual style, so I've included a few images here.
Fireplace - I SPY Spooky Mansion Deluxe, Black Hammer Productions
Dining Room Table - I SPY Spooky Mansion Deluxe, Black Hammer Productions
The game utilizes its theme well to have three different endings where you escape the mansion differently, requiring you to play each puzzle in the mansion three times (with different I SPY riddles), making the game go a long way for a little kid who couldn't buy many video games (me, age ~5). There's also a few minigames in this one, which aren't particularly fun, but they're a nice way to break up the riddles.
With this game being so easily available on the web today, it's a short 2 hour little adventure that's sure to put a smile on your face if you're anything like me. I feel each ending contributes to the game in a different way, and they're all worth getting. Give it a shot!
The game is considered abandonware, so you can't really buy it new anymore. Secondhand, the game goes for pretty cheap, but it's pretty easy to find about the internet if you know where to look.
I SPY FANTASY (2003)
I SPY Fantasy, Black Hammer Productions
This is one that I never actually finished as a kid, so some of this is new to me! Believe it or not I actually had (and still have) this game on DVD. Not DVD-ROM. DVD. Like it plays on a TV in a DVD player, not well might I add. This time around though I'm playing on PC, as God intended.
Outer Space - I SPY Fantasy, Black Hammer Productions
Compared to I SPY: Spooky Mansion, I don't think this one's quite on that same level of design. To be fair, the theme just isn't as interesting, and they don't have as much room to stretch it, given they 'subdivide' the game into three sections (underwater, castle, outer space). None of the themes get quite as developed as Spooky Mansion's due to the split. The sections do have their own UI design, sound design, and narratives, which is a really nice touch. It very much leans into that 'I'm a child playing with toys in my bedroom' theme that they're going for. Each of the three themes has three different endings as well, changing each time the area is played, just a neat touch.
This one's also worth a play, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend getting all three endings in each of the three areas, just one in each will suffice, as you don't miss out on much at all.
The game is also considered abandonware, and is in pretty much the same situation as Spooky Mansion. You know the drill.
THE WRAP UP
If you're looking at playing one of these games, please
do, as I genuinely find them a lot of fun, although I'd recommend I SPY:
Spooky Mansion Deluxe as the best starting point.
I find it a
shame these games don't really get made anymore. They were a staple of
my childhood and I spent genuine hours replaying them as a kid. They are
full of passion and creativity and effort, but in that weird CD-ROM
game kind of way that you only truly understand if you've played one
before. I'll likely end up covering more CD-ROM games from my childhood as a part of this series, but I suppose you'll have to stay tuned to find out!
Hope you've all enjoyed the (admittedly very long) read. Have any experience with these games? Feel free to comment below so we can discuss! Hope you all have a great day, and always remember to play without limits!
- Mikey (Professional I Spyer)
I SPY Double Feature