Software:Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble!

From HandWiki
Short description: 2008 video game
Dangerous High School Girls
in Trouble!
Publisher(s)Mousechief
Designer(s)Keith Nemitz
Platform(s)Windows, Mac OS X
Release2008
Genre(s)Puzzle
Mode(s)Single-player

Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble! is a casual video game by American independent developer Mousechief. After a series of beta releases and demos in 2007 and 2008, the finished title was released in mid-2008, with versions for both Windows and Mac OS X.

The game is set in 1920s Brigiton, a fictional community in small-town America, and involves the player guiding the activities of a group of high school girls as they explore its intrigues. Highlighting social rebellion in an era where women had only limited freedom, the title's motto declares "This is the game where good girls get better by being bad!".

Gameplay

Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble! begins with the player selecting one of twelve different girls to be the "queen" (leader) of the "gang". Afterwards, basic gameplay mechanics are revealed as the player recruits three additional girls to assist her. Each girl has different scores in four different attributes: Popularity, Rebellion, Glamor, and Savvy. The game makes heavy use of the suits from a traditional deck of playing cards, representing each in-game attribute as one of the suits.

The four attributes correspond to ability in four different actions which the girls can use when interacting with others. In turn, each of the four actions, "Taunt", "Expose", "Fib", and "Gambit", has a unique mini-game associated with it. After a given girl wins a certain number of mini-games, the player is able to increase one of her attributes. In contrast, losing a mini-game can result in a girl being unavailable for a period of time, or possibly even exiled from the player's gang. Often a girl lost from the gang can be recruited again later, or a substitute can be found. However, the presence of a boyfriend can protect a given girl from being banished even temporarily. Boyfriends are typically obtained through a separate "Flirt" mini-game, which makes use of all four of a girl's attributes together. When a girl who has a boyfriend receives a penalty serious enough to leave the gang, the boyfriend instead sacrifices himself to save her.

In-game navigation involves selecting different locations on a stylized game board. The girls then travel to that location and interact with one of the individuals who is revealed to currently be present. While in some cases, the girls simply converse ("Parley") with the person, in general, the girls seek to manipulate individuals in order to obtain information or to "get away" with something. This is done by selecting an action suggested by one of the girls (e.g. "Expose" to try to reveal the truth), and then playing the corresponding mini-game. Success often advances the game plot, but can also result in other benefits, such as temporary ability bonuses. In certain cases, the choice of mini-game can affect the story. For example, taunting a teacher is usually not a good choice, as even if the player wins the "Taunt" game, the outcome may be unfavorable and may result in the loss of a girl from the gang.

Development

In a November 2006 interview with Gamasutra, Keith Nemitz, the game's designer, revealed that the game had been actively in production for ten months, with an estimated six more months until completion. However, based on the game's eventual final release date, this proved to be entirely too optimistic. The inspiration for the game came from an evening of Nemitz playing an unspecified card game that attempted to distill the key features of a role-playing game down into a simpler card game. Nemitz explained, "The card game reduced entire battles down to a single dice roll, but it was really fun! The bigger idea struck me later, that you could swap out combat in RPGs with different kinds of conflict resolution mechanisms".

Describing the look and feel of the title, Nemitz noted that the user interface metaphor was that of a 1920s parlour game. David Cherry, the lead artist, deliberately made elements look worn or faded with time. In terms of trying to capture as many potential players as possible, Nemitz commented, "Our expectation is to offer a game that will tempt both experienced, casual gamers, and core gamers who like variety and novelty in their games. It is definitely a light-hearted experience, a sit-back, relax and laugh experience. The challenges should never frustrate a player, but some solutions can be very difficult".[1]

Reception

Noting that Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble! was difficult to describe, the game reviewers at "Game Tunnel" complimented the game's style and uniqueness, as well as its engrossing story. The average review score from the panel was an 8.3 out of 10, resulting in it automatically being granted a "Gold Award".[2] The reviewer at "Jay Is Games" echoed these comments, similarly praising the game's uniqueness and the sheer quantity of story, although lamenting the need to manually scroll the game board. Despite such minor flaws, the title was still highly recommended.[3]

Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble! was awarded a $3000 (USD) prize for "Most Innovative Game" by the Casual Games Association, and was also selected as a finalist for the 2008 IndieCade Festival of Independent Games.[4] It was entered into the 2007 Independent Games Festival in the "Open" category, but owing to its lengthy development time, was submitted again for the 2008 Independent Games Festival as well.[5][6]

At the end of 2008 GameTunnel awarded it Adventure Game of the Year, Innovative Game of the Year, and #4 in their top ten games of the year.

On January 12, 2009, the Writers Guild of America nominated it for Best Writing in a Videogame. The other nominees were Software:Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, Fallout 3, Software:Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, and Software:Tomb Raider: Underworld.

On January 29, 2009, Casual Gameplay (also Jay is Games) awarded it with Best Tabletop styled downloadable computer game. In the category, it won both the editor's award and the audience award.

References

  1. ↑ Wallis, Alistair (2006-11-13). "Gamasutra – Road To The IGF: Mousechief Co.'s Keith Nemitz". Gamasutra. http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=11676. 
  2. ↑ "Indie Game Panel Reviews – July Edition". Game Tunnel. 2008-07-22. http://www.gametunnel.com/?game=dangerous-high-school-girls-in-trouble. 
  3. ↑ Jess (2008-07-06). "Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble". Jay Is Games. http://jayisgames.com/archives/2008/07/dangerous_high_school_girls_in_trouble.php. 
  4. ↑ "A Prize Winning Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble". RPGRank. 2008-09-26. http://www.rpgrank.com/role-playing-games-565-news.html. 
  5. ↑ "2007 IGF Competition Entrant". Independent Games Festival. http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entries2007.php?entry_id=53. 
  6. ↑ "IGF 2008 Main Competition Entrant". Independent Games Festival. http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entry2008.php?id=50. 
  • Official website
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

On February 13, 2025, Freyholtz stepped down as the site lead to move onto new projects, leaving operations to Tracy Poff, a veteran coder on the site, and Atari staff.[18]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
  18. ↑ "An update on MobyGames leadership". 2025-02-13. https://www.mobygames.com/forum/3/thread/269628/an-update-on-mobygames-leadership/#post-269628. 
  • No URL found. Please specify a URL here or add one to Wikidata.




Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Software:Dangerous_High_School_Girls_in_Trouble!&oldid=4219898"