Software:Pandora's Box (1999 video game)

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Pandora's Box
Developer(s)Microsoft Game Studios
Publisher(s)Microsoft Game Studios
Designer(s)Alexey Pajitnov
Platform(s)
Release
  • NA: September 30, 1999[1]
Genre(s)Puzzle
Mode(s)Single-player

Pandora's Box is a 1999 video game created by Alexey Pajitnov for Microsoft.[2]

Gameplay

In the game, players must travel around the world to different cities solving various kinds of puzzles to capture the seven "tricksters" - Maui, Puck, Eris, Coyote, Monkey, Anansi and Raven. Each trickster has a challenge puzzle after finding all the missing box pieces, acquired by solving the puzzle with each piece behind it in each city. The location of the pieces is randomized each game. The game offers sporadic bonuses. Hints are used to find where one piece goes if the player needs help figuring it out. Free puzzle tokens solve puzzles for the player if needed. A free puzzle token is awarded for every ten puzzles solved. Some puzzles, if solved in a limited amount of time, grant the location of the piece or additional hint/puzzle token.

Puzzle types

Most puzzle types in the game are variations on the basic concept of a tiling puzzle, and often involve famous paintings, statues, photos (usually from Corbis' archive) of notable places around the world, or other artifacts:

  • Find and Fill is a puzzle where outlines of elements of an image are overlapped with each other, and the player must find and color elements, like a coloring book.
  • Focus Point is a tiling puzzle where the player must switch tiles of a jumbled image to restore the original picture; however, tiles are of different size, and they stretch or squeeze if placed into a larger or smaller slot.
  • Image Hole is a puzzle where the final image is invisible except through constantly moving holes that are the shapes of various elements of the image; the player must guide the holes to their correct places and lock them.
  • Overlap is a jigsaw puzzle where pieces may overlap each other; some pieces contain parts of the background pattern for the easier initial placement.
  • Interlock is a triangle-based dissection puzzle, where seven Pieces must be correctly ordered in a grid.
  • Jesse's Strips is a jigsaw puzzle where pieces may overlap each other; pieces are also distributed among five different trays that filter out certain colors of the image.
  • Lens Bender is a puzzle where the player must reconstruct an image by placing the pieces under various lens until they are distorted into a shape where they connect with each other.
  • Outer Layer is a puzzle where the player must place parts of a texture back on a 3D object.
  • Rotascope is a sliding puzzle that places the tiles on multiple concentric circles.
  • Slices provides the player with a 3D object that was broken up to slices horizontally; the player must rotate the pieces and rebuild the object in the correct order.

Towards the end of the game, as the difficulty ramps up, some puzzles get combined into being stages of one larger puzzle, e.g. the player must first solve a Rotascope puzzle, where the result of that puzzle is actually a Focus Point puzzle.

Reception

Pandora's Box won GameSpot's "Puzzles and Classics Game of the Year" award. The editors wrote that it "proved that [Pajitnov] was more than just the king of the simple game."[3] It was a runner-up for Computer Games Strategy Plus's 1999 "Classic Game of the Year" award and Computer Gaming World's 1999 "Puzzle/Classics Game of the Year" award.[4][5] The Electric Playground named it the best computer puzzle game of 1999.[6] As a result, the game was re-released in a "Puzzle Game of the Year Edition", containing an additional 50 puzzles. During the 3rd Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, Pandora's Box received a nomination for "Computer Family Entertainment Title of the Year" by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences.[7]

It was PC Data's top-selling puzzle game for six weeks.[8]

References

  1. ↑ ""Tetris" Creator Unveils First Microsoft-Created Puzzle Game" (in en-US). 1999-09-30. https://news.microsoft.com/1999/09/30/tetris-creator-unveils-first-microsoft-created-puzzle-game/. 
  2. ↑ "Pandora's Box | by the creator of Tetris". June 11, 2003. http://www.microsoft.com/games/PandorasBox/default.htm. 
  3. ↑ Staff. "The Best & Worst of 1999". GameSpot. Archived from the original on August 17, 2000. https://web.archive.org/web/20000817183219/http://gamespot.com/features/1999/index.html. 
  4. ↑ Staff (March 6, 2000). "The Computer Games Awards; The Best Games of 1999". Computer Games Strategy Plus. Archived from the original on March 24, 2005. https://web.archive.org/web/20050324005917/http://cdmag.com/articles/026/150/intro.html. 
  5. ↑ Staff (March 2000). "The 2000 Premier Awards; The Very Best of a Great Year in Gaming". Computer Gaming World (188): 69–75, 78–81, 84–90. 
  6. ↑ "the Blister Awards 1999". October 15, 2000. http://www.elecplay.com/features/blisters99/pcpuzzle.html. 
  7. ↑ "D.I.C.E. Awards By Video Game Details Pandora's Box". Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. https://www.interactive.org/games/video_game_details.asp?idAward=2000&idGame=537. 
  8. ↑ "Pandora's Box number one in Units Sold News". http://www.cdmag.com/articles/025/006/pandora.html. 
  • 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. 
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