9.6 /10 1 Votes
Initial release date 1997 | 4.8/5 My Abandonware Developer Daydream Software | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Genre(s) point and click adventure game Platforms Microsoft Windows, Macintosh operating systems Publishers DreamCatcher Interactive, GT Interactive Similar DreamCatcher Interactive games, Strategy video games | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Safecracker is a 1997 point and click adventure game published by Dreamcatcher Interactive and developed by Daydream Software for both PC and Mac OS X computers.
Contents
Plot
As an aspiring head of security development at Crabb & Sons Safe and Security Systems, your goal is to break into and navigate your eccentric employer's sprawling 50-room mansion with the goal of unlocking 35 different hidden safes and stealing their contents undetected, in the process piecing together several codes to unlock one safe that contains your job contract.
Gameplay
The game plays much like Myst, where the player navigates through pre-rendered backgrounds in a first-person view using Quicktime VR in an attempt to solve various puzzles.
Development
The game was initially to be published by Warner Interactive who, after an impressive sales pitch and demo of the game, commissioned it to be made. It was completed in less than a year, and was shown off at E3 1996. But when Warner Interactive was bought out by GT Interactive in November 1996, the finished game was cancelled due to GT executive deeming it "not economically or commercially viable". Because of contractual obligations, Daydream Software pitched several ideas to GT Interactive, all of which were shot down (one of which would be Daydream's next game, Traitors Gate, which went on to sell "well over 300,000 copies"). Eventually, Daydream Software was able to buy back the rights to Safecracker, and found a new distributor in Dreamcatcher Interactive.
Reception
The game received mixed reviews upon release. Randy Sluganski of Just Adventure gave a positive review, stating that the graphics were "top notch" and that the difficult puzzles make "you actually feel a sense of accomplishment and pride". On the other hand, IGN wrote a generally negative review of the game, calling it a "generic adventure game" while admitting that the "rather large quantity of the puzzles to be found in Safecracker are nothing short of ingenious."
Sequel
The game received a spiritual sequel in 2006 called Safecracker: The Ultimate Puzzle Adventure.