7.8 /10 1 Votes
Series The ClueFinders Developer The Learning Company Mode Single-player video game | 3.9/5 Amazon Initial release date 1998 Publisher The Learning Company | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Genre(s) Educational/Adventure/Mystery Platforms Microsoft Windows, Macintosh operating systems Similar The Learning Company games, Mystery games, Other games | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The ClueFinders 3rd Grade Adventures: The Mystery of Mathra is a computer game in The Learning Company's ClueFinders series where the ClueFinders save the Numerian rainforest and Dr. Horace Pythagoras from a mysterious monster called Mathra. The game was re-released as "The ClueFinders: Mystery of the Monkey Kingdom" in 2001.
Contents
The game is the first in the series and depicts the first meeting of the ClueFinders and LapTrap, who goes on to appear in all the other ClueFinders games. The game ends with LapTrap being given to the ClueFinders and, in this respect, The Mystery of Mathra can be seen as an origin story for the rest of the series.
Plot
A great city was built 1000 years ago in the Numerian rainforest, until a monster named Mathra invaded. After Mathra was captured, the Numerians abandoned their city and sealed the entrance and hid the two halves of the key in the far corners of the rainforest - one in the Monkey Kingdom and the latter in the Goo Lagoon. Recently animals have started to disappear in the rainforest once again, along with Joni's uncle Dr. Pythagoras. Mr. Limburger flies the ClueFinders in his airplane and briefs them on the events going on. The ClueFinders set off to find the lost doctor, animals and the keys to the Lost Numerian City. Evidence that they find, however suggests that there is more to those disappearances than the 1000 year old monster as well as a sinister plot behind it.
Gameplay
The game has 22 different activities divided among four different areas of the rainforest, each with their own skill and goal. The first seven activities cover Mathematics, followed by seven Logic activities, two activities on Geography, four on Science and finally two on Language Arts. The game contains a number of parodies of and allusions to popular culture and other topics.
Critical reception
The game won the 1998 Gold Award from Parents' Choice and the 1999 Bologna New Media Prize for the Best Logical Thinking Program.