Snooper Troops
{{Short description|1982 video games}}
{{Infobox video game series
| width =
| title = Snooper Troops
| collapsible =
| state =
| image = Snooper Troopers cover.jpg
| caption =
| platforms = Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, MS-DOS
| developer = Spinnaker Software
| publisher = Computer Learning Connection
| genre = Adventure/educational
| spinoffs =
}}
Snooper Troops is a series of two 1982 adventure/educational video games developed by Spinnaker Software and published by Computer Learning Connection. They were released for the Apple II, Atari 8-bit computers, Commodore 64, and MS-DOS. The first case was entitled Snooper Troops: Case #1: The Granite Point Ghost and the second case entitled Snooper Troops: Case #2 - The Case of the Disappearing Dolphin was released later that year.
Plot
In the first case, players have to solve the mystery of "The Granite Point Ghost", which has been scaring the Kim family out of their house.{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7wCiNAUEuAMC&q=%22Snooper+Troops+%22&pg=PA14|title=PC Mag|publisher=Ziff Davis, Inc.|date=February–April 1983}}{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vy3cBZkjbZgC&q=%22Snooper+Troops+%22&pg=RA2-PA14|title=PC Mag|publisher=Ziff Davis, Inc.|date=November 1982}}
Gameplay
In this "mystery simulation",{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=amFQAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Snooper+Troops+%22|title=Teaching and Computers|year=1983}} players use the SnoopNet computer to search for clues along the streets, and search in people's houses while they're not at home. If you are caught snooping too many times, the game is over. After gaining enough information, they can convict the criminal.
InfoWorld described the game as an electronic version of the board game Clue.{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ui8EAAAAMBAJ&q=%22Snooper+Troops+%22&pg=PA57|title=InfoWorld|publisher=InfoWorld Media Group, Inc.|date=1983-08-15}}
Development
Snooper Troops was developed by Computer Learning Connection (later renamed Spinnaker Software), at that point a two-year-old company.{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vy3cBZkjbZgC&q=Cambridge%2C+Massachusetts+snooper+troops&pg=RA3-PA14|title=PC Mag|first=Ziff Davis|last=Inc|date=1 November 1982|publisher=Ziff Davis, Inc.|via=Google Books}} The company was based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Around this time, Computer Learning Connection created the edutainment classics Snooper Troops and Agent USA,{{Cite web|url=https://www.polygon.com/features/2016/10/10/13192240/sub-mission-self-destructing-game-1986|title=The self-destructing game of 1986|last=Bertoli|first=Ben|date=2016-10-10|website=Polygon|access-date=2018-03-14}} The Search Series and The Other Side.{{Cite journal | doi=10.1002/ace.36719863004|title = Computer simulations come of age| journal=New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education| volume=1986| issue=30| pages=15–24|year = 1986|last1 = Palmer|first1 = Jane| last2=Snyder| first2=Thomas F. F.}} The game is based on the best-selling Snooper Troops detective stories by Tom Snyder.{{Cite news|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/1983/0921/092134.html|title=Spinnaker Software sails into home education|date=1983-09-21|work=Christian Science Monitor|access-date=2018-03-14|issn=0882-7729}} The series was originally meant to have more than two entries, but only two games were made.{{Cite web|url=https://www.atarimagazines.com/compute/issue30/045_1_New_Products_Spinnaker_Software_Corp._Markets_Home_Learning_And_Strategy_Games_For_Atari_And_Apple.php|title=News & Products: Spinnaker Software Corp. Markets Home Learning And Strategy Games For Atari And Apple|website=www.atarimagazines.com|access-date=2018-03-14}}
The game was written for the home market, and targeted schools due to the application of school-taught skills such as case-solving.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QqBcatiLXDIC&q=%22Snooper+Troops+%22&pg=PA25|title=Humanistic Perspectives on Computers in the Schools|isbn=9780866563970|last1=Harlow|first1=Steven|year=1985}} It intended to develop vocabulary and reasoning skills.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vy3cBZkjbZgC&q=%22Snooper+Troops%22&pg=RA2-PA80|title=PC Mag|date=November 1982|publisher=Ziff Davis, Inc.|pages=80|language=en}} Snooper Troops was marketed nationally on a major scale by Computer Learning Connection; the campaign involved the design and production of packaging intended to maximise the protection of the discs over a long time period. In 1985, Gessler Education Software published The Case of the Disappearing Dolphin in French (on the Apple II), and The Granite Point Ghost in Spanish and German on the Commodore 64.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=My8EAAAAMBAJ&q=%22Snooper+Troops%22&pg=PA50|title=InfoWorld|date=1985-12-02|publisher=InfoWorld Media Group, Inc.|language=en}}
Reception
According to the book Beyond Edutainment, the game became "one of the first examples of a successful educational adventure", and that along with Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego and The Oregon Trail helped bring legitimacy to the edutainment genre.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4UjVCwAAQBAJ&q=%22Snooper+Troops+%22&pg=PT56|title=Beyond Edutainment: Exploring the Educational Potential of Computer Games|isbn=9781447693598|last1=Egenfeldt-Nielsen|first1=Simon|date=2013-03-13}} The book Disney Stories explained that it is an "early adventure game".{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E9GVJJqNjGAC&q=%22Snooper+Troops+%22&pg=PA117|title=Disney Stories|isbn=9781461421016|last1=Lee|first1=Newton|last2=Madej|first2=Krystina|date=2012-04-26}} Learning How To Learn: Technology, the Seven Multiple Intelligences and Learning asserted the title was an example of "the ways in which computers can enhance student learning".{{Cite journal|last=R.|first=Davis, Russell|date=May 1991|title=Learning How To Learn: Technology, the Seven Multiple Intelligences and Learning.|url=https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED338214|language=en}} InfoWorld felt that some bugs let down the gaming experience,{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ui8EAAAAMBAJ&q=%22Snooper+Troops%22&pg=PA57|title=InfoWorld|date=1983-08-15|publisher=InfoWorld Media Group, Inc.|language=en}} but InfoWorld's Essential Guide to Atari Computers recommended the game as among the best adventures for the Atari 8-bit.{{Cite book |last=Mace |first=Scott |url=https://archive.org/details/InfoWorlds_Essential_Guide_to_Atari/page/n89/mode/2up?view=theater |title=InfoWorld's Essential Guide to Atari Computers |publisher=Harper & Row |year=1984 |isbn=978-0-06-669006-3 |pages=79–80}} PC Magazine felt the title was the standard that other educational games would be measured up against.{{Cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vy3cBZkjbZgC&q=Cambridge%2C+Massachusetts+snooper+troops&pg=RA3-PA14 |title = PC Mag|date = November 1982}} Antic felt the game was not as responsive or creative as Infocom's Deadline (1982).{{Cite web|url=https://www.atarimagazines.com/v2n7/ProductReviews.html|title=8-Bit Product Reviews: Astro Chase, Blue Max, Snooper Troops Case #1, Hockey, Bible Baseball, Career Counselor, Knockout, Microgroup|last=Sickert|first=Jordan Powell, Roy Wolford, Valerie Pang, Larry Dziegielewski, Harvey Bernstein, David Plotkin, Julie|website=www.atarimagazines.com|access-date=2018-03-14}}
The two games became the first educational games for home and school computers to make the industry's bestseller list.{{Cite web|url=https://www.atarimagazines.com/creative/v9n4/130_Profile_of_a_snooper_troo.php|title=Profile of a snooper trooper.|last=(none)|website=www.atarimagazines.com|access-date=2018-03-14}} According to Infoworld, the title sold very well.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gi4EAAAAMBAJ&q=%22Snooper+Troops%22&pg=PA84|title=InfoWorld|date=1984-02-13|publisher=InfoWorld Media Group, Inc.|language=en}}
Reviews
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{MobyGames | id= /snooper-troops}}
- {{MobyGames | id= /snooper-troops-case-2-the-case-of-the-disappearing-dolphin| name= Snooper Troops: Case #2}}
- [https://books.google.com/books?id=1VZRAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Snooper+Troops+%22]
Category:Detective video games
Category:Educational video games
Category:Video games developed in the United States