It has been a long time coming. As of yesterday, The Act is commercially available on the iOS platform (Apple iPod/iPad/iPhone). Two huge thank-yous are in order. One thank-you to Daniel Kraus, Alain Laferrière, and Jean Laferrière of React Entertainment for picking up the ball and running with it. The second to the artists, engineers, writers, musicians, and others who breathed life into the original game (the list is on the React Entertainment “About Us” page).
Tags: Alain Laferriere, Daniel Kraus, Jean Laferriere, React Entertainment, The Act
Omar's Blog 
June 22, 2012 at 12:09 pm |
Downloaded it on my iPhone and finished it with a perfect score in 5 hours. Very refreshing game. My fav. Scenes were the daydreaming scene and laughing with doctors scene ^^
June 22, 2012 at 12:38 pm |
Well done! I have not achieved a perfect score yet!
June 23, 2012 at 11:59 am |
The third thank-you comes from all of us to you, Omar! You’re the one who had the vision that such a game could be possible when so many people said it couldn’t be done. Thank YOU. And congratulations on seeing your vision to reality!
Des
June 24, 2012 at 4:02 pm |
A BRILLIANT game. My only complaint? I wanted it to go on and on and on. The animation is gorgeous, the game mechanics unlike anything I’ve ever seen before… I loved it.
July 20, 2012 at 12:14 am |
I just played this. I can hardly be superlative enough. To see this kind of animation again, and in a game … wow. Just wow. the storyline was very heartfelt, wonderful touches of comedy. The brain slip!! This is the kind of treasure you can pull out at odd moments over the years and replay just to feel that little warm glow inside.
This is a work of art. I don’t care how much money you spent on it — thank you for helping to bring something beautiful into the world. It was worth it.
July 20, 2012 at 8:09 am |
Thank you! I don’t often hear feedback about the story.
November 2, 2012 at 7:20 pm |
Haven’t had a chance to play this yet, but your name seemed so familiar. Then it hit me, Agent USA on my trusty Atari 800. That game was brilliant. If I recall correctly you also were involved in the Halley Project. Ah, the days of youth.
November 2, 2012 at 8:45 pm |
Thank you! Yes, the days of youth… (sigh).
March 22, 2013 at 11:50 pm |
Omar, after a surprisingly great amount of research on my part, I found that you were the creator of a game I played in elementary school on the Apple II… called “The Mystery of the Hotel Victoria” –
I remember it being one of my favorite games.
Do you know of any way I can play this game again? Anywhere this can be downloaded?
There is practically no information on this game on the web. It’s not even listed as a game for the Apple II on many websites.
March 23, 2013 at 7:51 am |
Hi Paul,
“The Mystery of the Hotel Victoria” was originally one of four games that were published as part of some McGraw-Hill mathematics textbooks. If it was that original version you played, it was only on the Apple II, and I seriously doubt that any copies could be found–even if you had an Apple II to run it on. Later, Tom Snyder Productions did a series of remakes (new artwork, new software) that were published under the title “Math Mysteries.” I was not involved in that, but I think they were published on the Mac and PC. That series is no longer in print, but you might find some copies if you dig around online.
Best regards,
Omar
March 23, 2013 at 1:40 pm |
Omar,
Thanks for your response! Greatly appreciated. It definitely was the original game. I tried looking up the newer “Math Mysteries” software you referred to but found nothing to download.
Does McGraw-Hill own the rights to the game? Would they still have the code? It was such a great experience for me… would love to be able to download it if that is even possible.
I also found it odd that all the websites referring to Apple II games have no mention of this game at all. Do you happen to know the other games (of the 4) that were included in the set? Maybe if I search for those I can find more info on the Hotel game.
March 23, 2013 at 2:37 pm |
Hi Paul,
I don’t know who owns the rights. But now I am curious, too. I will check with my friends at Tom Snyder Productions to see what they know.
The series was officially called “The McGraw-Hill Mathematics Problem-Solving Courseware.” I googled that and found this blog post: http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=9055574
That post says the other three stories in the series were called “The Goodell Diamond Caper,” “The Secret of Vincent’s Museum,” and “The Treasure of Fisher’s Cove.” It was 27 years ago, so I don’t remember clearly. But those names do sound right to me.
The google search also turns up a book with ISBN # 9780070126244. That might just be the textbook that the software was originally bundled with–I don’t know.
I think one reason the games have left so few traces is that they were only ever published as part of a school textbook and never as a separate product.
Omar
January 24, 2015 at 8:52 pm |
Will there be more to this game? Its a very charming
January 22, 2021 at 1:02 am |
I remember playing this game in elementary school and never getting to see the end. In 10th or 11th grade, I found a copy of the disk and I was able to play it on the last remaining apple II in the building. One of the highlights of my high school career! Haha.