''Freddi Fish 2: The Case of the Haunted Schoolhouse'' is a 1996 video game and the second of five adventure games in the ''

Freddi Fish ''Freddi Fish'' is a series of point and click games from Humongous Entertainment. The series began in 1994. Freddi Fish is a yellow fish who takes on detective investigations throughout the series. Her best friend, a green fish named Luther, goe ...

'' series of games developed and published by

Humongous Entertainment Humongous Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Bothell, Washington. Founded in 1992, the company is best known for developing multiple edutainment franchises, most prominently ''Putt-Putt (series), Putt-Putt'', ''Fred ...

. It was released on

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

under the title ''Freddi Fish Haunted Schoolhouse Mystery'' and on Android with a shortened title ''Freddi Fish: Haunted Schoolhouse'' in 2014. It was also released on the

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...

and

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

in May 2024.

Plot

On her way to school, Freddi Fish meets with Luther, who brings his Codfish Commando

action figure An action figure is a poseable character (arts), character model figure made most commonly of plastic, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, military, video game or television program; fictional or historical. These figures are ...

for

show and tell Show and tell (sometimes called show and share or sharing time) is the practice of showing something to an audience and describing it to them, usually a toy or other children's-oriented item. In the United Kingdom, North America, New Zealand and ...

. Upon entering their classroom, Freddi and Luther learn that their classmates saw a

ghost A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...

, who stole their toys. The ghost then appears and steals Luther's action figure before fleeing. Freddi and Luther chase the ghost into the school's basement, where Luther retrieves his toy and the ghost vows revenge. Believing the ghost to be fake, Freddi conceives a

Rube Goldberg Reuben Garrett Lucius Goldberg (July 4, 1883 – December 7, 1970), known best as Rube Goldberg, was an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer, and inventor. Goldberg is best known for his popular cartoons depicting complicated gadge ...

trap to capture the ghost and the two set out to find five additional parts for the trap. As Freddi and Luther progress further in their mission, Boss and Spongehead (the sharks from the first game) attempt to discourage the two from their mission by "warning" them of their fate. When Freddi and Luther are one part away from completing their trap, Boss and Spongehead meet with the Squidfather, who never had any toys in his youth and orders the sharks to bring him the guppies' toys at all costs. Upon collecting all five items, Freddi and Luther set up their trap and use Luther's action figure as bait for the ghost. The trap works and the ghost is revealed to be Boss and Spongehead in disguise. After the sharks explain the Squidfather's situation, Luther decides to let the Squidfather keep his action figure, while he and Freddi give the rest of the toys back to the guppies. The class celebrates Freddi and Luther's heroic actions as the game ends.

Gameplay

The game uses exactly the same mechanics as its predecessor, but contains newer puzzles, collectible and usable items, character encounters, locations, minigames and trivial click spots in the gameplay. The particular parts and pieces for the ghost trap are randomized in every new game.

Development

The game was showcased at

E3 1996 E3 (short for Electronic Entertainment Expo or Electronic Entertainment Experience in 2021) is a trade event for the video game industry. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) organizes and presents E3, which many developers, publisher ...

Reception

''Freddi Fish 2'' was generally well-received, getting a 3-star rating from

Allgame RhythmOne , previously known as Blinkx, and also known as RhythmOne Group, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel. Blinkx was founded in 2004, went publ ...

, 9.5 out of 10 from

Electric Playground ''EP Daily'' (formerly ''The Electric Playground'') is a daily news television show that covers video games, movies, TV shows, comic books, collectibles and gadgets. Created and executive produced by host Victor Lucas, and his Vancouver, British ...

, 5 Stars from

PC Magazine ''PC Magazine'' (shortened as ''PCMag'') is an American computer magazine published by Ziff Davis. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009. Publication of online editions started in late 1994 and have continued to the present d ...

, and Unikgamer gave a 7.5 out 10 score. The Game Developer's Choice Awards awarded it as "Best Educational Game" in the 1997

Spotlight Awards The Spotlight Awards (GDC) was hosted annually by the Game Developers Conference from 1997 to 1999. Its focus was on the video and computer game industry. GDC now hosts another video game award ceremony called Game Developers Choice Awards since 20 ...

. ''

MacUser ''MacUser'' was a monthly (formerly biweekly) computer magazine published by Dennis Publishing Ltd. and licensed by Felden in the UK. It ceased publication in 2015. In 1985 Felix Dennis’ Dennis Publishing, the creators of MacUser in the UK, l ...

'' declared it one of 1996's top 50 CD-ROMs.

Notes

References

External links

*
''Freddi Fish 2: The Case of the Haunted Schoolhouse'' at Humongous Entertainment
{{Humongous 1996 video games Adventure games Android (operating system) games Children's educational video games Classic Mac OS games Detective video games Humongous Entertainment games IOS games Linux games Nintendo Switch games PlayStation 4 games Point-and-click adventure games SCUMM games ScummVM-supported games Single-player video games Tommo games Ubisoft games Video games about fish Video games developed in the United States Video games featuring female protagonists Video games set underwater Windows games