''Tajemství Oslího ostrova'' (often abbreviated as ''Too''), English: ''Donkey Island,'' is a 1994 Czech

point-and-click adventure An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based m ...

video game. Distributed by Petr Vochozka through his company Vochozka Trading in June 1994, it was the first nationally distributed PC game in the country and one of the first Czech games commercially available. A

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...

of the successful ''

Monkey Island ''Monkey Island'' is a series of adventure games. The first four games in the series were produced and published by LucasArts, earlier known as Lucasfilm Games. The fifth installment of the franchise was developed by Telltale Games in collabor ...

'' series, the story plays out as if it were a direct sequel to '' The Secret of Monkey Island'', ignoring the continuity of '' Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge.''

Production

Conception

Jarek Kolář and Petr Vlček began working on the game in 1992 using school computers in the gymnasium of Slovanské náměstí in Brno where they were students. They wanted to use their own game-making tools as well as the

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colou ...

tools they had been working with. In 1993, Petr Vochozka sold the first-ever Czech commercial adventure game for the Amiga entitled '' Světák Bob''. Later that year, he founded

Polička Polička (; german: Politschka) is a town in Svitavy District in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 8,700 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone. Administrat ...

-based Vochozka Trading and released ''Tajemství Oslího ostrova'' as the publisher's debut title.

Development

Development took place between 1992 and 1994. In the first year, the developers used their school computer after receiving permission from their computer science teacher. They faced several challenges, as there was limited information on how to make video games available to developers. Visual assets from other adventure games were used, which, years later in 2018, caused the magazine ''Excalibur'' to express surprise that there were no licensing issues. However, the game's sound effects were created by the developers themselves using computer speakers. ''Tajemství Oslího ostrova'' was also one of the first Czech games to feature developed graphics.

Release

Originally, Kolář and Vlček had no plans to make the game commercially available. They created it to prove that Czech citizens could create a game on par with international productions. They did not care if the game was released commercially or as

freeware Freeware is software, most often proprietary, that is distributed at no monetary cost to the end user. There is no agreed-upon set of rights, license, or EULA that defines ''freeware'' unambiguously; every publisher defines its own rules for t ...

, but after seeing an advert by Vochozka in ''Excalibur'', the only Czech game magazine at the time, they joined Vochozka under the Pterodon Software brand. The game sold 2,000 copies for 240 crowns each, a considerable increase on ''Světák Bob'', which had sold only a few hundred copies. Vochozka set up an exclusive contract to spread the games of the Pterodon team. The retail version of the game was originally wrapped only in a plastic bag. A paper-box edition was not available until November of the same year, at which point the second Pterodon Software game was released entitled ''

7 dní a 7 nocí ''7 dní a 7 nocí'' (aka ''Sedm dní a sedm nocí''; English: ''7 Days and 7 Nights'') is a 1994 Czech adventure game released on MS-DOS through Petr Vochozka's Vochozka Trading brand, and published by Pterodon Software. It was the first Czech ...

''. The game was released only five years after the

Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution ( cs, Sametová revoluce) or Gentle Revolution ( sk, Nežná revolúcia) was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations agains ...

, when only a small fraction of Czech society understood English. By the end of 1996, Vochozka Trading had produced twelve games.

Plot and gameplay

The player takes control of the

Guybrush Threepwood Guybrush Ulysses Threepwood is a fictional character who serves as the main protagonist of the ''Monkey Island'' series of computer adventure games by LucasArts. Guybrush is voiced by actor Dominic Armato in the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth ga ...

parody Gajbraš Trípvůd, who, after an unsuccessful pirate raid, is on the run from LeChuck parody LeGek.

Critical reception and legacy

According to IDNES.cz, the game changed not only Vochozka's life but also the entire Czech gaming scene. The site felt the title had a significant impact in kick-starting the local video game industry. Star-hry gave it a rating of 91%. Objevit felt the game was pioneering, as it was created during a time when few knew Czechs knew how to create computer games and when little documentation or tools were available to teach burgeoning developers. Hernisvet wrote that upon release, the game surprised Czech audiences with its "sophisticated play" and "excellent, completely original themes", noting that even in 2005 the game still held value in the Czech freeware scene. Dovus considers ''Tajemství Oslího ostrova'' to be one of the major events in gaming prehistory. ''Gamepark'' felt the title was filled with "brilliant humor, pirate stories and beautiful cartoon graphics and great adventures". ''Gamesite'' thought that a big drawback to ''Tajemství Oslího ostrova'' was the lack of a musical score except in the opening credits. ''Gamez.cz'' described it as a simple game that deserves to be buried in the modern era, though noted its success in sales. ''Bonusweb'' thought that while the game was "hilarious", older reviews in magazines like ''Excalibur'', which gave the game a rating of 95%, were greatly exaggerated. The ''Excalibur'' review was written by Vochozka, the game's publisher. ''Bonusweb'' wrote that despite the game's rough edges, its gameplay, low price, and charm as one of the first Czech games led to players overlooking its weaknesses and making it a hit. Bonusweb argues that the game is the first Czech commercial game for personal computers and a historic milestone in the home gaming scene.

References

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