Boffo Games Boffo Games was a video game developer founded in 1994 by Steve Meretzky, Mike Dornbrook, and Leo DaCosta. The logo was designed by Gayle Syska, formerly of Infocom. Boffo produced two games, ''Hodj 'n' Podj'' and ''The Space Bar'', before closin ...

Media Vision Media Vision Technology, Inc., was an American electronics manufacturer of primarily computer sound cards and CD-ROM kits, operating from 1990 to approximately 1995 in Fremont, California. Media Vision was widely known for its Pro AudioSpectrum ...

Virgin Interactive Avalon Interactive Group, Ltd., formerly known as Virgin Interactive Entertainment, was a British video game distributor based within Europe that formerly traded as the video game publishing and distributing division of British conglomerate the V ...

Steve Meretzky Steven Eric Meretzky (born May 1, 1957)
''Infocom''. Retrieved July 11, 2011. is an American

adventure game 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 ...

s such as ''

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' is a Science fiction comedy, comedy science fiction franchise created by Douglas Adams. Originally a The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio series), radio sitcom broadcast over two series on BBC ...

''. ''Hodj 'n' Podj'' features 19 minigames based on

peg solitaire Peg Solitaire, Solo Noble, Solo Goli, Marble Solitaire or simply Solitaire is a board game for one player involving movement of pegs on a board with holes. Some sets use marbles in a board with indentations. The game is known as solitaire in Bri ...

, ''

Pac-Man ''Pac-Man,'' originally called in Japan, is a 1980 maze video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. The pla ...

'', ''

Battleship A battleship is a large, heavily naval armour, armored warship with a main battery consisting of large naval gun, guns, designed to serve as a capital ship. From their advent in the late 1880s, battleships were among the largest and most form ...

'' and other games. These may be played separately or within an overarching

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful bei ...

story, which follows the suitors Hodj and Podj in their attempts to rescue two princesses. Meretzky conceived ''Hodj 'n' Podj'' in the late 1980s, as a way to revive simpler games that had become hard to obtain. It began production in 1994, and was the first product developed by Meretzky's company

Boffo Games Boffo Games was a video game developer founded in 1994 by Steve Meretzky, Mike Dornbrook, and Leo DaCosta. The logo was designed by Gayle Syska, formerly of Infocom. Boffo produced two games, ''Hodj 'n' Podj'' and ''The Space Bar'', before closin ...

. Production was troubled, thanks to a $100 million

securities fraud Securities fraud, also known as stock fraud and investment fraud, is a deceptive practice in the stock or commodities markets that induces investors to make purchase or sale decisions on the basis of false information.casual game A casual game is a video game targeted at a mass market audience, as opposed to a hardcore game, which is targeted at hobbyist gamers. Casual games may exhibit any type of gameplay and genre. They generally involve simpler rules, shorter sessio ...

. Selling 40,000 to 50,000 units, ''Hodj 'n' Podj'' was commercially unsuccessful. Reviewers found the game simplistic but enjoyable, although ''

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American Video game journalism, computer game magazine that was published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 199 ...

'' criticized its reuse of minigames from titles like the ''

Dr. Brain ''Dr. Brain'' is a series of educational computer game, games introduced by Sierra Entertainment, Sierra On-Line in 1992. The objective of each game is to solve a series of puzzles to aid characters named Dr. Brain who changed from title to title ...

'' series. Retrospectively, Meretzky has called ''Hodj 'n' Podj'' a career turning point that led him toward casual game development, and an inspiration for his subsequent work with WorldWinner and

Playdom Playdom, Inc. was an online social network game developer popular on Facebook, Google+ and Myspace. The company was founded in the San Francisco Bay Area by University of California, Berkeley graduates Ling Xiao and Chris Wang and Swarthmore Colle ...

. In 2009, he reported that ''Hodj 'n' Podj'' continued to receive as many fan letters as all of his other games combined.

Gameplay and plot

''Hodj 'n' Podj'' is a computer board game and minigame compilation for one to two players. It is set in a

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful bei ...

world, in the kingdom of Po-Poree, whose twin princesses Mish and Mosh have been kidnapped by the villainous

Salmagundi Salmagundi (alternatively salmagundy or sallid magundi) is a cold dish or salad made from different ingredients which may include meat, seafood, Egg as food, eggs, cooked and raw vegetables, fruits, or Pickling, pickles. In English culture, the ...

. The player controls the suitor Hodj, and races the competing suitor Podj—controlled by the computer or a second player—to rescue the princesses first. Each

turn To turn is to rotate, either continuously like a wheel turns on its axle, or in a finite motion changing an object's orientation. Turn may also refer to: Sports and games * Turn (game), a segment of a game * Turn (poker), the fourth of five co ...

, a spinner randomly determines the distances Hodj and Podj may travel across the game board. The board features 19 important locations, each of which contains a minigame that the player completes to earn items or information necessary to rescue the princesses. These include Battlefish, inspired by ''

Battleship A battleship is a large, heavily naval armour, armored warship with a main battery consisting of large naval gun, guns, designed to serve as a capital ship. From their advent in the late 1880s, battleships were among the largest and most form ...

''; Pack Rat, inspired by ''

Pac-Man ''Pac-Man,'' originally called in Japan, is a 1980 maze video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. The pla ...

''; Garfunkel, inspired by ''

Simon Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

''; and a

peg solitaire Peg Solitaire, Solo Noble, Solo Goli, Marble Solitaire or simply Solitaire is a board game for one player involving movement of pegs on a board with holes. Some sets use marbles in a board with indentations. The game is known as solitaire in Bri ...

game called Peggleboz. All 19 minigames may also be played in "stand-alone mode", without the board game elements. Once one player locates the princesses, they must take them to the center of the board to win. During the journey, the opposing player or computer may intervene and steal the princesses by succeeding in a competitive minigame.

Development and release

After spending several years as a contractor for

Legend Entertainment Legend Entertainment Company was an American developer and publisher of computer games, best known for creating adventure titles throughout the 1990s. The company was founded by Bob Bates and Mike Verdu, both veterans of the interactive fic ...

, designer

Steve Meretzky Steven Eric Meretzky (born May 1, 1957)
''Infocom''. Retrieved July 11, 2011. is an American

Boffo Games Boffo Games was a video game developer founded in 1994 by Steve Meretzky, Mike Dornbrook, and Leo DaCosta. The logo was designed by Gayle Syska, formerly of Infocom. Boffo produced two games, ''Hodj 'n' Podj'' and ''The Space Bar'', before closin ...

with two of his friends in 1994. Discussions about this venture had begun in 1993, but the final decision was made after

Media Vision Media Vision Technology, Inc., was an American electronics manufacturer of primarily computer sound cards and CD-ROM kits, operating from 1990 to approximately 1995 in Fremont, California. Media Vision was widely known for its Pro AudioSpectrum ...

, an American electronics manufacturer, offered the group a lucrative multi-game contract in January 1994. As a result, the developer was founded in February. ''Hodj 'n' Podj'' became Boffo's first project under Media Vision, which acted as its publisher. It was the highest-budget production of Meretzky's career at that time (later surpassed by ''

The Space Bar ''The Space Bar'' is a 1997 graphic adventure game developed by Boffo Games and published by Rocket Science Games and SegaSoft. A comic science fiction story, it follows detective Alias Node as he searches for a shapeshifting killer inside The ...

''), and was the first project on which he acted only as a designer, rather than as a designer and programmer. According to Boffo co-founder Mike Dornbrook, the ''Hodj 'n' Podj'' concept was chosen in order to meet a difficult deadline proposed by Media Vision, which wanted Boffo's first title finished by August 1994. The simplicity of ''Hodj 'n' Podj'' made it viable in this timeframe, in part because its segmented structure allowed numerous programmers to develop different sections of the game simultaneously. Its completion date was ultimately set for September 30. Following the closure of his employer

Infocom Infocom, Inc., was an American software company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of interactive fiction. They also produced a business application, a relational database called ''Cornerstone (software), Cornerston ...

, Meretzky had conceived ''Hodj 'n' Podj'' in summer 1989, five or more years before the project began. His initial goal was to revive "all those fun, simple games which had pretty much disappeared" at the time. To increase its value, he believed it needed a structure that tied together its

minigame A minigame (also spelled mini game and mini-game, sometimes called a subgame or microgame) is a short game often contained within another video game. A minigame contains different gameplay elements and is often smaller or more simplistic than th ...

s; and this inspired its storyline and

board game A board game is a type of tabletop game that involves small objects () that are placed and moved in particular ways on a specially designed patterned game board, potentially including other components, e.g. dice. The earliest known uses of the ...

motif. Its story was written in the style of ''

Fractured Fairy Tales ''The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends'' (commonly referred to as simply ''Rocky and Bullwinkle'') is an American animated television series that originally aired from November 19, 1959, to June 27, 1964, on the American Broadca ...

'', from ''

The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show ''The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends'' (commonly referred to as simply ''Rocky and Bullwinkle'') is an American animated television series that originally aired from November 19, 1959, to June 27, 1964, on the ABC and NBC tel ...

''. Meretzky later noted that other companies beat him to reviving these games in the years between ''Hodj 'n' Podj''s conception and release, and saw success without using any overarching structures. However, he still felt "very happy creatively" with the final design of his project. As production of ''Hodj 'n' Podj'' progressed, the team "began to suspect that it was going to appeal to a very different gaming audience", according to Meretzky. They discovered that an unexpected number of female players, families and non-gamers reacted with praise toward the game, compared to Meretzky's past projects. In a post-release letter to ''

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American Video game journalism, computer game magazine that was published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 199 ...

'', Meretzky wrote, " r the first time, I have designed a game which my 4-year-old daughter and my 70-year-old mother both enjoy." He has retrospectively called ''Hodj 'n' Podj'' an example of a

casual game A casual game is a video game targeted at a mass market audience, as opposed to a hardcore game, which is targeted at hobbyist gamers. Casual games may exhibit any type of gameplay and genre. They generally involve simpler rules, shorter sessio ...

. On May 10, after three months of development, reports broke that Media Vision was being scrutinized by the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

. It became public that the company had engaged in a $100 million

securities fraud Securities fraud, also known as stock fraud and investment fraud, is a deceptive practice in the stock or commodities markets that induces investors to make purchase or sale decisions on the basis of false information.mini-Enron". Media Vision filed for

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

in July, but Boffo was able to proceed with ''Hodj 'n' Podj'' during the publisher's dissolution because much of its funding had come as a

down payment In accounting, a down payment (also called a deposit in British English) is an initial up-front partial payment for the purchase of expensive goods or services such as a car or a house. It is usually paid in cash or equivalent at the time of fin ...

. Ultimately, the bankruptcy estate opted to give Boffo enough money to complete the game and then

liquidate Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end. The assets and property of the business are redistributed. When a firm has been liquidated, it is sometimes referred to as wound-up or dissolved, although di ...

the final product, as this would be more profitable than canceling it mid-development. It was finished around the second week of October 1994, below its expected budget. Following bids from companies such as

BMG Interactive Rockstar Games, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in New York City. The company was established in December 1998 as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, using the assets Take-Two had previously acquired from BMG Interactive. Foun ...

and

Ocean Software Ocean Software Limited was a British software development company that became one of the biggest European video game developers and publishers of the 1980s and 1990s. The company was founded by David Ward and Jon Woods and was based in Manchest ...

, ''Hodj 'n' Podj'' was purchased at auction by

Virgin Interactive Avalon Interactive Group, Ltd., formerly known as Virgin Interactive Entertainment, was a British video game distributor based within Europe that formerly traded as the video game publishing and distributing division of British conglomerate the V ...

, alongside the titles ''

The Daedalus Encounter ''The Daedalus Encounter'' is a 1995 interactive movie puzzle adventure game developed by Mechadeus and published by Virgin Interactive for Windows. The game was ported to the 3DO by Lifelike Productions and published by Panasonic. The premise o ...

'' and ''Rivers of Dawn''. The

United States bankruptcy court United States bankruptcy courts are courts created under Article I of the United States Constitution. The current system of bankruptcy courts was created by the United States Congress in 1978, effective April 1, 1984. United States bankruptcy ...

overseeing Media Vision's case delayed the final sale of ''Hodj 'n' Podj'' to December. Virgin obtained the game on the 9th, a point deemed too late in the

holiday shopping season A holiday is a day or other period of time set aside for festivals or recreation. ''Public holidays'' are set by public authorities and vary by state or region. Religious holidays are set by religious organisations for their members and are ofte ...

to justify a launch. In addition, none of the game's packaging had been created. As a result, the game missed 1994. ''Hodj 'n' Podj'' ultimately debuted in March 1995. Dornbrook explained that Virgin had pushed its release back from January to avoid a conflict with the launch of its game '' The 11th Hour'', which was ultimately delayed. Boffo's title was released with what Meretzky considered "a half-hearted marketing effort" by Virgin. Dornbrook remarked that it "was really launched with no marketing support", as a result of

corporate restructuring Restructuring or Reframing is the corporate management term for the act of reorganizing the legal, ownership, operational, or other structures of a company for the purpose of making it more profitable, or better organized for its present needs. ...

at the publisher; and that the game's " PR was actually done completely by us." Like other games of the time, ''Hodj 'n' Podj'' was sold through traditional retail channels, which Meretzky later believed to be a mistake. He argued in 2009, "The etailchannel evolved and eventually perfected the art of selling hardcore games to a hardcore audience, but it was horribly inadequate for selling any other type of game or reaching any other demographic."

Reception

''Hodj 'n' Podj'' sold between 40,000 and 50,000 copies, which Meretzky later called "a disappointing number even in the much smaller games market of the time." Despite its low sales, it went on to surpass all of his other games in its number of fan letters. By 2009, he still received as many fan letters about ''Hodj 'n' Podj'' as the rest of his games put together. He said in 2005 that ''Hodj 'n' Podj'' was his only game that he could play for enjoyment, and that he continued to "play twith my kids every now and then." Ann M. Marcus of ''

Electronic Entertainment Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductors * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic c ...

'' summarized ''Hodj 'n' Podj'' as "charming", and considered it an "exquisitely illustrated, hilariously funny medieval romp". Despite some "minor quibbles," she considered the game "a true delight." The reviewer for ''

Next Generation Next Generation or Next-Generation may refer to: Publications and literature * ''Next Generation'' (magazine), video game magazine that was made by the now defunct Imagine Media publishing company * Next Generation poets (2004), list of young ...

'' wrote that it "won't appeal to those hungry for action", but that it was ideal "for laid back fun on a rainy afternoon." In ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'', Bob Strauss summarized, "This impeccable British production is one of those rare CD-ROMs that can be enjoyed by both kids and adults—and its simple menu-driven interface guarantees that you'll keep it on your hard drive long after your other software has vanished." William R. Trotter of ''

PC Gamer US ''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games ma ...

'' wrote, "Don't expect too much from this game. It breaks no new ground, pushes no 'envelopes,' and veteran gamers will no doubt be bored by parts of it." However, he argued that players who "accept ''Hodj 'n' Podj'' in the spirit in which it is offered" will derive "considerable delight in playing it — especially if you have kids." ''

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American Video game journalism, computer game magazine that was published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 199 ...

''s

Charles Ardai Charles Ardai is an American businessman, and writer of crime fiction and mysteries. He is co-founder and editor of Hard Case Crime, a line of pulp-style paperback crime novels. He was also an early employee of D. E. Shaw & Co. and a managing di ...

found the game's use of traditional games "downright baffling", given their presence in past compilations, as well as in '' Sam & Max: Hit the Road'' and the ''

Dr. Brain ''Dr. Brain'' is a series of educational computer game, games introduced by Sierra Entertainment, Sierra On-Line in 1992. The objective of each game is to solve a series of puzzles to aid characters named Dr. Brain who changed from title to title ...

'' series. Although he enjoyed the game's graphics and humor, he summarized, "You've seen all the puzzles before, often done better than they're done here. How jazzed can you get about ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'' or

Solitaire Solitaire may refer to: Film and television *'' Le Solitaire'', a 1987 French film * ''Solitaire'' (1991 film), a Canadian drama film * ''Solitaire'' (2008 film), a drama film *''Solitaire'', 2016 Lebanese comedy film with Bassam Kousa *"Solit ...

, anyway?"

Legacy

A sequel to ''Hodj 'n' Podj'' was commissioned by Virgin Interactive before the first game's release, and development began in late 1994, funded by Boffo Games' earlier payment from Media Vision. The project was canceled after Virgin's restructuring in early 1995. According to Mike Dornbrook, an offer for the sequel was made later in 1995 by

Sanctuary Woods Sanctuary Woods Multimedia, Inc. was a Canadian-American multimedia developer and third-party game publisher. It was one of the early multimedia companies developing products for CD-ROM distribution. The founders, Brian Beninger and Toni Beni ...

. In August 2000, Steve Meretzky joined WorldWinner as a game designer. Among the draws of the job, in his view, was that it allowed him to create games "very reminiscent of the kind of games in ''Hodj 'n' Podj''". He has cited the game as a career turning point, which led him away from adventure games and toward the casual game market. While working at

Playdom Playdom, Inc. was an online social network game developer popular on Facebook, Google+ and Myspace. The company was founded in the San Francisco Bay Area by University of California, Berkeley graduates Ling Xiao and Chris Wang and Swarthmore Colle ...

on the

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...

''Sorority Life'', he took direct inspiration from ''Hodj 'n' Podj''s implementation of minigames into an overarching structure. ''

Sorority Life ''Sorority Life'' is a reality television series on MTV that aired from June 24, 2002, to November 19, 2003. The show consisted of girls pledging to become part of a sorority. Production The first season occurred at University of California, D ...

'' was a success, which Meretzky saw as proof that ''Hodj 'n' Podj''s commercial failure was caused by marketing and distribution factors rather than design flaws.

References

External links

*
Article about Steve Meretzky
at

Gamasutra ''Game Developer'' (known as ''Gamasutra'' until 2021) is a website created in 1997 that focuses on aspects of video game development. It is owned and operated by Informa TechTarget and acted as the online sister publication to the print maga ...

{{Boffo Games 1995 video games Digital tabletop games Classic Mac OS games Fantasy video games Minigame compilations Puzzle video games Steve Meretzky games Video games developed in the United States Virgin Interactive games Windows games Multiplayer and single-player video games