Pajama Sam
This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2015) |
Pajama Sam | |
---|---|
Genre(s) | Adventure, Edutainment |
Developer(s) | Humongous Entertainment |
Publisher(s) | Humongous Entertainment Atari Infogrames |
Creator(s) | Ron Gilbert, Rich Moe, Rhonda Conley |
Platform(s) | Windows, Macintosh, iOS, Android, Linux, PlayStation, Wii |
First release | Pajama Sam: No Need to Hide When It's Dark Outside October 18, 1996 |
Latest release | Pajama Sam: Life Is Rough When You Lose Your Stuff! October 14, 2003 |
The Pajama Sam series is a collection of point and click children's adventure and puzzle games originally created by Humongous Entertainment. After the release of the first two adventure games, the series was proving a success when the products sold one million copies and won 40 awards of excellence.[1]
Games
Adventure games
All games consist of four parts: an introductory phase in which Sam begins in one room of his house, looking for his cape (although in the first game, it was a mask, a flashlight and a lunch box as his "Portable Bad Guy Containment Unit") and entering an imaginary world through some dark space in his house, the actual journey he undertakes in that world, and a concluding cinematic that ends the story. While Sam is in the imaginary world, he can move from one screen to another and interact with the environment with point-and-click controls. Each area features clickpoints that play animations irrelevant to the plot or feature crossover cameos of the three other Junior Adventure series, as well as important items and non-playable characters that can be collected or interacted with. Some items or areas are inaccessible due to an obstacle that is usually overcome by finding and using another item. The obstacles Sam faces and the methods by which he is to progress to the main goal are determined at random at the beginning of a playthrough, and playthroughs in progress can be saved and continued at a later time. In addition to the main storyline, each individual game features hidden collectible items scattered in the world that Sam does not have to reach, with a special reward available to those who can find them all.
In the first game, the player had no control over what scenarios would be encountered in one playthrough. In the sequel, the player can choose from several combinations of scenarios to play with, and in the last two games, the player is given complete control on what kind of scenarios are encountered for each step towards resolving the main conflict.
- Pajama Sam: No Need to Hide When It's Dark Outside (1996)
- Pajama Sam: Don't Fear The Dark (2008 Wii port)
- Pajama Sam: No Need to Hide (2012 mobile port)
- Pajama Sam 2: Thunder and Lightning Aren't so Frightening (1998)
- Pajama Sam: Thunder and Lightning (2014 mobile port)
- Pajama Sam 3: You Are What You Eat from Your Head to Your Feet (2000)
- Pajama Sam 3 (2015 mobile port)
- Pajama Sam: Life Is Rough When You Lose Your Stuff! (2003)
The third title was ported to the original PlayStation. More than a decade since the series' inception, the first game in the series was also ported to the Wii, which suffered from limited availability due to a legal conflict concerning its development. In the 2010s, the first three games of the series were ported to iOS and Android as paid games.
Other games
"Junior Arcades" | ||
---|---|---|
Game | Releases | Developer/Publisher |
Pajama Sam's Sock Works |
|
Humongous Entertainment |
Pajama Sam's Lost & Found |
|
Humongous Entertainment |
"Activity Packs" | ||
Game | Releases | Developer/Publisher |
Pajama Sam's One Stop Fun Shop |
|
Humongous Entertainment |
Pajama Sam: Games to Play on Any Day |
|
Humongous Entertainment |
Main characters
- Pajama Sam (voiced by Pamela Segall Adlon from 1996 to 2001, E.G. Daily in "Pajama Sam's Sock Works" and Elisha Ferguson in "Life Is Rough When You Lose Your Stuff") is a six-year-old boy who always wears blue pajamas and dons a red cape when he transforms into his superhero alter ego to solve a problem. He is also very fond of cheese and has an older brother named Mark.
- Pajama Man is Sam's superhero idol who has a comic book series and his own animated TV show.
Recurring characters
- Sam's Mom is an unnamed woman who either appears as a silhouette or just heard off-screen. Although Sam mentions his father occasionally, he is never seen or heard.
- The Carrot Freedom Fighter is the leader of the Salad Liberation Front, a group of carrots who want to be the main course in meals. He speaks in a dialect of a hippie and sports a green soul patch. He appeared in "No Need to Hide When It's Dark Outside" and reappears in the second and third adventure games and in "Games to Play on Any Day".
- Otto is a wooden boat who lives on the Boat Dock in the Land of Darkness and is afraid of drowning. In his first appearance, he was afraid of going into the river, because someone told him that wood sinks, until Sam used a wooden board to prove that wood does indeed float. He speaks in a German accent and has a great knowledge of geysers (much to Sam's annoyance).
- King is a mine cart who lives in the entrance to the mines in the Land of Darkness. In his first appearance, he was depressed, because his wheels were rusted to the mine tracks. However, Sam helped free him with an oil can so he can give Sam rides around the mines.
- Darkness is a shadow, who lives in the Land of Darkness. In the first game, Sam was afraid of him and tried to capture Darkness, but when Sam realized that Darkness was lonely, he befriended him. He is also a villain in Sam's favorite Pajama Man comic books.
- Rudy Beagle is a forklift truck who lifts crates and takes them to World Wide Weather. In his introduction in "Thunder and Lightning Aren't So Frightening", Rudy did not speak, but actually speaks in "Lost and Found", where Sam referred to him as "Mr. Forklift". His favorite food is tuna salad. In the British dub, his name is "Suzy Beagle" and is female.
- Florette is a living female broccoli who lives in the Island of MopTop. In her debut in "You Are What You Eat From Your Head to Your Feet", she is a delegate who represents the vegetables in the Food Pyramid. Sam appears to have a crush on her.
Pajama Sam in No Need to Hide When It's Dark Outside characters
- The Customs Trees are a group of nasty talking trees who take away Sam's superhero gear (except for his cape). The leader of the group has a lazy eye.
- Ms. Tree is a female tree who, unlike the Customs Trees, speaks sweetly and nicely to Sam. She holds a rope that the Customs Trees use as a booby trap to capture Sam. After Sam frees himself, Ms. Tree allows Sam to borrow her rope, but when Sam loses the rope after getting a piece of wood with it, Ms. Tree is not upset; she is actually relieved that she no longer has to hold up the rope. Whenever Sam has a problem during the game, Ms. Tree will always give him friendly advice.
- Algernon, Sebastian and Valeria are three trees who guard Darkness' Garden and only allow trees. As such, they speak rudely to Sam and disallow him from passing by, unless he uses a hollow log to disguise himself as a tree. They all speak in British accents. None of them are mentioned by name in-game, but they are named in their model sheets.[2]
- The Wishing Well is a sarcastic, literal-minded well, who lets Sam call him outrageous nicknames. Unlike other wishing wells, whenever Sam tosses a coin into the well, the Wishing Well will make a wish instead of Sam making one.
- The Toll Bridge is a bridge that lets people pass through the park by giving him a pound of gold.
- The Toaster plays "Cheese and Crackers" (a form of Tic Tac Toe with food) with Sam at the park.
- Bert is a pencil from a Construction Crew that was mistaken for a scoring pencil and left at the park. He helps Sam open a tunnel to the Secret Mines, which was never completed.
- The Kitchen Appliances are musical household objects, who prepare food for Darkness. They consist of a fridge (who sometimes has the Salad Liberation Front Group), a measuring cup, salt and pepper shakers, a meat grinder, a knife, an oven, a dumbwaiter (who Sam cannot ride down in, but only up) and a pot (with a chicken being cooked in it).
- The Salad Liberation Front Group is a group of carrots who are trapped in Darkness' fridge until Carrot and Sam help them escape.
- Darkness' Furniture are the household appliances in his living room, who like to dance to disco music when they think no one is present. They consist of a couch, a lamp, a hatstand, a coffee table, a bowling trophy and a stereo player (that plays the disco music). Sometimes, Sam's mask will be in the living room.
- Wink and Blink are two living doors on the second floor of Darkness' tree house. They are the hosts of "The Brain Tickler", a fictional game show that asks Sam four trivial questions in order to let him pass through the Doors of Knowledge. One of those four questions has something to do with the condition of a certain location in Land of Darkness, but if Sam has not been to that location, he will not be able to answer the question correctly yet. After Sam wins the game show, Wink and Blink will argue whenever they don't see Sam.
- Darkness' Organ is a talking musical instrument that performs music when you click on sheet music.
- Beethoven Bust is a bust who is based on the composer Ludwig van Beethoven. If you click on the sheet music, he will sing a song.
- Roger, Jerry and Dan are three candles in the secret hall behind the library's bookshelf. They make jokes about candles and have short conversations when clicked.
- The Laboratory Chair is a female chair who likes saying complex sentences that make no sense. Sometimes, she is needed to help Sam get a blue potion on the top of a high shelf, but when one of her legs break off, Sam must use a hammer and a nail to repair her.
Pajama Sam 2: Thunder and Lightning Aren't So Frightening characters
- Thunder and Lightning are twin sisters who are in charge of the stormy weather. They are completely different: Thunder is peaceful and calm, while Lightning is loud and high-strung.
- Wingnut is a piece of the Sun machine. He is very short-tempered and believes that he is the most important part of the sun machine and that the other weather pieces love him, when they actually don't.
- Velocimomometer (or Velo for short) is a piece of the Wind machine. She is very timid and afraid of new surroundings. She's also the only of the four missing machine parts who is female.
- Y-Pipe is a piece of the Rain machine. He makes wisecracks and says "Why" a lot.
- Snowflake Inspector is a robot who inspects the snowflakes at the Snow machine. Even though he initially hates his job, he is eventually happy to go back to work.
- Bill Gate is a gate that guards World Wide Weather and forbids Sam from entering because he is not an employee. As such, Sam must sneak into a crate that Rudy Beagle is carrying. His name is a pun on Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft. His favorite food is broccoli.
- The Courtesy Phone is a purple phone who can be used to call employees.
- Brad Carpenter is an office chair who will not allow anyone in the hall unless they make an appointment. To do this, Sam must call Brad on the Courtesy Phone for an appointment.
- George Someone is the personnel manager. Brad makes an appointment with Sam for him. He is very fond of apples.
- Andrew Glimmer is a stapler in charge of the supplies in World Wide Weather. He thinks that George Someone sends spies to his office to ruin his reputation and get Someone promoted. Due to his paranoia, Andrew initially mistakes Sam for a spy. He has a habit of letting off staples when he's startled or nervous.
- The Chairman is a literal chair, who is the chairman of the board meetings. He has a hat filled with questions for an employee quiz as a job interview.
- Larch, Birch and Splinter are three wooden boards who are members of the board.
- Jersey Langston III is a living snowman in charge of the Snow machine. He is shown with a random vegetable for a nose and speaks with a British accent. According to audio files, his name was originally J. Langston Popsicle III, but the Popsicle portion was omitted because the name was a registered trademark of Unilever Supply Chain, Inc.[3][4]
- Snowflake Inspector Dectector (or SID for short) is a device used to track the Snowflake Inspector whenever he goes missing. He is solar powered and eats liquid sunshine, which he is tired without.
- Bernie Applebaum is a microscope who works in the Suggestions Department of World Wide Weather. He speaks in a lisp where he pronounces the letter "s" with the "sh" sound.
- Sheila Zywicki is a grumpy female coffee mug, who works in the Complaints Department of World Wide Weather. Rather than letting Sam list his complaints, Sheila talks about all her complaints.
- Operator is an unnamed phone, who always mishears what Sam says.
- Mother Nature is the President of World Wide Weather, who expects all the weather to be "absolutely perfect". After Sam fixes the third machine, Mother Nature, suspicious that something is going wrong with the weather, decides to make an inspection of the facility. She speaks in a British accent.
Pajama Sam 3: You Are What You Eat From Your Feet Characters
- S.S.A.M. (Snacks and Sweets Aggressive Majority) is a group of fatty foods and junk foods that want to take over the Island of MopTop. They throw Sam in a prison cell (for being concerned about spoiling his dinner) along with Florette. They try to prevent the Peace Conference from happening.
- General Beetfoot is a beet, who is the General in the Food Pyramid, who wants to declare war unless Carrot can organize a Peace Conference. He is very paranoid, thinking that everything he sees on the Island might be chaos.
- Luke Wigglebig is a lollipop who, unlike other sweets, has no prejudice against the food groups. He is the first conference member to make it there, with Florette being the second. He and Florette are often at odds with one another.
- Chuck Cheddar is an adventurous block of cheddar cheese, who represents the dairy in the Peace Conference. His daring adventures cause him to get stuck in certain locations, being either in a cotton candy cloud, or a ledge. He appears to have a rivalry with Pierre Le Pain.
- Pierre Le Pain is a loaf of French Bread, who represents the grains in the Peace Conference. Being a loaf of French Bread, he speaks in a French accent and is also attracted to many girls, including Florette.
- Bean 47 is a Kidney Bean, who is a construction worker and represents the protein in the Peace Conference. He likes to be fair and speaks in a high-pitched voice.
- Granny Smythe is an elderly green female apple, who represents the fruits in the peace conference. She often thinks back on old times and is very sensitive about how her name is spelled. Her name is a pun on Granny Smith apples.
- The Onion Librarian is the librarian in the Food Pyramid. She is shown crying while reading an emotional book that she got from the Supermarket.
- The Gumdrops are a group of diggers in the Headlands. They like to dig and appear to be apathetic when other people get stuck in their work area.
- Pierce and Taylor are two absent-minded yams who guard the telescope at the A Complex. They only let Gourd fruits in.
- Syllabus the Sage is a Fortune Cookie, who ponders the most amazing questions.
- Sprinkle is a female donut with pink frosting and sprinkles (hence the name). She was tied to a tree until Sam untied the rope she was attached to, which caused Sprinkle to fall into the water. From then on, Sam can use Sprinkle as a form of transportation throughout Pajama Sam 3.
- Gulp is an anthropomorphic egg, who loves French fries with a specific kind of condiment.
- Zak Zuke is a Zucchini who has his own "Guess Your Weight" stand. He classifies Sam as weighing 42 lbs.
- The Dancing Soda Cans is a group of soda pop cans who love to dance. They are bored with dancing the "Pogo" until Sam gives them a certificate for a Waltz lesson.
- Bran, Corn and Wheat are three muscular muffins who work out on the Ferris wheel's machine, which gives the wheel power. They also enjoy drawing cupcakes.
- Dot, Star and Cherry are three cupcakes, who love sun tanning (or "baking" as they call it). They hate it when shade blocks their sun.
- Mickey Hollandaise is a banana, who is an unsuccessful comedian. He uses note cards when telling jokes, but the sweet troops mixed them up. Sam, however, helps Mickey get his career back together. Until then, Mickey had worn Size 37 red shoes; after Mickey discards them, he lets Sam keep them.
- Tom Rutabaga is another comedian and Mickey's rival, who tells knock-knock jokes that everyone loves.
- Selena and Selma Celery are sisters, who teach dancing and etiquette.
- Rock, Paper and Scissors are three plums who works as plumbers. Their names are a pun on the game, "Rock paper scissors".
- The Bean Construction Workers are a group of kidney beans and jelly beans working in a construction site in the Foothills. Bean 47 works there. In some versions of the game, the kidney and jelly beans become prejudiced against one another and go on strike until Sam switches their protest signs to make the beans think the two groups like each other. Selma Celery is annoyed by the noise they make with their construction.
- The Bean Foreman is the boss at the Bean Construction Site and Bean 47's employer. He sports a long (false) mustache.
- The Balloon Salesman is a deadpan green bean who sells balloons. His shoelaces always come undone, forcing him to re-tie them every time. After Sam loses the salesman's balloons, he starts a taxi service (per Pierre's advice).
Availability
For Steam the games were released as single games,[5] or bundled with the other Pajama Sam games in "Pajama Sam Complete Pack"[6] or was packaged with all Humongous Entertainment games in "Humongous Entertainment Complete Pack".[7]
- The games are available DRM-free from GOG.com as Pajama Sam volumes 1 and 2, using SCUMMVM and running on Microsoft Windows, OS X and Linux.
- Infogrames released a CD titled "Freddi Fish / Pajama Sam Value 2-Pack" containing Freddi Fish and the Case of the Missing Kelp Seeds and Pajama Sam: No Need to Hide When It's Dark Outside.[8]
- Humongous Entertainment released a CD titled "Humongous Entertainment Triple Treat", which included Freddi Fish and the Case of the Missing Kelp Seeds, Pajama Sam's Sock Works and Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo.[9]
- Humongous Entertainment released a CD titled "Humongous Entertainment Triple Treat 2", which included Pajama Sam: No Need to Hide When It's Dark Outside, Freddi Fish and Luther's Maze Madness and Putt Putt Travels Through Time.[10]
- Pajama Sam: No Need to Hide When It's Dark Outside was included in the "Kids' BackPack IV" CD along with Math Blaster Episode I: In Search of Spot, Freddi Fish and the Case of the Missing Kelp Seeds, Just Me and My Mom and Muppet Treasure Island.[11]
- Big Island Publishing released in 2009, a twin pack titled "Pajama Sam: 2 Pack" and containing both Pajama Sam 3: You Are What You Eat from Your Head to Your Feet and Pajama Sam: Life Is Rough When You Lose Your Stuff!.[12]
- Humongous Entertainment released a bundle of 3 discs titled "Pajama Sam 3-pack", which included Pajama Sam: No Need to Hide When It's Dark Outside, Pajama Sam's Lost & Found and Pajama Sam 3: You Are What You Eat from Your Head to Your Feet.
- Pajama Sam's Sock Works was released for Windows and Macintosh on a compilation CD titled "Super Duper Arcade 1", along with Spy Fox in: Cheese Chase, Freddi Fish and Luther's Water Worries and Putt-Putt and Pep's Balloon-O-Rama.[13]
- Pajama Sam's Lost & Found was released for Windows and Macintosh on a compilation CD titled "Super Duper Arcade 2", along with Spy Fox in: Hold the Mustard, Freddi Fish and Luther's Maze Madness and Putt-Putt and Pep's Dog on a Stick[14]
Books
Various children's books about Pajama Sam have been published by Lyrick Publishing.
Title | Date | Writer | Publisher | Illustrator |
---|---|---|---|---|
Pajama Sam: Color and Activity Book[15] | August 2000 | Lyrick Studios | ||
Pajama Sam: Mission to the Moon[16] | August 28, 2000 | Dave Grossman | Lyrick Studios | |
Pajama Sam: The Magic Hat Tree[17] | August 2000 | Lyrick Studios | N. S. Greenfield | |
Pajama Sam: Amazing TV Adventure[18] | January 2001 | Biz Magoo | Lyrick Studios | Dirk Wunderlich |
Pajama Sam What's Different?[19] | January 2001 | Nancy Parent | Lyrick Studios | Darren McKee |
Pajama Sam: Out to Lunch![20] | January 2001 | Biz Magoo | Lyrick Studios | |
Pajama Sam: Food Fight[21] | August 2001 | Lyrick Studios |
References
- ^ "The Free Library - Pajama Sam". Farlex, Inc. April 6, 2000. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
- ^ "Prerelease:Pajama Sam in "No Need to Hide When It's Dark Outside" - The Cutting Room Floor". tcrf.net. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
- ^ "Pajama Sam 2: Thunder and Lightning Aren't So Frightening - The Cutting Room Floor". tcrf.net. Retrieved 2022-11-01.
- ^ Jordi, Nathalie (2010-07-09). "Don't Use the P Word: A Popsicle Showdown". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2022-11-01.
- ^ "Pajama Sam on Steam". Steam. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
- ^ "Pajama Sam Complete Pack on Steam". store.steampowered.com. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
- ^ "Humongous Entertainment Complete Pack on Steam". store.steampowered.com. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
- ^ "UPC 825247060903 - Freddi Fish / Pajama Sam Value 2-Pack | upcitemdb.com".
- ^ "Humongous Entertainment Triple Treat (Win95/Win98/Win3.1/Mac) - from CD-ROM Access". www.cdaccess.com. Archived from the original on 2000-05-10.
- ^ Humongous Entertainment triple treat 2. OCLC 42255135.
- ^ "Gateway Select - Software". PC Magazine. No. 16. September 3, 1997. p. 37.
- ^ "Pajama Sam: 2 Pack (2009)".
- ^ "Super Duper Arcade 1". Retrieved December 19, 2016.
- ^ "Super Duper Arcade 2". Retrieved December 19, 2016.
- ^ "ISBN 1570649499". Barcode Lookup. Retrieved June 5, 2015.
- ^ "ISBN 1570649502". Barcode Lookup. Retrieved June 5, 2015.
- ^ "ISBN 1570649510". Barcode Lookup. Retrieved June 5, 2015.
- ^ "ISBN 1586680625". Barcode Lookup. Retrieved June 5, 2015.
- ^ "ISBN 1586680641". Barcode Lookup. Retrieved June 5, 2015.
- ^ "ISBN 158668065X". Barcode Lookup. Retrieved June 5, 2015.
- ^ "ISBN 1586681524". Barcode Lookup. Retrieved June 5, 2015.