History VideoGame / CosmicOsmo

The Millers' next open-ended UsefulNotes/HyperCard game, 1991's ''VideoGame/{{Spelunx}}'', took a far more [[EdutainmentGame educational]] tone. The 1994 rerelease of ''Osmo'' added a ''Spelunx''-like science complex, making both games ''each other's'' SpiritualSuccessor.

Despite ''Osmo's'' fanbase on the UsefulNotes/AppleMacintosh, where it remained an exclusive until 2008, [[http://store.steampowered.com/app/63620/ it can now be found on Steam]]...''for Windows users only''. Even though the original won't run on today's OS X at all, and despite the developer of the Windows port saying that recompiling her work for OS X would be [[http://www.runrev.com/newsletter/may/issue26/newsletter2.php "trivial".]]

* FiveFiveFive: Any phone in the game can be called from any other. All of the numbers start with 555.

* PortalPicture

* ShootingGallery

* WideOpenSandbox

* ImprobableWeaponUser: In the peaceful Osmoian System, the most common weapon is a ''cotton swab''.

''Cosmic Osmo'' is a 1989 [[PopUpVideoGames Pop Up Video Game]] created by [[VideoGame/{{Myst}} Rand and Robyn Miller of Cyan, Inc.]] Like its SpiritualPredecessor ''VideoGame/TheManhole'', ''Osmo'' lets you traipse undirected through a quirky universe packed with {{Easter Egg}}s, but this time [[RecycledINSPACE IN SPACE]]. There is no ending and no score, and only the mildest of optional puzzles.

* {{Animesque}} -- The ''Ship Chip Lander'' cabinet art.

* CameraAbuse -- A robot's gun can temporarily shatter the screen.
* ClingyMacGuffin / CoolShip -- The Osmobile.
* ConsoleCameo -- You can find a Mac SE with micro-versions of Cyan's games, [[RecursiveCanon including this one.]]
* CoolGate -- Osmo's garage houses a portal that cycles between four destinations.
* CoolShades -- Worn by a baby in the nursery. Instead of crying like the others, he [[VocalDissonance bellows]] ''"OHHH YEAH."''
* DeliberatelyMonochrome -- Unlike ''VideoGame/TheManhole'' and ''VideoGame/{{Spelunx}}'', all rereleases of ''Osmo'' have retained their intricate black and white pixel art. (Cyan [[http://torley.com/the-surreal-delights-of-cosmic-osmo supposedly completed]] the graphics for a [[http://www.qarl.com/osmo.jpg colorized version]], but elected not to publish it.)
* EdutainmentGame -- They aren't [[SolveTheSoupCans obstacles to overcome]], but the CD version incorporates simple-to-use Bunsen burners, microscopes, etc. for kids to familiarize themselves with.
* EncyclopediaExposita -- ''Cosmic Osmo: The Life of an Osmo''
* EverythingIsAnInstrument -- The player can click anything from a row of pots and pans to a row of babies in bassinets like a makeshift xylophone.
* FasterThanLightTravel -- It seems to involve some sort of wormhole.
* FeaturelessProtagonist -- The Osmos address you only as "alien."
* FiveFiveFive -- Any phone in the game can be called from any other. All of the numbers start with 555.
* FlatWorld -- Even though the planet in question is spherical when viewed from space, you can hit the edges of the map (with a "bonk" noise) when navigating by boat.
* GameWithinAGame -- ''Rubber Gut'' (a ''VideoGame/StuntCopter'' parody) and ''Ship Chip Lander'' (a ''VideoGame/LunarLander'' parody).
* TheGeneralissimo -- Señor Osmollo appears to be this.
* GranolaGirl -- Princess Osmorella, she of the lava lamps and [[FlyingCar "flower power" space van]].

* GravityScrew -- The interior of Osmo's home is upside-down. Your mouse cursor is inverted to match.
* ImprobableWeaponUser -- In the peaceful Osmoian System, the most common weapon is a ''cotton swab''.

* InterfaceScrew -- The cursor (a pointing hand) will sometimes act on its own, such as tickling a dog's belly or dunking itself in water when you touch something hot.
* LevelAte -- The Vegetable Moon, which is not at all limited to vegetables. There's a bananaphone, a vampire pumpkin, a spiral staircase of watermelon wedges...
* MacroZone -- Everywhere. For instance, the tiny tent and igloo inside the refrigerator.
* MouseWorld -- One MouseHole leads to a mouse-built ''[[TeleportersAndTransporters teleporter]]''. Elsewhere, you can ride a tiny mouse-driven submarine.
* MultipleDemographicAppeal -- It was promoted as being "for kids of all ages."
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed -- [[UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein Prof. Elvis Osmostein]].
* OddballInTheSeries -- The unexpected sequel ''Cosmic Osmo's Hex Isle'', released 18 years after the original, was just a bland puzzle platformer.
* PaintedTunnelRealTrain -- A magic pencil found in a WhiteVoidRoom can draw other areas of the game around you. Naturally, you're then actually standing in the location that you drew.
* PlanetOfSteves -- All of the Osmos' names are variations on "Osmo."

* ResetButton -- Blow up the chemistry lab? Pull the lever and signal the janitors to fix it up when you leave.
* RogerRabbitEffect -- Osmo has a framed photo of himself with Jethro from ''Series/TheBeverlyHillbillies''.

* SpeakingSimlish / MemeticMutation -- [[http://cho.cyan.com/rawa/wohba.html Wohbanobongu!]]

* SuperheroesWearCapes -- An "Osman" comic with a caped Osmo is seen.
* TakeMeToYourLeader -- Osmo offers to take ''us'' to his leader: Señor Osmollo.
* TalkLikeAPirate -- ''Captain'' Osmo.
* TechnoBabble -- Those rings on the Osmobile's nosecone? ''Aero-ether Quanto-particulate Detecto Rings.'' The antenna on top? ''A triple-loop Polar Yagi Recepto-Wod.'' And so forth.
* TreehouseOfFun -- Subverted. The treehouse is "a place of relaxation" with nothing but a hot beverage dispenser and some teacups on a picnic table.
* UnrealisticBlackHole -- Open Osmo's trash can, and the cursor gets sucked into the black hole he just threw away.
* UpdatedRerelease -- ''Cosmic Osmo and the Worlds Beyond the Mackerel'' added three new worlds to the original's four, along with enhancements such as a CD audio soundtrack.

* WorldOfChaos -- A pipe-smoking alien keeps a well-appointed living room in the mouth of a spaceborne mackerel which you can shoot at with giant Q-Tips. ''Need I say more.''
* WorldShapes -- Everything from a cardboard diorama to a stellated polyhedron.
* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe -- The Osmo who guards the Swab in the Stone talks like this, even though nobody else (even Osmorella, his apparent ruler) in the galaxy does.

* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe -- The Osmo who guards the Swab in the Stone.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed -- [[AlbertEinstein Prof. Elvis Osmostein]].

* GameWithinAGame -- ''Rubber Gut'' (a ''StuntCopter'' parody) and ''Ship Chip Lander'' (a ''VideoGame/LunarLander'' parody).

Despite ''Osmo's'' fanbase on the {{Mac}}, where it remained an exclusive until 2008, [[http://store.steampowered.com/app/63620/ it can now be found on Steam]]...''for Windows users only''. Even though the original won't run on today's OS X at all, and despite the developer of the Windows port saying that recompiling her work for OS X would be [[http://www.runrev.com/newsletter/may/issue26/newsletter2.php "trivial".]]

* [[NoExportForYou No Port For You]] -- ''Only for Windows?'' What's next, ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros'' only for {{Xbox}}?

The Millers' next open-ended UsefulNotes/HyperCard game, 1991's ''{{Spelunx}}'', took a far more [[EdutainmentGame educational]] tone. The 1994 rerelease of ''Osmo'' added a ''Spelunx''-like science complex, making both games ''each other's'' SpiritualSuccessor.

''Cosmic Osmo'' is a 1989 [[PopUpVideoGames Pop Up Video Game]] created by [[VideoGame/{{Myst}} Rand and Robyn Miller of Cyan, Inc.]] Like its SpiritualPredecessor ''TheManhole'', ''Osmo'' lets you traipse undirected through a quirky universe packed with {{Easter Egg}}s, but this time [[RecycledINSPACE IN SPACE]]. There is no ending and no score, and only the mildest of optional puzzles.

* DeliberatelyMonochrome -- Unlike ''TheManhole'' and ''{{Spelunx}}'', all rereleases of ''Osmo'' have retained their intricate black and white pixel art. (Cyan [[http://torley.com/the-surreal-delights-of-cosmic-osmo supposedly completed]] the graphics for a [[http://www.qarl.com/osmo.jpg colorized version]], but elected not to publish it.)

''Cosmic Osmo'' is a 1989 [[PopUpVideoGames Pop Up Video Game]] created by [[{{Myst}} Rand and Robyn Miller of Cyan, Inc.]] Like its SpiritualPredecessor ''TheManhole'', ''Osmo'' lets you traipse undirected through a quirky universe packed with {{Easter Egg}}s, but this time [[RecycledINSPACE IN SPACE]]. There is no ending and no score, and only the mildest of optional puzzles.

->"You '''are''' the '''busiest''' alien to ever romp around our humble solar system."

The Millers' next open-ended {{HyperCard}} game, 1991's ''{{Spelunx}}'', took a far more [[EdutainmentGame educational]] tone. The 1994 rerelease of ''Osmo'' added a ''Spelunx''-like science complex, making both games ''each other's'' SpiritualSuccessor.

* MemeticMutation: There are still Myst fans who say "Wohbanobongu".