History VideoGame / RiddleOfTheSphinxAnEgyptianAdventure

The game came on a whopping three discs and took five years to develop. The Toblers wanted to create as accurate a recreation of the Giza monuments as possible and almost exclusively used Strata [=StudioPro=] to create full 3D renderings of each environment. Gameplay hinges on full 360 panoramic screens and a focus on exploration like most other post-''VideoGame/Myst'' games of the time. Reviews praised the game's presentation and attention to detail as well as the original soundtrack composed and performed entirely by Jeff Tobler.

Riddle of the Sphinx: An Egyptian Adventure is a 2000 point-and-click adventure game developed by Jeffrey and Karen Tobler under the name Old World Studios and published by DreamCatcher Interactive.

The game came on a whopping three discs and took five years to develop. The Toblers wanted to create as accurate a recreation of the Giza monuments as possible and almost exclusively used Strata StudioPro to create full 3D renderings of each environment. Gameplay hinges on full 360 panoramic screens and a focus on exploration like most other post-[[VideoGame Myst]] games of the time. Reviews praised the game’s presentation and attention to detail as well as the original soundtrack composed and performed entirely by Jeff Tobler.

* AncientOrderOfProtectors: While not contextualized until the sequel, your investigation reveals [[spoiler: the Egyptians along with several other ancient civilizations knew…*something* and left behind a series of clues to warn their descendants.]]

* TheFaceless: Your character’s face is never seen. Even a gender is not specified, although certain scenes in the sequel suggest you play as a man.
* TheMaze: A small one at the end of the Queens Corridor and the larger Anubis maze at the bottom of the Lotus Dome Chamber lift.

Sir Gil Blythe Geoffreys, one of Egyptology’s most acclaimed and divisive figures, has led an archeological expedition to the Giza Plateau to reopen findings from previous digs that were halted by the Egyptian government, particularly those found in the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx. You play as a young archeologist and longtime friend of Geoffreys who arrives at the site to find the whole expedition missing, including Geoffreys himself. Armed with only a few cryptic clues at the camp and rumors of an ancient curse, you must explore the deep secrets of this ancient wonder to discover what happened to your dear friend and his team.

* TrickShotPuzzle: The Archery Hall features one to obtain the Anubis tablet.

* ArtisticLicenseGeography: The Lost Temple of Ra is within walking distance of the Great Pyramid after traversing an underground river from one of the pyramid’s chambers, but you can’t see the pyramid at all from the highest point of the nearby cliff statues. Nor can the statues or the lake beside them be seen from the helicopter ride between the pyramid and the Sphinx. How far does your character walk to get to these places, and how can they get there in a single afternoon if the landmarks are out of sight of each other?

* ArtisticLicenseGeography: The Lost Temple of Ra is within walking distance of the Great Pyramid after traversing an underground river from one of the pyramid’s chambers, but you can’t see the pyramid at all from the highest point of the cliff statues. Nor can the statues or the lake beside them be seen from the helicopter ride between the pyramid and the Sphinx. How far does your character walk to get to these places, and how can they get there in a single afternoon if the landmarks are out of sight of each other?

* TheMaze: A small one at the end of the Queens Corridor and the larger Anubis maze at the bottom of the lift in that corridor.

* EverythingTryingToKillYou: Surprisingly averted for a massive pyramid treasure hunt. There are only a handful of instances where you can die, almost all of which can be anticipated, though the cursed tablets may catch players on the first encounter if they fail to find the scrolls warning about the curse.

* CurseOfThePharaoh: Referenced by several notes early in the game as well as by Gil in his tapes. Skeletons inside the pyramid that are much newer than any burial also lend credence to such rumors.

*** The player can now use a camera with unlimited film to capture clues, maps or charts to reference later, saving time and a whole lot of real-world paper from filling pages with copious amount of notes and drawings.