[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cosmicosmocolour.jpg]]
->''"You '''are''' the '''busiest''' alien to ever romp around our humble solar system."''
-->-- Osmo

''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'', where Osmo had a brief cameo, ''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.

The setting is the Osmoian system, home of the quirky, amiable Osmos: aliens with huge feet and round, honkable noses. Your conveyance is a cozy two-room spaceship called the Osmobile, but you can also slip between worlds through [[PortalNetwork a vast network of shortcuts]]. No matter where you end up, the Osmobile's autopilot will have it waiting for you in orbit.

The Millers' next open-ended MediaNotes/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 Platform/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".]]

!! ''Cosmic Osmo'' provides examples of:

* FiveFiveFive: Any phone in the game can be called from any other. All of the numbers start with 555.
* AmbiguouslyHuman: The player character. The Osmos refer to you as "alien". but of course pretty much anything that's not an Osmo would qualify as alien to them, including a human.
* {{Animesque}}: The ''Ship Chip Lander'' cabinet art.
* BabyPlanet
* 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."
* 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]].
--> "Come hither, groovy alien."
* 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''. Senor Osmollo actually has a gun, but it launches a giant swab when fired at the target next to him.
** Hence the band named ''Swabs N' Roses.''
* 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...
* ALongTimeAgoInAGalaxyFarFarAway: It's entirely set in the fictional Osmoian System.
* 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."
%%* PortalPicture
* 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''.
%%* ShootingGallery
* SimpletonVoice: The Osmos are a rather simple folk, and the majority of them have dopey-sounding voices.
* SoreLoser: Professor Osmostein will throw his coffee in your face if you beat him at his game.
* StylisticSuck
--> '''Osmo:''' Now ''this'' is what I call ''gooood television!''
--> (On the screen, another Osmo [[CameraAbuse bangs his head against the camera]] over and over, forever.)
* 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.
* TheVoiceless: Señor Osmollo, the apparent leader of the Osmos, doesn't seem to be much of a talker. If you click on him, he merely salutes without saying a word.
* WelcomeToCorneria: Like with "The Manhole", most of the characters only have one or two phrases they'll repeat whenever you interact with them. Princess Osmorella has slightly more (around four), and Señor Osmollo doesn't say anything at all, he merely salutes you if you click on him.
%%* WideOpenSandbox
* 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.
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