It's another normal day for the ClueFinders when they're zapped to the faraway planet Millennia. Joni, Owen, and LapTrap materialize in the court of young Princess Malveera, with whom Owen quickly becomes smitten. Meanwhile, Leslie and Santiago find themselves prisoners of the evil sorceress Malicia. Malveera sends Joni, Owen, and LapTrap on a quest to find and reunite the two halves of the Amulet of Life, which she says will enable them to rescue their friends.
The first half of the amulet is hidden in the Crystal Caverns, the realm of the rugged Doldreks, while the second half is in the Mystic Mountains, the realm of the erudite Sorrens. In both areas, recovering half of the amulet requires the usual Fetch Quest. First, you collect the fuel that will allow you to run the machines, and then you use the machines to earn the clues that will lead you to the amulet half. Once you've reunited the amulet, you must journey to the top of the volcanic Mount Valdrok, where Leslie and Santiago are being held. There, you'll defeat Malicia and save the planet Millennia from her wicked magic.
For reasons unknown, this game was discontinued just a year or so after its release. It was later re-released as a bonus disc under the shortened title The ClueFinders: Mystery of the Missing Amulet.
This game provides examples of:
- Alien Sky: The first clue that the ClueFinders are on another planet is that there are three suns in the sky. Additionally, some of the word puzzles mention that Millennia has two moons.
- Aliens Speaking English: On Millennia, all the speaking and writing is in English. Of course, this is a language arts game, so it would be kind of a problem if the writing wasn't in English.
- And I Must Scream: Malicia's fate is to be trapped inside the amulet, which the kids then bury.
- Anti-Frustration Features: In the gates of Mount Valdrok allow you to guess nonsense words with the express purpose of confirming or eliminating letter(s).
- Attack Reflector: It's a good thing the group keeps LapTrap polished; his reflective underside is as good as a mirror at blocking magic.
- Breaking Out: When the bricks are hit, they spawn words, and you have to zap the one that correctly fills in the sentence at the top of the screen. Math Adventures features a similar version of this, in which you have to shoot the correct numbers instead of the correct words.
- The Cameo: Socrates appears in the final scene of the game digging a hole to bury the amulet that Malicia is trapped in.
- Captain Ersatz: Some of the "Rock Muncher" stories are just Earth stories with altered names. For example, one is about "Promathar" disobeying his father "Zerus." Another describes flying machines being invented by "Evlolir" and "Ruwbil," which are anagrams of "Orville" and "Wilbur".
- Chekhov's Gun: The opening of the game has Owen combing his hair while using LapTrap as a mirror. He is smart to utilize this in order to block Malicia's magic ray.
- Convection, Schmonvection: When she kidnaps them, Malicia keeps Leslie and Santiago imprisoned in a cage over a lava pit. They're just fine afterward.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: The kids are told to throw a magical amulet into a volcano, for only then could it be destroyed.
- Double Take: About the LittleTraps:Owen: They're like miniature versions of you, LapTrap, only without the attitude.
LapTrap: Yes, they're just like — without the what?! - Elves Versus Dwarves: The Sorrens and Doldreks, respectively.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Just as Malicia uses the power of the amulet to strike the Cluefinders, Owen remembers how LapTrap has a reflective surface and uses it to bounce the attack back to her.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: After getting the second half of the amulet, Malveera appears, having dropped from the sky by a gargoyle monster. The look she has on her face does not look like a relieved kind princess...
- Foreshadowing: Upon finding a mural of the princess, Joni notes that it makes Malveera look malicious. Because the mural isn't about Malveera but actually Malicia.
- God Save Us from the Queen!: Malicia is never explicitly identified as a queen, but several of the sentences that describe life on Millennia mention "the Queen" and characterize her in fairly villainous terms, so they're probably talking about Malicia there.
- Green Aesop: Some of the "Rock Muncher" stories drive home the point that the Doldreks and the Sorrens both love the environment, but Malicia hates it because she's the bad guy and whatnot.
- Hero's Muse: A Deconstructed Trope. Owen is Wrong Genre Savvy and looks to Princess Malveera this way for most of the game. Over the course of the game, Joni gradually realizes that there is something up with the Princess, but Owen refuses to see it until it's revealed that she was the Big Bad all along.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: That amulet Malicia really wanted? Now she's stuck with it—or rather, inside it. Forever.
- Impossible Hourglass Figure: Malveera has one impressively tiny waist. As Malicia, her waist is normal.
- Immortality Seeker: Malicia wants the Amulet of Life in order to achieve immortality.
- Morphic Resonance: In her disguise as Princess Malveera, Malicia retains her blonde hair and green eyes. However, said eyes are normal human eyes with green pupils when she's Malveera, but they turn into glowing green eyes without pupils when she's Malicia. Also, her blonde hair is a more golden shade when she's Malveera.
- Omnicidal Maniac: Malicia. As you might expect, she's completely bonkers.
- Our Dwarves Are All the Same: The Doldreks are standard dwarves in all but name. They're stout, bearded, and live in underground mines.
- Planetary Romance: Reading Adventures takes place in this genre, with the setting being an alien planet oriented much more towards fantasy than sci-fi.
- Planetville: The planet of Millennia seems to consist of Malveera's castle, the Crystal Caverns, the Mystic Mountains, and Mount Valdrok. At least, those are the only places the ClueFinders ever visit, and it seems to be enough to free the entire planet from Malicia. And Malveera says Mount Valdrok is "at the other side of my kingdom" while otherwise talking about the planet as though she rules the whole thing.
- Princess Classic: The alien princess is both this and The Aloner, though she's holding up comparatively well. For a reason: she's the villain in disguise, trying to take advantage of the Macguffin Delivery Service.
- Properly Paranoid: Throughout the entire story, Joni keeps sensing that Malveera isn't what she seems. And she's absolutely correct.
- Sacrificial Planet: The game's eponymous MacGuffin, the Amulet of Life, was responsible for completely reducing the planet Millennia into a dying wasteland. At the end of the game, the evil sorceress Malicia says that once she finishes off Millennia with the Amulet, she's going to drain life from the Cluefinders' home planet, Earth, next.
- Shapeshifting Excludes Clothing: When Malicia drops the princess disguise and transforms into her true self, the only change to her clothing is that her dress becomes tattered, presumably because it no longer fits her.
- Trial-and-Error Gameplay: Invoked with the Gates of Mount Valdrok challenge. Your goal is to guess the password, but you are given absolutely zero hints as to what it might be at first - only once you make a guess can you tell how many letters are correct, or correct but in the wrong places. This is justifiable though - in that the entire point is also to teach the player how to develop and test hypotheses.
- Two Aliases, One Character: Malveera is revealed to be the evil queen Malicia.
- True Blue Femininity: Malveera looks quite dainty in her blue dress and cape. Less so when she's Malicia.
- Xanatos Speed Chess: Malicia tricked Joni and Owen into assembling the Amulet of Life for her, then when she tried to grab the completed amulet from them, got the wrong one, but she fortunately already had Leslie and Santiago imprisoned in her mountain so naturally, Joni and Owen would walk right on up and bring the amulet to her anyways to rescue their friends.
