Sophie's World (video game)

Sophie's World is a 1997 educational adventure game developed by The MultiMedia Corporation and published by Voyager. It is an adaptation of the novel Sophie's World by Norwegian writer Jostein Gaarder.^[1]

Sophie's World
Platform(s)	MacOS, Microsoft Windows
Release	1997
Genre(s)	Educational, adventure

Development

The game was developed by a small team of 6-7 core Mac developers and Win32 developers, one lead graphic designer, and producers, as well as contract workers. The scenes, audio, and timelines were collaborated between the departments. Sam Deane created a game engine from scratch to present the scenes. Simon Jenkins wrote the natural language engine for the in-game instant message application. The writing was aided by academics of philosophy to ensure realism and accuracy.^[2]

Plot and gameplay

The player explores concepts in Western philosophy through the eyes of the 14-year-old Sophie. The title contains an in-game encyclopaedic database. The gameplay involves a series of point-and-click scenes interspersed with puzzles and live-action cutscenes.^[3]

Critical reception

Ray Ivey of Just Adventure described it as a "short, imaginative, and altogether delicious excursion."^[1] Quandaryland's Steve Ramsey wrote that while the game only took an hour to complete, he didn't have a desire to stay in the world for longer.^[4]

At the 1997 Bima Awards, the British Interactive Media Association presented the game with a craft award for sound and music.^[5]