PODD

Award-winning show National Geographic Channel’s Explorer released in June a new flash game called National Geographic Explorer: Contraband Mystery. Just six days after its release on www.gamehouse.com, it reached the 12th spot of the Top 100 games.

GameHouse is a top casual game developer, publisher, distributor, and online portal. It picks the Top 100 from the hundreds of games according to technical standards such as game design and development, as well as entertainment value.

National Geographic’s newest game stays true to tradition, giving players a taste of how an actual Nat Geo documentary is produced.  The storyline, based on real Nat Geo Explorer documentaries, follows the player as he or she interviews sources to put together three episodes for the show. Players are taken to different locations for each investigative mission: the lush Central African rainforest for the Gorillas episode, to the rich diamond mines of Southern Africa for the Diamonds episode, and the busy urban jungle of the United States for the Drugs episode. All three missions explore different issues but are connected through a mysterious group engaged in contraband smuggling.

Although it is classified under the Hidden Object game category, Contraband Mystery also features different variations of Spot the Difference, Jumble (a puzzle game), Quiz games, and a bonus game called Catch the Falling Objects. All throughout the game, players are also given several facts and figures that remind them of National Geographic’s advocacy to promote environmental awareness and scientific study. Clearly the game’s main objective is to both entertain and educate its players.

The game is a product of the collaborative efforts of three companies: National Geographic Channel: Explorer, Action Games, and Philippine Offshore Design and Development Corporation (PODD). It was developed and released to coincide with Nat Geo Explorer’s anniversary last May.

Both trial and full versions of the game is now available for download at National Geographic’s website and on different game portals like Big Fish and of course, GameHouse.