I.M. Meen

Animation Magic

Industry	Video game development
Headquarters	United States
Products	I.M. Meen, Link: The Faces of Evil, Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon

I.M. Meen is a 1995 fantasy-themed educational game developed for DOS, aimed at teaching children grammar. The storyline centers on Ignatius Mortimer Meen, a "diabolical librarian" antagonist who imprisons young readers within a magical maze teeming with monsters and enchantments.

Players’ objective is to escape the maze and liberate other captive children by "shooting spiders and similar monsters" while identifying grammatical mistakes in scrolls authored by Meen.

Created by the Russian-American developer Animation Magic, recognized for animating the CD-i games Link: The Faces of Evil and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon, this title merges educational material with first-person shooter mechanics.

Plot

Ignatius Mortimer Meen, a malevolent sorcerer who detests children and education, employs a magical tome to imprison children inside an extensive labyrinth guarded by fearsome beasts. Two captives, Scott and Katie, are freed by Gnorris, a gnome servant of Meen who turns against him. Entrusted with the mission to save the remaining children, Scott and Katie traverse the labyrinth, defeat Meen’s creatures, and weaken the maze’s hold. Ultimately, they confront Meen using Writewell's Book of Better Grammar concealed within the labyrinth. Although defeated, Meen escapes and vows retaliation as the game ends.

Gameplay

Comprising 36 stages spread over nine diverse environments—including towers, dungeons, sewers, caves, catacombs, hedge mazes, castles, laboratories, and libraries—players must rescue all trapped children on each level by correcting grammatical errors found in scrolls to advance. Every fourth stage features a boss battle against one of I.M. Meen’s unique pets, which must be overcome to unlock new areas. Various items discovered throughout the labyrinth aid players in battling foes and solving obstacles. An Agility Meter acts as a health indicator; depletion results in restarting the level and forfeiting collected items.

Reception

The Contra Costa Times lauded the game as "the first computer game for young children to use the same fast 3-D graphics found in Doom" while emphasizing its educational focus. Brad Cook from Allgame praised its visual and audio quality and acknowledged its competent development for its era but awarded it two out of five stars, criticizing its inability to effectively fulfill its educational objectives despite strong production values.

Legacy

The 1996 follow-up, Chill Manor, revolves around Ophelia Chill—believed to be I.M. Meen’s wife—who takes possession of the Book of Ages and alters history by removing pages. By the game's conclusion, Meen rescues Ophelia. Alongside titles like Sonic's Schoolhouse and 3D Dinosaur Adventure: Save the Dinosaurs, I.M. Meen has been referenced as an inspiration for the indie game Baldi's Basics in Education and Learning due to its unique and unsettling aesthetic.

Starting around 2007, animated sequences from I.M. Meen gained popularity as material for YouTube Poops, joining other Animation Magic cutscenes from games such as Hotel Mario, Link: The Faces of Evil, and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon.

External links

• I.M. Meen available at the Internet Archive