The Manhole
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 1988 |
| Founder | Rand Miller, Robyn Miller |
| Headquarters | United States |
| Products | The Manhole, Myst |
The Manhole is an adventure title in which the player uncovers a manhole that reveals an enormous beanstalk ascending to magical realms.
Summary
Originally launched in 1988 on floppy disks by Cyan, Inc. (currently known as Cyan Worlds) through mail-order distribution, a CD-ROM adaptation of the game was produced in 1989 for Activision, based on the initial release. This CD-ROM version was among the pioneering personal computer games offered on this medium. It operated in black-and-white on the Macintosh platform and was developed using the HyperTalk language by brothers Rand and Robyn Miller, the founders of Cyan, who subsequently created the highly successful adventure title Myst. Additionally, versions of The Manhole were made available for both the PC Engine and FM Towns systems.
In 1992, Activision issued a re-release for MS-DOS under the title The Manhole: New and Enhanced, which also included a Windows 3.1 compatible edition. Later, in 1995, Broderbund published The Manhole: CD-ROM Masterpiece Edition, introducing color graphics, musical scores, voice narration, sound effects, and new character additions. All colored visuals were crafted by Cyan artist Chuck Carter utilizing StrataVision 3D. The game was also accessible via GameTap in 2007.
By 2011, The Manhole had become available on various digital distribution services such as GOG.com, iTunes, and within the "Cyan Complete Pack" collection on Steam.
Reception
In its March 1989 issue, Macworld characterized The Manhole as "the first children's software to require a hard disk," commending it for its "authentic sounds, imaginative graphics, and remarkable stack construction." The publication strongly recommended it for young audiences while acknowledging its appeal to users across all age groups who explore its creative environment.
The game earned the 1989 Software Publishers Association Excellence in Software Award in the category of Best New Use of a Computer.
External links
- Articles with short description
- 1988 video games
- Adventure games
- Broderbund games
- Cyan Worlds games
- Activision games
- DOS games
- FM Towns games
- Classic Mac OS games
- ScummVM-supported games
- TurboGrafx-CD games
- Video games about children
- Video games about plants
- Video games scored by Russell Lieblich
- IOS games
- Windows games
- Video games developed in the United States
- Single-player video games