By Dale Farris, Secretary
Golden Triangle PC Club
April 2002

Game Overview

In this second super program in TIVOLA's Quest for Knowledge series (the first was Physicus), players enter a strange alpine world in the far future, and have to figure out how to produce an antibiotic to save a curious scientist that has
fallen victim to germs circulated by evil robots in
a mysterious laboratory called Bioscopia.

Bioscopia brings together elements of a great simulation game with a fascinating storyline. With the added challenges of learning and using science, players experience a game that provides more than merely a chance to reach a high score.

Trapped in Bioscopia, an abandoned biological research station, the young researcher enters a door and awakens the laboratory's long-dormant robots that quickly begin pumping poisonous gas throughout the lab. Time is running out. You must find and save her! But, it won't be easy. You will need to use principles of human biology, cell biology, genetics, botany, and zoology to solve the puzzles that unlock the doors leading to the trapped researcher.

Deductive ability and skill are required to meet the challenge. You must free the girl from her hiding place, while learning many exciting facts from the world of biology. Learn as you play, and biology becomes the adventure.

Game Features

Myst-like adventure game that is challenging but not impossible
Beautiful graphics and design
Many science based puzzles
Science database (The Big Brain) teaches these principles
Players work through the game while learning the scientific facts
Very intriguing, unique storyline
Classic adventure game genre features
Save the game anywhere anytime
Visually stunning and a delight to play
First-person perspective
Very impressive background display
Classic point-and-click interface to work the game
Beautifully drawn backgrounds

Story Line

Set in the far future, the lab Bioscopia was used to conduct biological research, experiments, and trials with artificial intelligence robots. Disaster struck the lab when experiments got out of hand and the robots turned evil. The lab was disabled, abandoned, and forgotten.

Years later, the curious and naive young scientist finds her way into Bioscopia, but she is unaware of the dangers that await her within the lab. Upon entering, she activates the long dormant robots and falls victim to the germs thy circulate that are intended to infect and kill her. As the player, it is up to you to figure out how to produce the antibiotic that can save her, and rescue her from Bioscopia's labyrinth of rooms and towers.

Game Play

Bioscopia succeeds in continuing the unique qualities in this Quest for Knowledge series first established in the Physicus game. Like Physicus, Bioscopia captures the winning formula of combining addictive entertainment with intellectual delight. (Click here for a review of Physicus.)

As you play, you frequently run across the Big Brain. This is the biological database that appears during strategic gameplay moments to assist you in obtaining the scientific knowledge needed to solve the secrets of Bioscopia. This part of the game is where the science is marvelously integrated into gameplay. In order to overcome many game challenges, you will need to answer questions about human biology, cell biology, genetics, zoology, and botany. The brain provides you with well designed animation and graphics that explain the various fields of science that form the basis of the work that goes on in the lab.

Playing Bioscopia involves many classic adventure game genre features. These include a typical slideshow screen layout, moving around by pointing and clicking the mouse, picking up objects for storage, moving objects from an inventory to their appropriate place, and of course, going all over the many areas in the game to get objects that have to be brought back to other areas.

The adventure game component of Bioscopia could alone have been the targeted selling point, but the approach by this super "infotainment" company, TIVOLA, means gamers will also learn a lot as they struggle to complete this very impressive adventure game.

You move about totally controlled by the mouse, and its shape changes depending on whether you are moving forward, backward, turning left or right, or picking up objects or placing objects in their correct place. The inventory of objects is cleverly designed to seamlessly integrate into the game.

The layout and design of the many screens, while not offering any panning capability, are visually quite stunning, and evocative of what many gamers have experienced in other well known adventure games, such as Myst, or The Longest Journey. There is also no full-motion movement.

TIVOLA has not scrimped anywhere in the design of this game, and this is a nice surprise, especially when you think the game might suffer because it is primarily designed as a means of teaching about science. However, TIVOLA accomplishes a very difficult feat, by producing a great adventure game that happens to also be filled with educational value.

Game Design

Bioscopia has an abundance of all sorts of areas you have to go in the game that really are impressive. This super layout of the many places in the game really displays the work of the developers and is an impressive part of the game. These scenes are impressive works of art and clearly show the commitment by the coders to producing a colorful, richly detailed environment, all helping to enhance the game play experience.

The backgrounds are beautiful, and very impressive, conveying this imaginary world so well that you begin to believe it actually exists. This is a testament to the coders and the designers that obviously labored very hard for many long hours to attend to the meticulous detail that all adds up to a very impressive appearance.

I also think the game is a wonderful educational tool that has definite merit in middle school science classes. While the game play and puzzle solving can be completed with classic adventure gaming approaches, the many files about the sciences of human biology, cell biology, genetics, zoology, and botany all definitely have value by themselves as teaching aides. These educational files are also well integrated into playing the game.

As you come across the Big Brain, this is a clue that you will need this knowledge in order to advance the game. The attention to the design of this scientific information is very impressive, and represents the best approach to "infotainment" you will find in any other comparable game. The genius behind this adventure game is the focus on making sure that the scientific principles are soundly built into the puzzle solving.

The complexity of the puzzle solving has been designed to challenge even the most experienced adventure gamers. While there are no deviously designed, or very short timed puzzles, there are enough difficult puzzles that I suspect many gamers might want to seriously consider getting the walkthrough hints from the TIVOLA web site.

Educational Value

This marvelous science education program succeeds in incorporating science substance in the playing of a typical adventure game. In addition, the game presents numerous informative files that provide an interactive approach to learning all about human biology, cell biology, genetics, zoology, and botany. These scientific files are alone worth the investment in this super game.

Bioscopia is a super combination of interactive learning about science and an equally super adventure game. The adventure game is as good as most now on the market, and is not by any standard "easy" to solve. The puzzle solving and riddle deciphering are as good as you see in most all adventure games, and this means that savvy adventure gamers will find a challenge in this game that they might otherwise have thought was "easy."

Targeted Customers

Bioscopia, TIVOLA's marvelous game of science that is wrapped up in a super adventure game, may be targeted toward children, but after playing the game, I can attest to the fun that all adventure gamers likely will have with the game. While it is not the most complex of all adventure games, and certainly not the most difficult to complete, nevertheless the game is filled with enough challenging puzzle solving that I suspect even experienced adventure gamers will like this one.

Bioscopia is as good as any adventure game now on the market, meaning that you will indeed run across many, many areas that present puzzles to solve, objects to find and take back to other areas in order to open up other areas, that then offer still more objects that relate to other areas.

This is a classic adventure game feature, requiring the gamer to be on their toes and to remember a lot as they have to go literally everywhere in the game to find out what's in store in all these various screens, and then begin to put these many pieces together to make sense.

Age Group

Although the game box states the game is relevant for ages 10 to 102, I think some 10-year olds may have some difficulty solving the many well-designed puzzles in the game. Although the puzzles are indeed built on solid scientific principles and are not impossible to figure out, nevertheless the Myst-like design and approach of the game means you have to go all over the game environment, remember what you find and take notes about the revealed information, pick up and then use various objects that are essential to opening other areas of the game, and be clever enough to decipher the cryptic messages and notes you find along the way.

I also think most all adults will enjoy playing this game, and I suggest that adults strongly consider playing along with younger gamers to help them if they get "stuck." While these puzzles are not the most devious or most difficult I've ever run across in the many other adventure games I've played over the years, I do think some folks might experience frustration with not being able to solve some of the puzzles or open some of the doors. Thankfully, TIVOLA offers at their web site (see below) a fully developed series of hints that together make up a nice walkthrough guide that can help overcome the more difficult spots, thus enabling you to complete the game and fully experience all the many beautiful areas that make up this rich game environment.

Some adults may find the game a challenge. The scenario of Bioscopia involves having to find many items that are essential in opening up other areas of the game. You have a neat inventory storage device, and if the correct item is placed in the correct location, the game action will continue. This part is where I think adults may need to help younger players.

In other adventure games, a particular mouse shape will pop up when you move the mouse pointer over various parts of the game. This is a clue that you will need to do something here, find something to pick up, or place an already found object here. In Bioscopia, with none of these cursor shapes, you have to work a little more harder in finding the right object that may be required in order to open doors, or use objects in other places. Thankfully, TIVOLA provides a link (the Hotline link in the bottom of their site) to the walkthrough that will help you complete the game.

Install and Setup

The installation and setup presented no difficulties on my machine. You just let the auto install routine load the game onto your hard drive, from disc 1, and you play the game with disc 2 in the CD ROM drive.

Price

$19.99 (super bargain!)
2-disk game

Minimum System Configuration Requirements

Personal Computer
P-166 processor or higher
Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP
64MB RAM
120 MB free hard disc space
SVGA graphics card (16-bit)
Sound card
8x CD-ROM drive

Mac Machines
PowerPC
MAC OS 8.1 or higher
64MB RAM
120 MB free hard disc space
Graphics card (32,768 colors)
Sound card
8x CD-ROM drive

At the time of this writing, no patches for this game had been released, and very likely, none will be needed.

Not requiring a 3d graphics accelerator card, and needing a minimally powered CPU means this game is playable on many more systems, a wise move on the part of TIVOLA. While it is true that more newer systems either come with or are being customized with newer, 32MB or 64MB 3dfx video boards and high-end, 3d audio boards, driven in part by the high-end requirements of many computer games, in fact I suspect there are many more legacy systems still working that will likely be fine for this game.

The above system configuration requirements indicate the minimum and recommended system configuration requirements, and as any experienced gamer knows, if at all possible, you just don't ever want to load and run any computer game on minimally configured systems. Computer games are notorious for taking over machines, and this is why users will need to be sure and close out all their other open files, before playing this and any computer game. However, in the case of this TIVOLA title, I think we have an example of a computer program for children that will actually very likely play just fine even on a minimally configured system.

About TIVOLA

TIVOLA Publishing creates and publishes a wide range of award-winning multimedia products designed to open up a world of interactive fun and learning to children and young people. The German based company has offices in New York, London, and Berlin, and produces a wide range of innovative interactive CD ROMs that stimulate a child's curiosity, while encouraging smart play. In 1995, TIVOLA published its first title, and has developed six distinct categories of software.

These include Play and Learn, The World Around Us, Quest for Knowledge, Stories and Adventures, Crimes and Clues, and Games for Fun. The company has a commitment to producing high-quality, multilingual CD ROMs that tell exciting, entertaining stories through beautiful graphics, witty animation and original games. TIVOLA titles are currently in more than 49 countries worldwide.

TIVOLA began in 1995, when founding partners, Karsten Voelker, Mil Thierig, and Barbara Landbeck founded the Berlin office to fill the need for original CD ROM games that are clever but also promote learning. In 2000, TIVOLA was named "Company of the Year" by the Berlin Association of Self-Employed Entrepreneurs, who recognized the company's fast development into an internationally successful multimedia company with an innovative brand building strategy.

The TIVOLA UK offices opened in 1998, and with the launch of 10 new titles in 2001, the company continues to grow in the UK children's software publishing market. The TIVOLA US offices opened in 1999, and the company signed a contract with the Navarre Corporation to distribute their products in the US and Canada. 

The company develops books and story games on CD ROM, and all titles are simultaneously produced in English so that they can be understood by potential international licensees. The software is also produced for the PC and the Apple platform.

TIVOLA also buys and sells license for different products. For these purposes, the company has developed optimal localization standards. With this new system, TIVOLA titles are obtainable in countries all over the world.

The TIVOLA line of CD ROM programs are products parents can depend on to provide a fun and educational computer experience for their children. Teachers can also feel secure in integrating the educational lineup of TIVOLA products into their curriculum, especially those teaching entry level classes. TIVOLA's series of learning CD ROMs for children that include the many Oscar the Balloonist titles, the many Max adventures, the super Physicus science-based program, and of course The Little Prince, all assure a solid worthwhile computer experience for all ages, especially young learners.

With the worldwide notoriety of TIVOLA products, the company has also ventured into a new online interactive arena. Companies can now rent online games from TIVOLA to make available at their Web site for their own customers. This new portfolio of online games for rent expands still further the success of the company.

Contact Information

TIVOLA Publishing
580 Broadway, Suite 604
New York, NY 10012
212-431-4420
FAX 212-431-4537
www.tivola.com
mail@tivola.com

You can also order from other retailers or online vendors.