The ClueFinders facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The ClueFinders
The members of the ClueFinders team from left-to-right: Leslie, Santiago, Owen, LapTrap (above), and Joni.
Genres	Edutainment, adventure, mystery
Developers	The Learning Company (formerly SoftKey)
Publishers	The Learning Company (1997–1999) Mattel Interactive under The Learning Company label (1999–2000) The Gores Group under The Learning Company label (2000–2001) Riverdeep/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt under The Learning Company label (2001–2018) Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (2018–present)
First release	The ClueFinders 3rd Grade Adventures: The Mystery of Mathra February 3, 1997
Latest release	The ClueFinders: Mystery Mansion Arcade 2002

The ClueFinders is a super fun series of computer games. It's all about a team of teen detectives who solve exciting mysteries! These games help kids aged 8-12 learn important school subjects while having a blast. The series was made by The Learning Company, a company known for making educational software. People really liked The ClueFinders because it mixed learning with adventure so well, and it even won many awards!

The ClueFinders' Journey Through Time

How The ClueFinders Began (1997–2001)

The idea for The ClueFinders came from another popular game series called Reader Rabbit. The first ClueFinders game, The ClueFinders 3rd Grade Adventures: The Mystery of Mathra, came out in 1997. The next year, The ClueFinders 4th Grade Adventures was released.

The Learning Company used these games to try out new technology. Players could download extra activities from the ClueFinders website. The ClueFinders 4th Grade Adventures also had a special feature called A.D.A.P.T. This allowed teachers and parents to see how well players were doing. It also made the game levels harder or easier based on how a player was learning.

In 1997, a big toy company called Mattel bought The Learning Company. Later, Mattel sold off parts of The Learning Company. In 2000, some writers even tried to create a TV show based on The ClueFinders, but it never happened.

In 2001, The Learning Company held a writing contest for kids in 3rd to 6th grade. The winner got a cool new computer for writing a new adventure for the ClueFinders team!

New Adventures with Riverdeep/HMH (2001–2021)

In 2001, another company called Riverdeep bought many of The Learning Company's games, including ClueFinders. These games, along with others like Carmen Sandiego, became available to play online on the KidsEdge Website in 2002.

Later, some of the older ClueFinders games were updated to work on newer computers. You could even stream over 35 ClueFinders games through a special internet service. The company also started selling collections of several ClueFinders games together, like ClueFinders Adventure Pack.

In 2010, some of the 3rd to 6th grade games were even released for iOS devices, like iPhones and iPads! By 2017, the company that owned ClueFinders (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) was looking for other companies to license the brand.

HarperCollins Takes Over (2021–Present)

In 2021, a big book publisher called HarperCollins Publishers bought the rights to all the video games from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This means HarperCollins now owns The ClueFinders series!

Game Design and Story

Meet the ClueFinders Team

It took over a year to create the stories for the ClueFinders games. The adventures usually happen in our real world, but they also include some cool fantasy and science fiction elements.

Here are the main characters:

• Joni Savage: She's the leader and founder of the ClueFinders. Her favorite word is "Wow!" when something amazing happens.
• Santiago Rivera: He's great with machines and loves to figure out how things work.
• Owen Lam: He's a cool skater dude who's part of the team.
• Leslie Clark: She loves books and is very smart with words and stories.
• LapTrap, The Turbo T.U.R.T.L.E.: This is a floating, super-smart laptop! He acts like the pause menu in the game. In one adventure, he even gets a spherical friend named AliTrap.
• Socrates: This intelligent dog is the narrator and mascot in the first two games.

The creators wanted the characters to be about the same age as the players. They tried out different character designs with kids. Some ideas, like animals or FBI agents, didn't work because kids felt they were like babysitters instead of teammates. Each character was given a unique personality and even some small flaws to make them more relatable. The developers had a special chart to help them write, which included details like the characters' fears, how they met, and how they would react to different situations.

Exciting ClueFinders Adventures

The Mystery of Mathra (3rd Grade)

In The ClueFinders 3rd Grade Adventures: The Mystery of Mathra, a huge city was built long ago in a rainforest. But a dragon-like monster named Mathra attacked! After Mathra was caught, the people left their city and hid the key to it. Now, animals are disappearing, and Joni's uncle, Dr. Pythagoras, is also missing. The ClueFinders fly in to help find the doctor, the animals, and the hidden keys. But they soon discover a bigger, secret plot is going on!

Puzzle of the Pyramid (4th Grade)

In The ClueFinders 4th Grade Adventures: Puzzle of the Pyramid, the team is in Egypt at an ancient dig site. Joni finds a mysterious ring that gets stuck on her finger! Later, a bad guy named Alistair Loveless kidnaps Professor Botch and steals valuable artifacts. Loveless wants to unleash an ancient Egyptian god of chaos. The ClueFinders must get the artifacts back, save the professor, and stop Loveless from causing trouble.

Secret of the Living Volcano (5th Grade)

In The ClueFinders 5th Grade Adventures: Secret of the Living Volcano, the ClueFinders join Leslie's grandfather, Captain Clark, to find out why ships are vanishing in the Pacific Ocean. Joni and Santiago find strange symbols on metal plaques in a wrecked ship. Suddenly, a huge wave hits their ship near a tiny island! Joni, Santiago, and LapTrap are stranded. They must rescue their friends, find Captain Clark, and discover what's happening on the island.

The Empire of the Plant People (6th Grade)

In The ClueFinders 6th Grade Adventures: The Empire of the Plant People, Joni accidentally throws a frisbee into their neighbor Miss Rose's overgrown yard. When Joni and Santiago go to get it, the ground opens up and swallows them! Owen, Leslie, and LapTrap investigate and find a maze under the yard filled with talking plants. They learn that the plants have captured Joni and Santiago and are planning to attack the town!

Mystery in the Himalayas (Math Adventures)

In The ClueFinders Math Adventures Ages 9–12: Mystery in the Himalayas, 24 valuable treasures are stolen from a village high in the Himalayas. The ClueFinders are called to help find the treasures and the thief. Many people think a Yeti did it, but the clues point to different people being responsible for each stolen item. The team must use their math skills to solve the mystery!

Mystery of the Missing Amulet (Reading Adventures)

In The ClueFinders Reading Adventures: Mystery of the Missing Amulet, an asteroid crashes in the Sierra Mountains. The ClueFinders touch it and are beamed across space to the planet Millenia! Joni and Owen meet Princess Malveera, who needs their help to save her planet from an evil sorceress named Malicia. Malicia has captured Santiago and Leslie. To stop her and return to Earth, they must find the two halves of a special Amulet.

The Phantom Amusement Park (Search and Solve)

In ClueFinders Search and Solve Adventures: The Phantom Amusement Park, the ClueFinders see an SOS signal from an abandoned amusement park. They find Jacques Ramone, an art museum curator, trapped on a ride. He says he was kidnapped but doesn't know why. After Joni and Owen rescue him, Santiago and Leslie are captured by Jacques's sister, Mimi Ramone. The team investigates and finds clues that an art forgery crime is happening!

The Incredible Toy Store Adventure!

In The ClueFinders: The Incredible Toy Store Adventure!, the team is heading to a new toy store. Owen, Joni, and LapTrap go to get Owen's wallet, while Leslie, Santiago, and AliTrap go inside. But they get hit by a shrinking ray and captured! They escape and realize they're tiny. They contact Owen, Joni, and LapTrap, who must now get into the store, build a machine to un-shrink them, and catch the person responsible. They discover an employee named Pericles Lear has stolen a shrink ray and is shrinking landmarks around town!

Mystery Mansion Arcade

In The ClueFinders: Mystery Mansion Arcade, the ClueFinders explore a spooky house. They thought Joni's uncle sent a distress email, but it's a trap! Four of their old enemies—Fletcher Limburger, Alistair Loveless, Pericles Lear, and Miss Rose—have teamed up with a mysterious new ally. They created the trap to get revenge on the ClueFinders.

How the Games Work

Playing the Game

The ClueFinders games are designed to help players practice different school subjects. You can choose to play the main adventure story or practice specific activities outside the story. If you pick the adventure, you'll get a mission and a goal. Most of the game involves moving between different areas, each with educational activities. You need to play these games to move forward. Often, you'll need to collect items from smaller activities to unlock a main activity in an area.

In most games, the ClueFinders split into two teams. They use a special red videophone to talk to each other and get hints. One team might be helping, looking for clues, or even needing rescue! The games have different activities in different areas, each focusing on a specific skill. You might also notice some funny references to popular culture in the games.

Arcade Fun and Math Mysteries

The ClueFinders: Mystery Mansion Arcade is a bit different. Its activities are more like arcade games than traditional educational ones. It has obstacle courses, matching games, mazes, and pinball.

In The ClueFinders Math Adventures, the game is like the board game Clue. Your main goal is to figure out three things: who stole the treasure, which treasure they took, and where they hid it. You get clues by playing games and helping villagers. As you get more clues, you narrow down the possibilities until you find the right answer. You win when all 24 treasures are returned!

Graphics and Learning Goals

The Look of the Games

The games use 2D computer graphics that look like hand-drawn animated cartoons. The characters have thick outlines and bright colors, similar to a Saturday morning cartoon or even Scooby-Doo. However, the special movie scenes (called cutscenes) use cool pre-rendered 3D graphics.

What You Learn

While Reader Rabbit was popular with younger kids, The Learning Company created ClueFinders to appeal to older kids, from third grade and up. The games were made to match how kids at this age think. They focus on activities and cover many different school subjects, like algebra, grammar, and spelling. To make sure kids really learned, the educational content was always the most important part, even before the puzzles and gameplay.

Games in the Series

List of Games

Game Collections

Books

There are also two ClueFinders books! They are called The Mystery of Microsneezia and The Mystery of the Backlot Banshee. Both were written by Ellen Weiss and had pictures by Mel Friedman.