Himalaya Studios is a

video game developer A video game developer is a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large business with em ...

that focuses on

adventure game An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story, driven by exploration and/or puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based m ...

s. The

limited liability company A limited liability company (LLC) is the United States-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of ...

was established in 2004 in

Chandler, Arizona Chandler is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and a suburb in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area, Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is the List of municipalities in Arizona, fourth-most populous city in Arizona ...

by Britney K. Brimhall and Christopher T. Warren. In 2011, it was incorporated as a

C Corporation A C corporation, under Income tax in the United States, United States federal income tax law, is any corporation that is taxed separately from its owners. A C corporation is distinguished from an S corporation, which generally is not taxed separ ...

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

. Himalaya Studios focuses on creating adventure games in the spirit of classic Sierra adventure games, like ''

King's Quest ''King's Quest'' is a graphic adventure game series, released between 1980 and 2016 and created by the American software company Sierra Entertainment. It is widely considered a classic series from the golden era of adventure games. Following ...

'', ''

Space Quest ''Space Quest'' is a series of six comic science fiction adventure games released between 1986 and 1995. The games follow the adventures of a hapless janitor named #Protagonist, Roger Wilco, who campaigns through the galaxy for "truth, justice, ...

'', and ''

Leisure Suit Larry ''Leisure Suit Larry'' is an adult-themed sex comedy video game series created by Al Lowe. Drawing inspiration from '' Softporn Adventure'', the ''Leisure Suit Larry'' series centers on Larry Laffer—a middle-aged man known for his balding ...

''. Founders Brimhall and Warren had originally created

AGD Interactive AGD Interactive (AGDI), limited liability company, LLC. is a non-profit company given a fan license to enhanced remake, remake Sierra Entertainment's popular classic adventure games from the 1980s and early 1990s. History The Company was found ...

, a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

company that is dedicated to updating original Sierra games to a more modern look. The studio's first adventure game, ''

Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman's Mine ''Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman's Mine'' is an adventure game created by Himalaya Studios for the Personal computer, PC. Development ''Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman's Mine'' pays homage to the classic Point and click, point-and-click adventure g ...

'', was released on September 5, 2006. The studio released '' Mage's Initiation: Reign of the Elements'' in 2019. The game received an aggregated score of 70 on

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, indicating mixed or average reviews. Game Critics praised the game's story and worldbuilding, but felt that the combat and mazes were repetitive.

Adventure Gamers ''Adventure Gamers'' is a computer game website created by Marek Bronstring in March 1999 dedicated to the genre of adventure games. It publishes reviews and previews of adventure games, as well as opinion articles and interviews with game de ...

celebrated the game's art, as well as its writing, dialog and voice acting, but criticized its combat and role-playing game mechanics.

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady, and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

was similarly positive about the game's art and story, while criticizing its combat and cinematics. PC Invasion described playing the game as "like discovering a lost Sierra title from the VGA generation," but " its worst, it’s a bit of an uninteresting slog."

Games

References

{{Reflist

External links

Himalaya Studios Website

AGD Interactive
Adventure Game Studio Companies based in Chandler, Arizona Video game companies of the United States Educational institutions established in 2004 2004 establishments in Arizona