<s>
Mystery	B-Application
House	I-Application
is	O
an	O
adventure	B-Application
game	O
released	O
by	O
On-Line	O
Systems	O
in	O
1980	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
designed	O
,	O
written	O
and	O
illustrated	O
by	O
Roberta	O
Williams	O
,	O
and	O
programmed	O
by	O
Ken	O
Williams	O
for	O
the	O
Apple	B-Device
II	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mystery	B-Application
House	I-Application
is	O
the	O
first	O
graphical	O
adventure	B-Application
game	O
and	O
the	O
first	O
game	O
produced	O
by	O
On-Line	O
Systems	O
,	O
the	O
company	O
which	O
would	O
evolve	O
into	O
Sierra	O
On-Line	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
the	O
1970s	O
,	O
Ken	O
Williams	O
sought	O
to	O
set	O
up	O
a	O
company	O
for	O
enterprise	O
software	O
for	O
the	O
market-dominating	O
Apple	B-Device
II	I-Device
computer	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Looking	O
through	O
a	O
catalog	O
,	O
he	O
found	O
a	O
game	O
called	O
Colossal	B-Application
Cave	I-Application
Adventure	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Roberta	O
decided	O
that	O
she	O
could	O
write	O
her	O
own	O
,	O
and	O
conceived	O
of	O
the	O
plot	O
for	O
Mystery	B-Application
House	I-Application
,	O
taking	O
inspiration	O
from	O
Agatha	B-Application
Christie	I-Application
's	O
novel	O
And	B-Application
Then	I-Application
There	I-Application
Were	I-Application
None	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
She	O
was	O
also	O
inspired	O
by	O
the	O
board	O
game	O
Clue	B-Application
,	O
which	O
helped	O
to	O
break	O
her	O
out	O
from	O
a	O
linear	O
structure	O
to	O
the	O
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ken	O
agreed	O
and	O
borrowed	O
his	O
brother	O
's	O
Apple	B-Device
II	I-Device
computer	I-Device
to	O
write	O
the	O
game	O
on	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ken	O
found	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
that	O
the	O
resulting	O
digital	O
drawings	O
were	O
too	O
large	O
to	O
fit	O
into	O
a	O
5¼-inch	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
,	O
so	O
he	O
devised	O
a	O
way	O
to	O
convert	O
the	O
images	O
into	O
coordinates	O
and	O
instructions	O
for	O
the	O
program	O
to	O
redraw	O
the	O
lines	O
of	O
the	O
scenes	O
rather	O
than	O
static	O
images	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
writing	O
a	O
better	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
VersaWriter	O
scanning	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
resulting	O
game	O
is	O
a	O
text-based	O
adventure	B-Application
with	O
a	O
depiction	O
of	O
the	O
character	O
's	O
location	O
displayed	O
above	O
the	O
text	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
's	O
code	O
was	O
completed	O
in	O
only	O
a	O
few	O
days	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
finished	O
on	O
May	O
5	O
,	O
1980	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
couple	O
took	O
out	O
an	O
advertisement	O
in	O
Micro	O
magazine	O
as	O
On-Line	O
Systems	O
,	O
and	O
mass-produced	O
Ziploc	O
bags	O
containing	O
a	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
and	O
a	O
sheet	O
of	O
instructions	O
,	O
to	O
be	O
sold	O
at	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Including	O
its	O
1982	O
rerelease	O
through	O
the	O
SierraVenture	O
line	O
,	O
80,000	O
units	O
were	O
eventually	O
sold	O
worldwide	O
,	O
making	O
it	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
best-selling	B-Application
computer	I-Application
games	I-Application
at	O
the	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mark	O
Marlow	O
reviewed	O
Mission	O
:	O
Asteroid	O
,	O
Mystery	B-Application
House	I-Application
,	O
and	O
The	B-Application
Wizard	I-Application
and	I-Application
the	I-Application
Princess	I-Application
for	O
Computer	O
Gaming	O
World	O
,	O
and	O
stated	O
that	O
"	O
Mystery	B-Application
House	I-Application
is	O
considerably	O
more	O
difficult	O
and	O
provides	O
many	O
traps	O
for	O
the	O
unwary	O
in	O
a	O
wonderfully	O
Victorian	O
setting.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
GamePro	O
named	O
Mystery	B-Application
House	I-Application
the	O
51st	O
most	O
important	O
game	O
of	O
all	O
time	O
in	O
2007	O
,	O
for	O
introducing	O
a	O
visual	O
component	O
to	O
adventure	B-Application
games	O
and	O
for	O
featuring	O
graphics	O
at	O
a	O
time	O
when	O
most	O
computer	O
games	O
did	O
not	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Though	O
the	O
game	O
is	O
often	O
considered	O
the	O
first	O
adventure	B-Application
game	O
to	O
use	O
graphics	O
,	O
dungeon	O
crawl	O
role-playing	O
video	O
games	O
had	O
already	O
been	O
using	O
graphics	O
prior	O
to	O
its	O
release	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Applying	O
graphics	O
to	O
an	O
adventure	B-Application
game	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
was	O
unprecedented	O
as	O
previous	O
story-based	O
adventure	B-Application
games	O
were	O
entirely	O
text-based	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mystery	B-Application
Houses	I-Application
success	O
led	O
the	O
Williams	O
to	O
create	O
the	O
Hi-Res	O
Adventures	B-Application
series	O
,	O
and	O
note	O
the	O
game	O
as	O
Hi-Res	O
Adventure	B-Application
#1	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
the	O
follow-on	O
success	O
of	O
their	O
next	O
game	O
,	O
Wizard	B-Application
and	I-Application
the	I-Application
Princess	I-Application
,	O
the	O
pair	O
moved	O
into	O
game	O
development	O
full-time	O
,	O
and	O
On-Line	O
Systems	O
was	O
incorporated	O
in	O
1980	B-Application
as	O
Sierra	O
On-Line	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Japan	O
,	O
several	O
different	O
adventure	B-Application
games	O
under	O
the	O
title	O
Mystery	B-Application
House	I-Application
were	O
released	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1982	O
,	O
MicroCabin	O
released	O
Mystery	B-Application
House	I-Application
,	O
which	O
was	O
unrelated	O
to	O
(	O
but	O
inspired	O
by	O
)	O
the	O
On-Line	O
Systems	O
game	O
of	O
the	O
same	O
name	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
following	O
year	O
,	O
the	O
Japanese	O
company	O
Starcraft	O
released	O
an	O
enhanced	O
remake	O
of	O
On-Line	O
Systems	O
 '	O
Mystery	B-Application
House	I-Application
with	O
more	O
realistic	O
art	O
work	O
and	O
depiction	O
of	O
blood	O
,	O
for	O
the	O
NEC	B-Device
PC-6001	I-Device
and	O
PC-8801	B-Device
,	O
while	O
Mystery	B-Application
House	I-Application
II	O
for	O
the	O
MSX	B-Operating_System
was	O
released	O
as	O
a	O
sequel	O
to	O
MicroCabin	O
's	O
Mystery	B-Application
House	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Japanese	O
versions	O
of	O
Mystery	B-Application
House	I-Application
had	O
sales	O
of	O
50,000	O
units	O
,	O
including	O
30,000	O
copies	O
on	O
the	O
MSX	B-Operating_System
and	O
20,000	O
copies	O
on	O
the	O
PC-6001	B-Device
,	O
PC-8001	O
,	O
PC-8801	B-Device
,	O
PC-9801	B-Operating_System
,	O
FM-7	B-Device
,	O
and	O
X1	B-Device
computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mystery	B-Application
House	I-Application
was	O
satirized	O
in	O
the	O
1982	O
adventure	B-Application
game	O
Prisoner	B-Application
2	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Elements	O
from	O
the	O
game	O
were	O
later	O
reintroduced	O
in	O
the	O
Sierra	O
On-Line	O
game	O
The	B-Application
Colonel	I-Application
's	I-Application
Bequest	I-Application
in	O
1989	O
.	O
</s>
