Pimania
Encyclopedia
Pimania is a text-and-graphics adventure game
released by Automata UK
in 1982 for the BBC Micro
, ZX Spectrum
, Dragon 32, and ZX81
computers. The player negotiates a surreal landscape with the aid of the mysterious Pi-Man, Automata's mascot. The B side of the game cassette features a bizarre Pimania song played on a VL-Tone and vocals. The Pi-Man also stars in his own long-running, surreal, comic-strip, soap opera in the company's adverts on the back page of Popular Computing Weekly
magazine and appears in several subsequent games of different kinds. The catch-phrase for the game's adverts was "There's no blood in our games, it's Automata sauce".
Automata gave a prize of a golden sundial worth £6,000 for the first person to solve the various cryptic clues to its location that were hidden within Pimania. The sundial was eventually won in 1985 by Sue Cooper and Lizi Newman, who correctly worked out that it could only be found on July 22 (because Pi
is sometimes rounded to 22/7) at the chalk horse at Hindover Hill near Litlington
, East Sussex
.
In 2010 Feeding Tube Records, a small label in the United States, released "Pimania: The Music of Mel Croucher & Automata U.K., Ltd.", a deluxe vinyl LP album of the musical B-Sides to the Pimania games, as well as tracks from other Automata releases. The album came with extensive liner notes by Croucher and Caroline Bren, as well as a large poster featuring selections from the original Automata print campaigns and was issued in a one time edition of 500 copies.
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
released by Automata UK
Automata UK
Automata UK was a software house which developed and published ZX Spectrum video games between 1982 and 1985. Significant releases included My Name Is Uncle Groucho, You Win A Fat Cigar and Deus Ex Machina .-History:...
in 1982 for the BBC Micro
BBC Micro
The BBC Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, was a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers for the BBC Computer Literacy Project, operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation...
, ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
, Dragon 32, and ZX81
Sinclair ZX81
The ZX81 was a home computer produced by Sinclair Research and manufactured in Scotland by Timex Corporation. It was launched in the United Kingdom in March 1981 as the successor to Sinclair's ZX80 and was designed to be a low-cost introduction to home computing for the general public...
computers. The player negotiates a surreal landscape with the aid of the mysterious Pi-Man, Automata's mascot. The B side of the game cassette features a bizarre Pimania song played on a VL-Tone and vocals. The Pi-Man also stars in his own long-running, surreal, comic-strip, soap opera in the company's adverts on the back page of Popular Computing Weekly
Popular Computing Weekly
Popular Computing Weekly was a computer magazine in the UK published from the early 1980s until the early 1990s. It was sometimes referred to as PCW ....
magazine and appears in several subsequent games of different kinds. The catch-phrase for the game's adverts was "There's no blood in our games, it's Automata sauce".
Automata gave a prize of a golden sundial worth £6,000 for the first person to solve the various cryptic clues to its location that were hidden within Pimania. The sundial was eventually won in 1985 by Sue Cooper and Lizi Newman, who correctly worked out that it could only be found on July 22 (because Pi
Pi
' is a mathematical constant that is the ratio of any circle's circumference to its diameter. is approximately equal to 3.14. Many formulae in mathematics, science, and engineering involve , which makes it one of the most important mathematical constants...
is sometimes rounded to 22/7) at the chalk horse at Hindover Hill near Litlington
Alfriston
Alfriston is a village and civil parish in the East Sussex district of Wealden, England. The village lies in the valley of the River Cuckmere, about four miles north-east of Seaford and south of the main A27 trunk road and part of the large area of Polegate...
, East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
.
In 2010 Feeding Tube Records, a small label in the United States, released "Pimania: The Music of Mel Croucher & Automata U.K., Ltd.", a deluxe vinyl LP album of the musical B-Sides to the Pimania games, as well as tracks from other Automata releases. The album came with extensive liner notes by Croucher and Caroline Bren, as well as a large poster featuring selections from the original Automata print campaigns and was issued in a one time edition of 500 copies.