The ClueFinders
Encyclopedia
The ClueFinders is a series of edutainment
software
aimed at children aged eight to twelve. The series is produced by The Learning Company
as a counterpart to their Reader Rabbit
series for older elementary-aged students.
The ClueFinders include Joni Savage, Santiago Rivera, Owen Lam and Leslie Clark. The kids are accompanied on all their adventures by LapTrap, an anthropomorphic
laptop computer
who floats in the air. Note that, although it is often spelled as "Clue Finders," "Cluefinders" or "Clue-Finders," even by sources such as the Internet Movie Database
, the series' main title is properly spelled as one word with the "F" capitalized.
The first ClueFinders title was released in 1997 and most of the subsequent games were released within the next two years. 2000 and 2001 each saw one new ClueFinders game, both followed by a different noneducational bonus disc, but no new games have been released since that time. However, bundles
including multiple previously released titles, such as The ClueFinders Math Learning System 2007, have since been created.
The ClueFinders: Mystery of the Monkey Kingdom, which consists of portions of The ClueFinders 3rd Grade Adventures: The Mystery of Mathra, has also been released.
, science fiction
or both, with merely the continued presence of LapTrap pushing the series into the realm of science fiction. Nevertheless, the opening titles from The ClueFinders 5th Grade Adventures place the series in the present day
.
For the most part, the games almost exclusively use 2D computer graphics
and, when 3D graphics
are used, it is almost always in cut scenes and therefore pre-rendered
. The 2D graphics are apparently intended to mimic the look of hand-drawn animated cartoon
s with animations that use thick outlines and solid colors on two-dimensional backgrounds. For this reason, the series is often described as imitating the look of a Saturday morning cartoon
, Scooby-Doo
being repeatedly cited by reviewers.
In a manner similar to Scooby Doo, a few of the ClueFinders games concluded with a monstrous creature turning out to be a hoax. This includes The ClueFinders 3rd Grade Adventures, and The ClueFinders Math Adventures
where belief of the existence of a monster was perpetuated by an antagonistic character for personal gain.
Most of the ClueFinders games would separate the main characters into groups of two, and place them into a perilous or mysterious situation, posing both questions and problems that would be explained through cutscenes as the player progressed through the gameplay. These were ultimately resolved in the final scene once the player had "defeated" the game.
, followed by a title card. The title card is followed by the sign-in screen, where the user can choose whether to play the adventure or to play the game's activities outside the adventure in "practice mode." Choosing to play the adventure will lead to a follow-up sequence which further establishes the premise as well as the overall goal of the game.
The bulk of each game involves traveling between different screens in a predetermined area which has various educational activities. The user will have to play these games to advance through the program and, often, to another area with different games. Most of the time, each area will have one activity that needs to be completed to advance onwards, but which can only be played by collecting items from all the other activities in the area. If a concentrated amount of time and energy is put into it, most players will be able to complete the program within a few hours. The ClueFinders Math Adventures, which takes a much longer time to finish, is an exception.
Throughout the series, the game options can be accessed by clicking on LapTrap. Typically, he carries the following options:
Two games in the series feature a specific option that does not appear in any other game.
In all the games except for The ClueFinders 4th Grade Adventures, the ClueFinders are split into two teams at the start. A portable red videophone
allows the two teams to make contact with each other and clicking on the phone provides the user with game hints from the other team. The other team will typically either be serving as backup, looking for clues or else be captured and in need of rescue. In The ClueFinders 4th Grade Adventures, Socrates fills the function of the videophone in providing the player with game hints.
. Joni is voiced
by actress Chrissie McCarron.
Generally, Joni is depicted as being a bold, headstrong tomboy
. She apparently claims to be absolutely fearless and she is, in fact, very courageous, often to the point of sheer recklessness. Nevertheless, it has been repeatedly demonstrated that she is not actually "absolutely fearless," although she might be loath to admit to that. This is best demonstrated in a scene from The ClueFinders 3rd Grade Adventures in which she is obviously worried about her kidnapped uncle, but is not willing to admit it, and pretends instead to have been cheering up Santiago. However, she is still usually very adventurous and confident of success for the gang. Curiously, the programs' box art has an ironic tendency to depict her looking scared or alarmed.
Throughout the series, Joni is consistently portrayed as a caucasian
with blue eyes, braided red hair
and round glasses
. In all but two entires in the series, she wears a yellow backpack
, which serves as an inventory for items collected in the game. The two exceptions are The ClueFinders Math Adventures, in which no items need to be collected, and The Cluefinders 6th Grade Adventures, in which Leslie wears the backpack instead. Dr. Horace Pythagoras, the naturalist
who must be rescued in The ClueFinders 3rd Grade Adventures, is Joni's uncle.
Joni's "regular" outfit consists of a pink T-shirt
, purple shorts
, off-white sock
s, brown hiking boot
s and purple hair ribbons to match her shorts. The only games in which she does not appear in this outfit are The ClueFinders Math Adventures, in which she wears a "winter" variation of it as the game is set in the Himalayas
, and The ClueFinders 4th Grade Adventures, in which she wears a green T-shirt, a brown vest, blue jean shorts, pink socks with similar boots and blue hair ribbons.
who can supposedly repair anything. He is voiced by Clayton Stroope.
Like Joni, Santiago is twelve and in seventh grade, making him and Joni the two oldest of the ClueFinders. He and Leslie, whom he has been consistently paired together since The ClueFinders Reading Adventures, form the "brains" of the outfit. Joni has stated in The ClueFinders 6th Grade Adventures that he is "the best scientist" among them. Personality wise, Santiago is rather sensible and level-headed, which runs counterpoint to Joni's rashness. He can also have a tendency to be hesitant about following Joni's more reckless exploits, preferring to think first before going into action. Despite this, Joni and Santiago seem to get along very well with each other. While not a coward, he does not seem to like getting into danger very much.
According to his profile in Laptrap's "Cluefinders Club" file, he has invented a machine that "hangs up his clothes, turns out the light and brushes his teeth for him. Now he's working on one for Joni." This suggests that he is a great inventor, and that he is also very helpful, as is further elucidated by his willingness to help Owen and Leslie stop the anthropomorphic plant people from invading Earth in the 6th grade title. His file also states that he takes saxophone lessons, listens to vinyl records and collects stamps, rocks, baseball cards, and comic books. He is portrayed throughout the books and games as being exceptionally polite and also possessing a mild fear of heights. In the ClueFinders book series, it is stated that his parents are Latin-American revolutionaries and that he lives with Joni's family while they are away.
Being Hispanic
, Santiago has black hair. He is the tallest of the ClueFinders and his eyes are always drawn black. His "regular" outfit consists of a yellow sweat jacket with a greenish-black shirt underneath it, jeans
and red tennis shoes. As with Joni, his outfit is altered to be more appropriate for the Himalayan climate in The ClueFinders Math Adventures. In The ClueFinders 4th Grade Adventures, he wears a light blue T-shirt, jeans and a different pair of shoes.
" member of the ClueFinders. His voice is provided by Brian Michael Gregory.
Owen loves pizza
, skateboarding
and, evidently, the word "dude
." He is also to some degree, a source of comic relief
in the games. His personality (and method of speaking) runs especially counter to Leslie's and the two of them frequently bounce off of each other. This is because Owen apparently finds her superfluously elaborate form of talking annoying (despite usually being easily able to understand her) and she dislikes the way in which he translates her complex words into layman's terms. However, it has been shown, as in The ClueFinders 6th Grade Adventures, that the two of them can get along when they need to. In more recent games, Owen is instead paired with Joni, whom he seems to get along better with.
Owen is eleven years old and in the sixth grade
, making him the second youngest member of the team. His lucky hunches have helped the team solve all of their mysteries. His life's ambition is to be the first person to skateboard on Mars, according to his profile.
Owen is Asian-American and wears his black hair with a bowl cut
and his "regular" outfit consists of a green shirt, blue shorts, orange tennis shoes and purple-lensed sunglasses
. As with the others, his clothing was adapted for the climate of the Himalayas in The ClueFinders Math Adventures and, in The ClueFinders 4th Grade Adventures, he wore an orange shirt, green shorts, sandals
and the same glasses.
Her profile in LapTrap's "ClueFinders Club" file states that she won the National Spelling Bee
when she was nine, holds the local record for checking out the most library
book
s a year and that her first word was "encyclopedia
." Leslie's trademark gag is the way in which she uses complicated words in casual conversation apparently in an attempt to display her extensive vocabulary. For example, she describes tossing a frisbee
as "exploring the aerodynamics
of this projectile
". She teaches some classes and studies molecules in her spare time.
Leslie is African-American and always appears with her hair in dreadlocks
, but her actual hair color varies from black in the earlier games to dark brown in the more recent ones. Leslie's eyes, usually drawn black, were shown to be green in The ClueFinders 4th Grade Adventures. She is ten years old, but is in the sixth grade, having skipped a grade. Leslie's age was originally given to be eleven in The ClueFinders 3rd Grade Adventures, but this was changed in later products. Since The ClueFinders 3rd Grade Adventures is the first game of the franchise and is a prequel to all of the others, the change is therefore a retcon
.
Leslie's "regular" outfit consists of a yellow shirt with a matching miniskirt
, a purple vest and small brownish shoes. As with the rest of the ClueFinders, her outfit was changed in The ClueFinders Math Adventures, which marks the only time she appears in pants
rather than a skirt. In The ClueFinders 4th Grade Adventures, she wore a light purple shirt and a dark blue skirt with matching boots. The ClueFinders 6th Grade Adventures marks the only game in which she wore the backpack instead of Joni. In The Cluefinders: The Incredible Toy Store Adventure!, she and Joni both wear identical backpacks.
built in the form of a floating laptop. His voice is provided by Les Hedger, who also voices various other characters in the ClueFinders games. It is quite probable that his name is based on "laptop".
Specifically, LapTrap is described as being a Turbo T.U.R.T.L.E. (Turbocharged Ultra-Rugged-Terrain Laptop Equipment) and his function in the game is to carry the game options in a manner similar to P.O.P. (the "program options pad") from the Reader Rabbit series. Interestingly, both P.O.P. and LapTrap are small with a similarly "bug-eyed" appearance. Making a character serve as the options menu has the obvious advantage of eliminating the need for having any options appear on the game screen itself, though it means that LapTrap must always be clearly visible except in cut scenes.
LapTrap originally belonged to Dr. Horace Pythagoras in The ClueFinders 3rd Grade Adventures, the first game in the series. At the end of the game, Dr. Pythagoras gave LapTrap to the ClueFinders and, much to his chagrin, LapTrap has since accompanied the kids on their subsequent adventures. LapTrap himself is quite anxious about being in dangerous situations and his protests are frequently a source of light comic relief. Nevertheless, he has occasionally displayed a reluctant willingness to join the kids on their adventures. Humor is also derived from his rather pompous nature and the great pride he takes in his technological abilities.
LapTrap is yellow in color and he usually floats so that he is at "eye level" with the kids. His "eyes" are located on one of the shorter sides side of his base and, except when he is displaying the game options, he always appears in a "closed" position. In The ClueFinders 4th Grade Adventures, LapTrap appears very different than he does in all the other games, being more oval in shape and having green pupils. In all the other games, he is rectangular, though sometimes with slightly curved edges, and has either black or yellow pupils.
LapTrap can translate thirty language
s into English
(this may have been increased to thirty-one after the events of The ClueFinders 5th Grade Adventures) and, on two occasions, he had robotic arms extend out of his body so that he could grasp hold of something; however, in The ClueFinders Math Adventures, when entering the Great Hall, Laptrap talks about handball and Joni says "But you don't have arms." In The ClueFinders 6th Grade Adventures, he was shown to possess sonar
and video projection
technology and, sometime prior to The ClueFinders Reading Adventures, Dr. Pythagoras gave him the ability to create tiny probes called "LittleTraps." These LittleTraps are small and round with proportionally larger eyes than LapTrap. In The ClueFinders: The Incredible Toy Store Adventure!, one of the LittleTrap becomes a main character which is named alitrap and is apparently a girl. Ali is probably short for a longer name, like Alices. The name Alitrap has the same word trap as in the name Laptrap.
. He can't talk, but he can "think out loud" in the manner of Garfield
and Snoopy
. The voice for his "psychic thoughts" was provided by Derek Sorentino in The ClueFinders 4th Grade Adventures. considering him self as the narrator(the only time they had one in cluefinders series).
Socrates originally appeared in The ClueFinders 4th Grade Adventures, but he has not appeared since except for a brief, non-"speaking" cameo
at the end of The ClueFinders Reading Adventures. Nevertheless, his profile remains in LapTrap's "ClueFinders Club" file. Socrates' speech during cut scenes in The ClueFinders 4th Grade Adventures is in the past tense
, suggesting it may be a narration of some sort.
According to his profile, the ClueFinders found Socrates on Gabistan, "the island of talking animals," where he appeared to be the only animal who couldn't talk. Despite this, he has PhD
's in mathematics
, literature
, physics
and philosophy
from the University of Gabistan. Socrates was top of his class in obedience school
and his "secret ambition" is to send LapTrap there. His profile states that he is twenty-eight, which is quite old for a dog, although some dogs have been known to live that long.
Edutainment
Edutainment is a form of entertainment designed to educate as well as to amuse.-Overview:...
software
Educational software
Educational software is computer software, the primary purpose of which is teaching or self-learning.-Early History, 1940s - 1970s:The use of computer hardware and software in education and training dates to the early 1940s, when American researchers developed flight simulators which used analog...
aimed at children aged eight to twelve. The series is produced by The Learning Company
The Learning Company
The Learning Company is an American educational software company, founded in 1980. It produced a grade-based system similar to Knowledge Adventure's JumpStart series. The products for preschoolers through second graders feature Reader Rabbit, and software for more advanced students features The...
as a counterpart to their Reader Rabbit
Reader Rabbit
Reader Rabbit is an edutainment software franchise created in 1986 by The Learning Company. This series currently makes up the greater part of a franchise of grade-based and subject-based titles, where the games for infancy through second grade feature Reader Rabbit...
series for older elementary-aged students.
The ClueFinders include Joni Savage, Santiago Rivera, Owen Lam and Leslie Clark. The kids are accompanied on all their adventures by LapTrap, an anthropomorphic
Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...
laptop computer
Laptop
A laptop, also called a notebook, is a personal computer for mobile use. A laptop integrates most of the typical components of a desktop computer, including a display, a keyboard, a pointing device and speakers into a single unit...
who floats in the air. Note that, although it is often spelled as "Clue Finders," "Cluefinders" or "Clue-Finders," even by sources such as the Internet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
, the series' main title is properly spelled as one word with the "F" capitalized.
The first ClueFinders title was released in 1997 and most of the subsequent games were released within the next two years. 2000 and 2001 each saw one new ClueFinders game, both followed by a different noneducational bonus disc, but no new games have been released since that time. However, bundles
Product bundling
Product bundling is a marketing strategy that involves offering several products for sale as one combined product. This strategy is very common in the software business , in the cable television industry Product bundling is a marketing strategy that involves offering several products for sale as...
including multiple previously released titles, such as The ClueFinders Math Learning System 2007, have since been created.
Games in the series
- The ClueFinders 3rd Grade Adventures: The Mystery of MathraThe ClueFinders 3rd Grade Adventures: The Mystery of MathraThe ClueFinders 3rd Grade Adventures: The Mystery of Mathra is a computer game in The Learning Company's ClueFinders series where the ClueFinders save the Numerian rainforest and Dr...
(1997) - The ClueFinders 4th Grade Adventures: Puzzle of the Pyramid (1998)
- The ClueFinders 5th Grade Adventures: The Secret of the Living VolcanoThe ClueFinders 5th Grade Adventures: The Secret of the Living VolcanoThe ClueFinders 5th Grade Adventures: Secret of the Living Volcano is a personal computer game in The Learning Company's ClueFinders series of educational software...
(1999) - The ClueFinders 6th Grade Adventures: The Empire of the Plant PeopleThe ClueFinders 6th Grade Adventures: The Empire of the Plant PeopleThe ClueFinders 6th Grade Adventures: The Empire of the Plant People is a personal computer game in The ClueFinders series of educational software.-Premise:...
(1999) - The ClueFinders Math AdventuresThe ClueFinders Math AdventuresThe ClueFinders Math Adventures Ages 9-12: Mystery in the Himalayas is a computer game in The Learning Company's ClueFinders Series, where the ClueFinders try to recover stolen treasures in a small Himalayan village.-Voice cast:...
(1999) - The ClueFinders Reading AdventuresThe ClueFinders Reading AdventuresThe ClueFinders Reading Adventures: Mystery of the Missing Amulet is a computer game designed for ages 9–12 in The Learning Company's The ClueFinders series, where the ClueFinders embark on an adventure in an alien world to save the planet Millenia from the evil sorceress Malicia...
(1999) (later renamed The Mystery of the Missing Amulet and included with the other ClueFinders titles) - The ClueFinders Search and Solve AdventuresThe ClueFinders Search and Solve AdventuresThe ClueFinders Search and Solve Adventures is an educational computer game in The Learning Company's ClueFinders series that focuses on critical thinking skills...
(2000) - The ClueFinders Real World Adventure Kit (2000) (included as a bonus disc with the other ClueFinders titles)
- The ClueFinders: The Incredible Toy Store Adventure!The ClueFinders: The Incredible Toy Store Adventure!The ClueFinders: The Incredible Toy Store Adventure is a personal computer game in The Learning Company's ClueFinders series of educational software. In the game, the ClueFinders are trapped in a toy store after hours and Joni, Owen, and LapTrap have mysteriously shrunk to three inches tall...
(2001) - The ClueFinders: Mystery Mansion ArcadeThe ClueFinders: Mystery Mansion ArcadeThe ClueFinders: Mystery Mansion Arcade is a personal computer game in The Learning Company's ClueFinders series, where the ClueFinders are trapped by their enemies from other ClueFinders games...
(2002) (included as a bonus disc with the other ClueFinders titles)
The ClueFinders: Mystery of the Monkey Kingdom, which consists of portions of The ClueFinders 3rd Grade Adventures: The Mystery of Mathra, has also been released.
Content
Although the ClueFinders' adventures generally seem to take place in the contemporary real world, all the products in the series contain some elements of either fantasyFantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
, science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
or both, with merely the continued presence of LapTrap pushing the series into the realm of science fiction. Nevertheless, the opening titles from The ClueFinders 5th Grade Adventures place the series in the present day
Present day
The term "present day" is used to describe the approximate period of time that surrounds the present. Depending on the context, this period may be as narrow as referring to the immediate moment, or as broad as referring to the current year or decade...
.
For the most part, the games almost exclusively use 2D computer graphics
2D computer graphics
2D computer graphics is the computer-based generation of digital images—mostly from two-dimensional models and by techniques specific to them...
and, when 3D graphics
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
are used, it is almost always in cut scenes and therefore pre-rendered
Pre-rendered
Pre-rendering is the process in which video footage is not rendered in real-time by the hardware that is outputing or playing back the video. Instead, the video is a recording of a footage that was previously rendered on a different equipment...
. The 2D graphics are apparently intended to mimic the look of hand-drawn animated cartoon
Animated cartoon
An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...
s with animations that use thick outlines and solid colors on two-dimensional backgrounds. For this reason, the series is often described as imitating the look of a Saturday morning cartoon
Saturday morning cartoon
A Saturday morning cartoon is the colloquial term for the animated television programming that has typically been scheduled on Saturday mornings on the major American television networks from the 1960s to the present; the genre's peak in popularity mostly ended in the 1990s while the popularity of...
, Scooby-Doo
Scooby-Doo
Scooby-Doo is an American media franchise based around several animated television series and related works produced from 1969 to the present day. The original series, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, was created for Hanna-Barbera Productions by writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears in 1969...
being repeatedly cited by reviewers.
In a manner similar to Scooby Doo, a few of the ClueFinders games concluded with a monstrous creature turning out to be a hoax. This includes The ClueFinders 3rd Grade Adventures, and The ClueFinders Math Adventures
The ClueFinders Math Adventures
The ClueFinders Math Adventures Ages 9-12: Mystery in the Himalayas is a computer game in The Learning Company's ClueFinders Series, where the ClueFinders try to recover stolen treasures in a small Himalayan village.-Voice cast:...
where belief of the existence of a monster was perpetuated by an antagonistic character for personal gain.
Most of the ClueFinders games would separate the main characters into groups of two, and place them into a perilous or mysterious situation, posing both questions and problems that would be explained through cutscenes as the player progressed through the gameplay. These were ultimately resolved in the final scene once the player had "defeated" the game.
Structure
All the games in the series begin with a quick opening sequence that quickly establishes the game's premise, often ending with a cliffhangerCliffhanger
A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma, or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction...
, followed by a title card. The title card is followed by the sign-in screen, where the user can choose whether to play the adventure or to play the game's activities outside the adventure in "practice mode." Choosing to play the adventure will lead to a follow-up sequence which further establishes the premise as well as the overall goal of the game.
The bulk of each game involves traveling between different screens in a predetermined area which has various educational activities. The user will have to play these games to advance through the program and, often, to another area with different games. Most of the time, each area will have one activity that needs to be completed to advance onwards, but which can only be played by collecting items from all the other activities in the area. If a concentrated amount of time and energy is put into it, most players will be able to complete the program within a few hours. The ClueFinders Math Adventures, which takes a much longer time to finish, is an exception.
Throughout the series, the game options can be accessed by clicking on LapTrap. Typically, he carries the following options:
- Map - provides the user with a mapMapA map is a visual representation of an area—a symbolic depiction highlighting relationships between elements of that space such as objects, regions, and themes....
that will allow instantaneous transportation to any previously visited game screen; this option is often changed to "Choose Activity" in practice mode - Progress and Levels - provides the user (or the user's parentParentA parent is a caretaker of the offspring in their own species. In humans, a parent is of a child . Children can have one or more parents, but they must have two biological parents. Biological parents consist of the male who sired the child and the female who gave birth to the child...
s) with a progress report and the ability to change the leveling of specific activities; in The ClueFinders 3rd Grade Adventures and The ClueFinders Math Adventures, the progress report and leveling files are separated - The ClueFinders Club - provides the user with a small database that contains information on each of the ClueFinders, LapTrap and the team's mascotMascotThe term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...
Socrates - Settings - allows the user to turn on or off background music and/or background animations; in The ClueFinders 3rd Grade Adventures, background music is given its own option while The ClueFinders: The Incredible Toy Store Adventure! has an option to enable closed captioningClosed captioningClosed captioning is the process of displaying text on a television, video screen or other visual display to provide additional or interpretive information to individuals who wish to access it...
(which is by default off), making it the only title in the ClueFinders series to offer closed captioning. - Credits - allows the user to view the game's creditsCredit (creative arts)In general, the term credit in the artistic or intellectual sense refers to an acknowledgement of those who contributed to a work, whether through ideas or in a more direct sense.-Credit in the arts:...
- Quit Game - allows the user to quit the program; the game can also be quit from the sign-in screen
- Sign In - returns the user to the sign-in screen
- Return to Game - closes LapTrap, returning the user to the last game screen
Two games in the series feature a specific option that does not appear in any other game.
- Logic Cube - in The ClueFinders Math Adventures, the user adjusts the Logic Cube to figure out which suspects are responsible for which thefts and where the stolen items have been hidden
- Reference - in The ClueFinders 6th Grade Adventures, this file provides the user with information on ancient historyAncient historyAncient history is the study of the written past from the beginning of recorded human history to the Early Middle Ages. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, with Cuneiform script, the oldest discovered form of coherent writing, from the protoliterate period around the 30th century BC...
for the "Chasm of Time" activity
In all the games except for The ClueFinders 4th Grade Adventures, the ClueFinders are split into two teams at the start. A portable red videophone
Videophone
A videophone is a telephone with a video screen, and is capable of full duplex video and audio transmissions for communication between people in real-time...
allows the two teams to make contact with each other and clicking on the phone provides the user with game hints from the other team. The other team will typically either be serving as backup, looking for clues or else be captured and in need of rescue. In The ClueFinders 4th Grade Adventures, Socrates fills the function of the videophone in providing the player with game hints.
Joni
Joni Savage is the leader and founder of the ClueFinders club. According to her profile in LapTrap's "ClueFinders Club" file, she is twelve years old and in the seventh gradeSeventh grade
Seventh grade is a year of education in the United States and many other nations. The seventh grade is the seventh school year after kindergarten. Students are usually 12–13 years old. Traditionally, seventh grade was the next-to-last year of elementary school...
. Joni is voiced
Voice acting
Voice acting is the art of providing voices for animated characters and radio and audio dramas and comedy, as well as doing voice-overs in radio and television commercials, audio dramas, dubbed foreign language films, video games, puppet shows, and amusement rides.Performers are called...
by actress Chrissie McCarron.
Generally, Joni is depicted as being a bold, headstrong tomboy
Tomboy
A tomboy is a girl who exhibits characteristics or behaviors considered typical of the gender role of a boy, including the wearing of typically masculine-oriented clothes and engaging in games and activities that are often physical in nature, and which are considered in many cultures to be the...
. She apparently claims to be absolutely fearless and she is, in fact, very courageous, often to the point of sheer recklessness. Nevertheless, it has been repeatedly demonstrated that she is not actually "absolutely fearless," although she might be loath to admit to that. This is best demonstrated in a scene from The ClueFinders 3rd Grade Adventures in which she is obviously worried about her kidnapped uncle, but is not willing to admit it, and pretends instead to have been cheering up Santiago. However, she is still usually very adventurous and confident of success for the gang. Curiously, the programs' box art has an ironic tendency to depict her looking scared or alarmed.
Throughout the series, Joni is consistently portrayed as a caucasian
Caucasian race
The term Caucasian race has been used to denote the general physical type of some or all of the populations of Europe, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Western Asia , Central Asia and South Asia...
with blue eyes, braided red hair
Red hair
Red hair occurs on approximately 1–2% of the human population. It occurs more frequently in people of northern or western European ancestry, and less frequently in other populations...
and round glasses
Glasses
Glasses, also known as eyeglasses , spectacles or simply specs , are frames bearing lenses worn in front of the eyes. They are normally used for vision correction or eye protection. Safety glasses are a kind of eye protection against flying debris or against visible and near visible light or...
. In all but two entires in the series, she wears a yellow backpack
Backpack
A backpack is, in its simplest form, a cloth sack carried on one's back and secured with two straps that go over the shoulders, but there can be exceptions...
, which serves as an inventory for items collected in the game. The two exceptions are The ClueFinders Math Adventures, in which no items need to be collected, and The Cluefinders 6th Grade Adventures, in which Leslie wears the backpack instead. Dr. Horace Pythagoras, the naturalist
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
who must be rescued in The ClueFinders 3rd Grade Adventures, is Joni's uncle.
Joni's "regular" outfit consists of a pink T-shirt
T-shirt
A T-shirt is a style of shirt. A T-shirt is buttonless and collarless, with short sleeves and frequently a round neck line....
, purple shorts
Shorts
Shorts are a bifurcated garment worn by both men and women over their pelvic area, circling the waist, and covering the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to or even below the knee, but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" because they are a shortened...
, off-white sock
Sock
A sock is an item of clothing worn on the feet. The foot is among the heaviest producers of sweat in the body, as it is able to produce over of perspiration per day. Socks help to absorb this sweat and draw it to areas where air can evaporate the perspiration. In cold environments, socks decrease...
s, brown hiking boot
Hiking boot
Hiking boots are footwear specifically designed for the sport of hiking. They are considered the most important hiking gear since their quality and durability can determine a hiker's ability to move farther, faster, and more safely...
s and purple hair ribbons to match her shorts. The only games in which she does not appear in this outfit are The ClueFinders Math Adventures, in which she wears a "winter" variation of it as the game is set in the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
, and The ClueFinders 4th Grade Adventures, in which she wears a green T-shirt, a brown vest, blue jean shorts, pink socks with similar boots and blue hair ribbons.
Santiago
Santiago Rivera is the team's highly skilled mechanicMechanic
A mechanic is a craftsman or technician who uses tools to build or repair machinery.Many mechanics are specialized in a particular field such as auto mechanics, bicycle mechanics, motorcycle mechanics, boiler mechanics, general mechanics, industrial maintenance mechanics , air conditioning and...
who can supposedly repair anything. He is voiced by Clayton Stroope.
Like Joni, Santiago is twelve and in seventh grade, making him and Joni the two oldest of the ClueFinders. He and Leslie, whom he has been consistently paired together since The ClueFinders Reading Adventures, form the "brains" of the outfit. Joni has stated in The ClueFinders 6th Grade Adventures that he is "the best scientist" among them. Personality wise, Santiago is rather sensible and level-headed, which runs counterpoint to Joni's rashness. He can also have a tendency to be hesitant about following Joni's more reckless exploits, preferring to think first before going into action. Despite this, Joni and Santiago seem to get along very well with each other. While not a coward, he does not seem to like getting into danger very much.
According to his profile in Laptrap's "Cluefinders Club" file, he has invented a machine that "hangs up his clothes, turns out the light and brushes his teeth for him. Now he's working on one for Joni." This suggests that he is a great inventor, and that he is also very helpful, as is further elucidated by his willingness to help Owen and Leslie stop the anthropomorphic plant people from invading Earth in the 6th grade title. His file also states that he takes saxophone lessons, listens to vinyl records and collects stamps, rocks, baseball cards, and comic books. He is portrayed throughout the books and games as being exceptionally polite and also possessing a mild fear of heights. In the ClueFinders book series, it is stated that his parents are Latin-American revolutionaries and that he lives with Joni's family while they are away.
Being Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
, Santiago has black hair. He is the tallest of the ClueFinders and his eyes are always drawn black. His "regular" outfit consists of a yellow sweat jacket with a greenish-black shirt underneath it, jeans
Jeans
Jeans are trousers made from denim. Some of the earliest American blue jeans were made by Jacob Davis, Calvin Rogers, and Levi Strauss in 1873. Starting in the 1950s, jeans, originally designed for cowboys, became popular among teenagers. Historic brands include Levi's, Lee, and Wrangler...
and red tennis shoes. As with Joni, his outfit is altered to be more appropriate for the Himalayan climate in The ClueFinders Math Adventures. In The ClueFinders 4th Grade Adventures, he wears a light blue T-shirt, jeans and a different pair of shoes.
Owen
Owen Lam is the "hippestHip (slang)
Hip is a slang term meaning fashionably current and in the know. Hip is the opposite of square or prude.Hip, like cool, does not refer to one specific quality. What is considered hip is continuously changing. The term hip is said to have originated in African American Vernacular English in the...
" member of the ClueFinders. His voice is provided by Brian Michael Gregory.
Owen loves pizza
Pizza
Pizza is an oven-baked, flat, disc-shaped bread typically topped with a tomato sauce, cheese and various toppings.Originating in Italy, from the Neapolitan cuisine, the dish has become popular in many parts of the world. An establishment that makes and sells pizzas is called a "pizzeria"...
, skateboarding
Skateboarding
Skateboarding is an action sport which involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard.Skateboarding can be a recreational activity, an art form, a job, or a method of transportation. Skateboarding has been shaped and influenced by many skateboarders throughout the years. A 2002 report...
and, evidently, the word "dude
Dude
A dude is an individual, typically male. The female equivalent, which is used less often, is "dudette" or "dudess". However, "dude" has evolved to become more unisex to encompass all genders, and this was true even in the 1950s....
." He is also to some degree, a source of comic relief
Comic relief
Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension.-Definition:...
in the games. His personality (and method of speaking) runs especially counter to Leslie's and the two of them frequently bounce off of each other. This is because Owen apparently finds her superfluously elaborate form of talking annoying (despite usually being easily able to understand her) and she dislikes the way in which he translates her complex words into layman's terms. However, it has been shown, as in The ClueFinders 6th Grade Adventures, that the two of them can get along when they need to. In more recent games, Owen is instead paired with Joni, whom he seems to get along better with.
Owen is eleven years old and in the sixth grade
Sixth grade
Sixth grade is a year of education in the United States and some other nations. The sixth grade is the sixth school year after kindergarten. Students are usually 11 – 12 years old...
, making him the second youngest member of the team. His lucky hunches have helped the team solve all of their mysteries. His life's ambition is to be the first person to skateboard on Mars, according to his profile.
Owen is Asian-American and wears his black hair with a bowl cut
Bowl cut
A bowl cut, also known as a pot haircut, or a mushroom cut, is a haircut where the hair is cut short on the sides and back and looking as though someone put a bowl on the head and cut off all the visible hair....
and his "regular" outfit consists of a green shirt, blue shorts, orange tennis shoes and purple-lensed sunglasses
Sunglasses
Sunglasses or sun glasses are a form of protective eyewear designed primarily to prevent bright sunlight and high-energy visible light from damaging or discomforting the eyes. They can sometimes also function as a visual aid, as variously termed spectacles or glasses exist, featuring lenses that...
. As with the others, his clothing was adapted for the climate of the Himalayas in The ClueFinders Math Adventures and, in The ClueFinders 4th Grade Adventures, he wore an orange shirt, green shorts, sandals
Sandal (footwear)
Sandals are an open type of outdoor footwear, consisting of a sole held to the wearer's foot by straps passing over the instep and, sometimes, around the ankle...
and the same glasses.
Leslie
Leslie Clark is the youngest and most intellectually inclined of the ClueFinders. Her grandfather is Captain Clark, the captain of the ship featured in The ClueFinders 5th Grade Adventures. Leslie is voiced by Keoni Asia Gist.Her profile in LapTrap's "ClueFinders Club" file states that she won the National Spelling Bee
Scripps National Spelling Bee
The Scripps National Spelling Bee is a highly competitive annual spelling bee in the United States, with participants from other countries as well. It is run on a not-for-profit basis by The E. W...
when she was nine, holds the local record for checking out the most library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
book
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
s a year and that her first word was "encyclopedia
Encyclopedia
An encyclopedia is a type of reference work, a compendium holding a summary of information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge....
." Leslie's trademark gag is the way in which she uses complicated words in casual conversation apparently in an attempt to display her extensive vocabulary. For example, she describes tossing a frisbee
Frisbee
A flying disc is a disc-shaped glider that is generally plastic and roughly in diameter, with a lip. The shape of the disc, an airfoil in cross-section, allows it to fly by generating lift as it moves through the air while rotating....
as "exploring the aerodynamics
Aerodynamics
Aerodynamics is a branch of dynamics concerned with studying the motion of air, particularly when it interacts with a moving object. Aerodynamics is a subfield of fluid dynamics and gas dynamics, with much theory shared between them. Aerodynamics is often used synonymously with gas dynamics, with...
of this projectile
Projectile
A projectile is any object projected into space by the exertion of a force. Although a thrown baseball is technically a projectile too, the term more commonly refers to a weapon....
". She teaches some classes and studies molecules in her spare time.
Leslie is African-American and always appears with her hair in dreadlocks
Dreadlocks
Dreadlocks, also called locks, a ras, dreads, "rasta" or Jata , are matted coils of hair. Dreadlocks are usually intentionally formed; because of the variety of different hair textures, various methods are used to encourage the formation of locks such as backcombing...
, but her actual hair color varies from black in the earlier games to dark brown in the more recent ones. Leslie's eyes, usually drawn black, were shown to be green in The ClueFinders 4th Grade Adventures. She is ten years old, but is in the sixth grade, having skipped a grade. Leslie's age was originally given to be eleven in The ClueFinders 3rd Grade Adventures, but this was changed in later products. Since The ClueFinders 3rd Grade Adventures is the first game of the franchise and is a prequel to all of the others, the change is therefore a retcon
Retcon
Retroactive continuity is the alteration of previously established facts in a fictional work. Retcons are done for many reasons, including the accommodation of sequels or further derivative works in a series, wherein newer authors or creators want to revise the in-story history to allow a course...
.
Leslie's "regular" outfit consists of a yellow shirt with a matching miniskirt
Miniskirt
A miniskirt, sometimes hyphenated as mini-skirt, is a skirt with a hemline well above the knees – generally no longer than below the buttocks; and a minidress is a dress with a similar meaning...
, a purple vest and small brownish shoes. As with the rest of the ClueFinders, her outfit was changed in The ClueFinders Math Adventures, which marks the only time she appears in pants
Trousers
Trousers are an item of clothing worn on the lower part of the body from the waist to the ankles, covering both legs separately...
rather than a skirt. In The ClueFinders 4th Grade Adventures, she wore a light purple shirt and a dark blue skirt with matching boots. The ClueFinders 6th Grade Adventures marks the only game in which she wore the backpack instead of Joni. In The Cluefinders: The Incredible Toy Store Adventure!, she and Joni both wear identical backpacks.
LapTrap
LapTrap is an advanced artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
built in the form of a floating laptop. His voice is provided by Les Hedger, who also voices various other characters in the ClueFinders games. It is quite probable that his name is based on "laptop".
Specifically, LapTrap is described as being a Turbo T.U.R.T.L.E. (Turbocharged Ultra-Rugged-Terrain Laptop Equipment) and his function in the game is to carry the game options in a manner similar to P.O.P. (the "program options pad") from the Reader Rabbit series. Interestingly, both P.O.P. and LapTrap are small with a similarly "bug-eyed" appearance. Making a character serve as the options menu has the obvious advantage of eliminating the need for having any options appear on the game screen itself, though it means that LapTrap must always be clearly visible except in cut scenes.
LapTrap originally belonged to Dr. Horace Pythagoras in The ClueFinders 3rd Grade Adventures, the first game in the series. At the end of the game, Dr. Pythagoras gave LapTrap to the ClueFinders and, much to his chagrin, LapTrap has since accompanied the kids on their subsequent adventures. LapTrap himself is quite anxious about being in dangerous situations and his protests are frequently a source of light comic relief. Nevertheless, he has occasionally displayed a reluctant willingness to join the kids on their adventures. Humor is also derived from his rather pompous nature and the great pride he takes in his technological abilities.
LapTrap is yellow in color and he usually floats so that he is at "eye level" with the kids. His "eyes" are located on one of the shorter sides side of his base and, except when he is displaying the game options, he always appears in a "closed" position. In The ClueFinders 4th Grade Adventures, LapTrap appears very different than he does in all the other games, being more oval in shape and having green pupils. In all the other games, he is rectangular, though sometimes with slightly curved edges, and has either black or yellow pupils.
LapTrap can translate thirty language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
s into English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
(this may have been increased to thirty-one after the events of The ClueFinders 5th Grade Adventures) and, on two occasions, he had robotic arms extend out of his body so that he could grasp hold of something; however, in The ClueFinders Math Adventures, when entering the Great Hall, Laptrap talks about handball and Joni says "But you don't have arms." In The ClueFinders 6th Grade Adventures, he was shown to possess sonar
Sonar
Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...
and video projection
Video projector
A video projector is an image projector that receives a video signal and projects the corresponding image on a projection screen using a lens system. All video projectors use a very bright light to project the image, and most modern ones can correct any curves, blurriness, and other...
technology and, sometime prior to The ClueFinders Reading Adventures, Dr. Pythagoras gave him the ability to create tiny probes called "LittleTraps." These LittleTraps are small and round with proportionally larger eyes than LapTrap. In The ClueFinders: The Incredible Toy Store Adventure!, one of the LittleTrap becomes a main character which is named alitrap and is apparently a girl. Ali is probably short for a longer name, like Alices. The name Alitrap has the same word trap as in the name Laptrap.
Socrates
Socrates is the team's mascot and, supposedly, the world's smartest dogDog
The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...
. He can't talk, but he can "think out loud" in the manner of Garfield
Garfield (character)
Garfield is a fictional character and the title protagonist from the comic strip Garfield created by Jim Davis.-Personality:Garfield is an anthropomorphic ginger cat. He loves eating , and sleeping. He is teased about being overweight. He is also selfish...
and Snoopy
Snoopy
Snoopy is an fictional character in the long-running comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. He is Charlie Brown's pet beagle. Snoopy began his life in the strip as a fairly conventional dog, but eventually evolved into perhaps the strip's most dynamic character—and among the most recognizable...
. The voice for his "psychic thoughts" was provided by Derek Sorentino in The ClueFinders 4th Grade Adventures. considering him self as the narrator(the only time they had one in cluefinders series).
Socrates originally appeared in The ClueFinders 4th Grade Adventures, but he has not appeared since except for a brief, non-"speaking" cameo
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
at the end of The ClueFinders Reading Adventures. Nevertheless, his profile remains in LapTrap's "ClueFinders Club" file. Socrates' speech during cut scenes in The ClueFinders 4th Grade Adventures is in the past tense
Past tense
The past tense is a grammatical tense that places an action or situation in the past of the current moment , or prior to some specified time that may be in the speaker's past, present, or future...
, suggesting it may be a narration of some sort.
According to his profile, the ClueFinders found Socrates on Gabistan, "the island of talking animals," where he appeared to be the only animal who couldn't talk. Despite this, he has PhD
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
's in mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
, physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
and philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
from the University of Gabistan. Socrates was top of his class in obedience school
Obedience school
An obedience school is an institution that trains pets how to behave properly. When puppies are young and in the first stages of training, they are often taken by their owners to obedience schools. Most obedience schools are located in the United States. Training usually takes place in small groups...
and his "secret ambition" is to send LapTrap there. His profile states that he is twenty-eight, which is quite old for a dog, although some dogs have been known to live that long.