The Secrets Within
- Brand
- House Of Anubis
- Year
- 2011
- Objective
- Product Launch
- Industry
- Entertainment
- Mechanic
- Adventure & Quest
- Platform
- Web
- Agency
- Monks
Objective
Nickelodeon was preparing to launch House of Anubis in the US in January 2011, after the show had already taken off in the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, and Denmark, and needed a way to keep fans engaged with the mystery between episodes. MediaMonks, which had built the franchise's international games since 2008, used the project to show the US market it could deliver a full game entirely in-house.
Solution
Players pick a character from the show and step straight into the House of Anubis, walking the same halls, bedrooms, and secret passages recreated from the real shooting location in Liverpool. Housemates hand out tasks around the house, sending players off to pick locks, fight off creatures, and hunt down objects and puzzle pieces hidden in the rooms. Each item recovered pushes the same storyline from the show's first season forward, piece by piece, toward assembling the Cup of Ankh. The adventure is built to run for hours, not minutes, and closes with a final confrontation against Rufus for the Cup.
Results
Over 4.5 million children were playing the game by May 2011.
- 1
The player starts by picking a character from the show, then enters the House of Anubis boarding school and is free to explore from there.
- 2
Players move through the house in 3D from a third-person view using the arrow keys, and press space to open doors and chests, gradually unlocking new rooms and storage.
- 3
Talking to fellow residents hands out tasks that reveal the house's routines and story; players track these in a quest log (Q), find their way with a house map (M), and check what they've collected in an inventory (I).
- 4
Locked doors and drawers open through a mouse-driven lock-picking minigame that grows harder the deeper the player gets into the house.
- 5
Exploration turns up gems and chests scattered around the house, each worth points.
- 6
Some residents, including caretaker Victor, are unfriendly and must be avoided rather than confronted.
- 7
The house also holds hostile creatures, fought with an attack key (A) and a weapon-switch key (S, including a yo-yo among the options); a health bar drops with damage, and hitting zero ends the game.
- 8
Progression centers on hunting down puzzle pieces and clues — starting with one hidden in a secret attic cabinet unlocked by the Eye of Horus medallion — to assemble the Cup of Ankh before rival Rufus does, following the plot of the show's first season, with optional side quests along the way.
- 9
The game ends with a final confrontation against Rufus, where the player throws objects at him and must defeat him three times to complete the game.
