Monster House are three distinct survival horror video games developed by Artificial Mind and Movement and published by THQ. The games are based on the 2006 animated film of the same name. The games were met with mixed reception.
Contents
Gameplay
The game picks up from the part of the film where D.J., Chowder, and Jenny escape from a police car, only to be eaten by the house. The three are separated and, while looking for each other, are attacked by enemies constructed from the building's interior architecture.
The enemies throughout the game are living furniture that will try to attack the kids. Obstacles include pipes that can block doors or pathways to keep the player on track, tentacle-like pipes that can harm the player, trees that can try to grab the player, objects that can fly at the player, spotlights from windows that can awaken monsters to attack the player if they're caught, and giant pipe monsters that can suck up the player. The game has about nine chapters, each telling the story from a character's perspective. Bathrooms serve as save points throughout the game and are the safest parts of the house. Players are equipped with a default water pistol with a built-in flashlight. Each character also has a special ability that they can use to combat monsters: D.J. can stun enemies with his camera, Jenny can attack enemies and destroy padlocks with her slingshot, and Chowder can attack enemies with water balloons. Boxes containing ammo for the secondary attacks can also be used for a refill. Additionally, food found around the house can restore health, and tokens allow the player to play the game "Thou Art Dead".
Plot
PlayStation 2 and GameCube
DJ, Chowder, and Jenny are pulled into the house in the police car. After that, they jump to avoid being eaten by the house, while the police car is thrown down into the stomach.
Chowder and Jenny are pulled away from DJ shortly after by two giant pipes. DJ finds a key in a chest beneath the stairs and uses it to unlock the kitchen door. He sees a burning toaster and quickly puts out the fire. After stepping into the house's spotlight, he fights a chair and enters a hallway where he sees some chairs go into a nearby room. After finding a key to the bathroom at the end of the hallway, he fights floor crawlers along the way, and a TV passes from behind him after he walks through a door. He dodges some incoming flying books and goes through the bathroom that leads him back to the foyer, where he fights another chair.
Jenny finds herself in the attic and, after jumping across a stack of crates that swiftly move away, she tries to get back by going through the air vents, but she gets trapped by a blockade of pipes.
Chowder finds himself in the greenhouse, and after exiting the greenhouse and finding a spare light bulb for his water gun, he fights chairs and wall lamps before arriving in the kitchen. After defeating numerous floor crawlers, he is attacked by a giant pipe, and he narrowly escapes the pipe by falling down a dumbwaiter shaft.
DJ enters the family room, where the phonograph begins playing music and awakens flying books. He manages to fight them off until the phonograph stops playing, unblocking a door to a hallway that leads him to a room with a player piano in it. The piano suddenly begins to play by itself, awakening two living chairs: one normal and one red, kept alive by the piano's music. DJ disables the piano, removing the red chair's invincibility and allowing DJ to finish it off. He retrieves a key inside the piano and makes it back to the family room, where he uses the key to unlock the door to the library. DJ then searches for a dusty book, uses it to open a secret passageway, and enters an air duct that leads him to the basement, where he finds a crashed police car. He contacts Skull, and he tells DJ that in order to get out, they have to kill the house by taking out its heart, which is the furnace.
Game Boy Advance
DJ, Jenny, and Chowder prepare to destroy the house, but it pulls them inside with its tongue. They lose most of their equipment after being trapped inside the house. Skull provides them with outside help through their walkie-talkies and tells them to find blueprints to help navigate the house and take shelter in the bathrooms, which are the safest parts of the house, as it will refuse to cause any damage to the bathrooms because the water will flood them. He also tells them to destroy the heart (the furnace) to kill the house. As they recover their equipment, they encounter chairs, giant bugs, TVs, lamps, and floorboards. While trying to find a way into the basement, Chowder is captured and taken to the attic. DJ and Jenny find a slingshot that helps them reach the attic. After they rescue Chowder from the chairs, Skull tells them to find the elevator to reach the basement, but a gear is missing. After finding it, they encounter a mannequin resembling Constance that comes to life and attacks them. They defeat it and use the elevator to get to the basement, but the door to the furnace requires a heart-shaped emblem to open.
During their search, they encounter bookshelves, candles, trees, and a carpet monster (the tongue). They find the first piece of the heart emblem and locate a fuse for the water pump that drains water from the third floor into the basement. After fighting the Constance mannequin a second time, they find the second piece of the heart emblem. The trio eventually discovers Constance's corpse and learns the truth about her through a diary that they have found. The Constance mannequin appears again. After they defeat it one last time, they find the last piece of the heart emblem and use it to open the door to the furnace, but Skull warns them to get a stronger weapon first. Having known that Nebbercracker used to be in the military, he advises them to get some dynamite. They come across Nebbercracker, who, after they explain their discoveries, shares his backstory and is convinced to let Constance go, but this angers the house. While Nebbercracker tries to stall it, the kids find the dynamite and battle the furnace. After it is destroyed, the house is on the verge of falling apart. They meet up with Nebbercracker at the front door, but it is locked. They shoot the uvula to force the house to let them out. After escaping, the house is destroyed. A dialogue reveals that Constance is now at rest, Nebbercracker is at last free of his torment, and he and the kids help return the toys that he took from the other kids.
DS
After being eaten by the house, DJ, Jenny, and Chowder seek a way out and a way to destroy it. They battle a variety of living furniture along the way and also rescue Landers, Lister, Bones, and a dog, who were also eaten by the house. The kids also find toys that the house has also eaten, including Bones' kite, Jenny's candy-filled wagon, and Chowder's basketball. Eventually, they manage to destroy the furnace, but this is not enough to defeat the house. They escape and fight the house from the outside, eventually killing it and ending its reign of terror.
Development and release
On November 28, 2005, video game publisher THQ announced it had signed a deal with Sony Pictures Consumer Products to produce a video game based on Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg's upcoming Halloween-themed film project Monster House. At this point, the animated film's July 21, 2006, theatrical date and premise of three kids who encounter a house that eats trick-or-treaters every Halloween had been announced. Although consoles and release dates were not specified in THQ's announcement, the publisher revealed that players would act as the three lead protagonists exploring the house, and that originally conceived situations would be included.
On May 4, 2006, THQ announced its line-up for the year's (E3), the publisher's largest yet, which featured Monster House. The line-up spanned a variety of platforms and included both original and licensed products. Explained THQ CEO and president Brian Farrell, the company's mission at this point was to "capitalize on industry growth opportunities over the next several years", and having "an impressive product pipeline of high-profile original and licensed properties" every year would "keep THQ on the cutting edge of innovative development for all viable platforms". On the list, platforms for Monster House were revealed to be the GameCube, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2 and Game Boy Advance.
On April 27, 2006, IGN published a Craig Harris-written "hands-off" piece on the Game Boy Advance version a week before the E3 event. It claimed the version was developed by the Montreal-based Artificial Mind and Movement, whose portfolio for the handheld console were side-scrolling platformers such as a 2005 adaptation of Teen Titans (2003–2006) and multiple games based on Kim Possible (2002–2007). With a new engine, the Canadian development team's goal was a combination of the adventurous feel of The Legend of Zelda (1986–present) and the hardcore action of Zombies Ate My Neighbors (1993).
At the E3 event, an art piece of THQ's Monster House was one of 16 presented at the Into the Pixel exhibit, voted on by members of E3, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, and the Prints & Drawings Council of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Reception
Monster House received "mixed or average reviews" on all platforms according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. In Japan, where the DS version was ported for release on February 1, 2007, Famitsu gave it a score of one four, one five, and two sixes for a total of 21 out of 40. At the Annie Awards in 2007, Monster House was nominated for Best Animated Video Game.