Science Adventure
Science Adventure is a multimedia series consisting of interconnected science fiction stories, created mainly by Mages, Nitroplus (for the first three games), and Chiyomaru Studio. The main entries mostly take the form of visual novel video games, but side entries span across several different mediums.
| Science Adventure | |
|---|---|
Art from a Science Adventure event, featuring characters from the first three main games. Left to right: Rimi (Chaos;Head), Kurisu (Steins;Gate), and Akiho (Robotics;Notes). | |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction |
| Developer(s) | |
| Publisher(s) |
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| Creator(s) | Chiyomaru Shikura |
| Artist(s) |
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| Writer(s) | Naotaka Hayashi |
| Composer(s) | Takeshi Abo |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch |
| First release | Chaos;Head April 25, 2008 |
| Latest release | Anonymous;Code July 28, 2022 |
The series currently consists of six mainline entries: the first part of the series, Chaos;Head, was a visual novel released in 2008, and it is followed by the visual novels Steins;Gate, Robotics;Notes, Chaos;Child, Occultic;Nine, Anonymous;Code, as well as the upcoming Steins;???. The series also includes several spin-off games based on Chaos;Head, Steins;Gate, Robotics;Notes, and Chaos;Child, as well as many spinoffs in other mediums including anime, manga, light novels, audio dramas, and stage plays.
The main entries and their spin-offs all take place in the same fictional universe, with focuses on several different science fiction themes. Chaos;Head and Chaos;Child focus on perception, Steins;Gate focuses on time travel and science, and Robotics;Notes focuses on robotics and augmented reality. The player can affect the course of the story by making certain choices: in Chaos;Head and Chaos;Child this is done by choosing what kind of delusions the player characters experience. The choices in the Steins;Gate games and Robotics;Notes are made via messages set by the player via an in-game cell phone and tablet computer, respectively.
The series is planned by Chiyomaru Shikura, the CEO of Mages, composed by Takeshi Abo and Zizz Studio, written by Naotaka Hayashi along with other writers, and features character designs by artists including Mutsumi Sasaki, Huke, and Tomonori Fukuda. The developers aimed to make the series set within reality, as Shikura felt it made it more relatable and believable. The series has been commercially and critically successful both in Japan and internationally, selling more than expected for the genre and helping establishing Mages (previously 5pb.) as a game developer.
The series is published by Mages and Nitroplus in Japan, and by JAST USA, PQube, Mages, and Spike Chunsoft internationally. The visual novels Steins;Gate, Steins;Gate 0, Chaos;Child, Steins;Gate Elite, Steins;Gate: Linear Bounded Phenogram, 8-bit ADV Steins;Gate, Steins;Gate: My Darling's Embrace, Robotics;Notes Elite, Robotics;Notes Dash, and Chaos;Head NoAH have been released officially in English. Anonymous;Code has also been announced for an English release.