This is a further comment to the review below, since I can't respond directly to the posting above which describes a fix for Windows XP installation;
I appreciate that Mr. Norris is trying to be helpful, and his **fix** will work as described, however, it is an extremely bad idea for most people to make edits in the registry, and should not be encouraged as a fix to get around false advertising and a game that should not be sold in its current form. Any mistakes, even a slip of the finger while making the edits, can result in catastrophy (machine may not reboot next time), so it should only be done with extreme care, and by someone who knows what they're doing. My assumption is that most readers of these posts (and, if fact, most purchasers of game software for children) do not fit that category, or do not want to take that risk.
Do not reward companies that sell things to a general market that are unfit for use, and unsupported by the vendor. Do not buy this product, period.
original comments follow:
This game is not compatible with Windows XP unless your children are allowed Administrator accounts on your PC. The reason for this is that the game was written for Windows 98, and has not been updated since, despite the indications on the box that it works with XP.
Unfortunately, my son was in tears after spending his allowance to buy this game at the school book fair because in our house, kids do not get administrator accounts. When I called Scholastic to request support, their only workaround is to run the game as an administrator. They admit it was designed for Win98, and that they haven't updated it because they "haven't had enough complaints from customers to write a version for XP". All this despite the labelling which claims it is XP compatible. You must run as an administrator because the game needs to update the registry (this is an extraordinarily bad program design decision for a children's game) every time it is run.
I am perplexed at the numerous positive reviews of the game here. Either all of these reviewers are running obsolete versions of the operating system, or their kids are given administrator accounts on XP, which is dangerous and foolish. Scholastic will not refund your money once the box is open, even though the claim of XP compatibility is false advertising, at Scholastic tech support's own admission. My recommendation is that no one should buy this game unless they are still running Win98. No company should be rewarded for relabelling obsolete software and continuing to sell it as if it was current.
I Spy Spooky Mansion
3.4 | 28 ratings
Price: 17.18
Last update: 01-09-2025
Top reviews from the United States
justaguy
This game should have been off the market several years ago
Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2005mybraydog
great for little ones
Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2013Amazon Customer
Not the full game
Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2019wstuartj
I Spy Spooky Mansion
Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2006Rick Jay
Nice Game, support issues on some Macs.
Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2008Dunjudy
Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2014mom2serena
great for preschoolers too!
Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2008Debra Lurie
I Spy Spooky Mansion - a great computer game
Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2008