release, Sierra On-Line expected the game to sell 500,000 units in its first three months, according to the French newspaper Libération. Journalist Francis Mizio wrote that its global release in English, German, Italian, French and Spanish was part of this push. In August 1997, Charles Ardai of Computer Gaming World noted that Rama "appears to be selling reasonably, but still isn't generating the kind of business Sierra sees from a new Leisure Suit Larry". Libération reported that Sierra found the game's sales "disappointing" by that November, at which time Rama had sold 25,000 units in France. Computer Gaming Worlds Keith Ferrel praised the game as the most convincing computerized world he encountered and "an environment studded with puzzles and enigma, challenges and mysteries." He also closed that "unlike MYST, the story here outweighs its setting, a tribute to Clarke, Lee, and the team that supported them. RAMA is in virtually every way a triumph and another large step toward the creation of wholly convincing interactive SF novels. It begs for a sequel, I think, and not least because, as Clarke himself wrote years ago, the Ramans always do things in threes." A reviewer for Next Generation largely agreed: "While all too Myst-like in design, Dynamix's RAMA manages to push past some of the inherent confines of its genre and provide players with some fairly balanced puzzles and a decently entertaining storyline." He wrote that while few of the puzzles are innovative, they tie into the story rather than simply serving as obstacles to progress past, and also praised the alien designs and musical score. He nonetheless concluded that he could not recommend the game due to its similarity to Myst. Rama was a finalist for the Computer Game Developers Conference's 1996 "Best Adaptation of Linear Media" Spotlight Award, but lost the prize to I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream. It was also a finalist for Computer Gaming Worlds 1996 "Adventure Game of the Year" and CNET Gamecenter's "Best Adventure Game" awards, which went to The Pandora Directive and The Neverhood, respectively. References External links 1996 video games Adaptations of works by Arthur C. Clarke Adventure games set in space Biorobotics in fiction DOS games First-person adventure games Classic Mac OS games PlayStation (console) games Point-and-click adventure games Rama series Science fiction video games ScummVM-supported games Sierra Entertainment games Video games about bomb disposal Video games about extraterrestrial life