Chex Quest

Chex Quest
Cover art from the game's original CD sleeve as found in boxes of Chex cereal in 1996.
Developer(s)Digital Café
Publisher(s)General Mills
Director(s)
  • Mike Koenigs (technical director)
  • Dean Hyers (creative director)
Producer(s)Virtual Communications[1]
Artist(s)Charles Jacobi
Composer(s)Andrew Benson
Engineid Tech 1
Platform(s)MS-DOS
Microsoft Windows
Release
  • NA: 31 October 1996
Genre(s)First-person shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Chex Quest is a non-violent first-person shooter video game created in 1996 by Digital Café, originally intended as a Chex cereal promotion aimed at children aged 6–9 and up.[2][3] It is a total conversion of the more explicitly violent video game Doom (specifically The Ultimate Doom version of the game). Chex Quest won both the Golden EFFIE Award for Advertising Effectiveness in 1996[4][5] and the Golden Reggie Award for Promotional Achievement in 1998,[4][6] and it is known today for having been the first video game ever to be included in cereal boxes as a prize.[7][8] The game's cult following[9] has been described by the press as being composed of unusually devoted fans of an advertising vehicle from a bygone age.[10][11][12]

In 2019, General Mills rereleased Chex Quest and its previously unofficial 2008 sequel, and presented a mini-documentary on YouTube.[13][14]

  1. ^ Sicherman, Al. Taste: Tidbits. Star Tribune. 13 August 1997.
  2. ^ Thompson, Stephanie. "WatersMolitor Promo Links Chex and AOL." Adweek - Midwest Edition. 10 February 1997.
  3. ^ Sloane, Martin. "Cereal offer provides good fun." The Vindicator. Wednesday August 13, 1997. C2.
  4. ^ a b Hyers, Dean. Digital Café Projects Archived 2008-09-19 at the Wayback Machine. DeanHyers.com.
  5. ^ Vale, Heather; Comm, Joel. Closed Door Session #5 - EXPERT: Michael Koenigs. Closed Door Session DVD Series. 2008.
  6. ^ Reggie Awards Case Studies: Reggie Gold Award Winners - Chex Quest. Promotional Marketing Association. 1998.
  7. ^ Ross Miller (2008-04-18). "Ask Joystiq: Chex Quest, He-Man and broken 360 gamepads". Joystiq. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
  8. ^ Freeman, Laurie. "Special Report - Events & Promotions: Premium Giveaway Products Pass Cost-Benefit Analyses." Advertising Age. Pg.S-4. 17 March 1997.
  9. ^ Sharkey, Scott. The 37 Best Free PC Games: Chex Quest 3. GamePro. 2 March 2011.
  10. ^ Lahti, Evan. Backspace - Chex Quest: Never Forget. PC Gamer. No.190. Pg.96. August 2009.
  11. ^ Molitor, Dori. Return of the Flemoids Archived October 24, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. Hub Magazine. July 2008.
  12. ^ PC Gamer staff. PC Gamer Panel - PAX 2010: The Five Wonders of PC Gaming. (audio available). PC Gamer. 8 September 2010.
  13. ^ "Chex Just Rereleased 'Chex Quest'— Its Beloved CD-ROM Game From the 1990s". Food & Wine. Archived from the original on June 10, 2019.
  14. ^ Apple News/Food & Wine Magazine May 24th 2019.