The ClueFinders 5th Grade Adventures: The Secret of the Living Volcano is a computer game in The Learning Company's ClueFinders series, where the ClueFinders save an island's inhabitants from mysterious "breathing holes".

Synopsis

The ClueFinders go on a mission to find a mysterious island with Leslie's grandfather, Captain Clark. On their way, they find strange artifacts called CrypTiles that have strange symbols on them. They find the island, but as they approach it, a tsunami sinks their boat, separating Owen and Leslie from Joni and Santiago.

Joni and Santiago wake up on the shore of the island with LapTrap and talk to Owen and Leslie via Santiago's red videophone. Owen and Leslie are trapped underground with no way to get out. Joni and Santiago must rescue them by collecting CrypTiles and visiting the guardians of "the inside" — The Faces Within the Face, which is above ground, and The Fish Within the Fish, which is underwater. Along the way, they meet some helpful villagers who tell them about mysterious "holes that move" and "rocks that breathe".

Once Joni and Santiago unlock The Faces Within the Face and The Fish Within the Fish and find Owen and Leslie, the ClueFinders are again separated. Joni and Santiago are imprisoned in a bubble and Owen and Leslie have to find them. Owen, Leslie, and LapTrap solve a series of puzzles to free not only the ClueFinders, but also animals and the other islanders who have been imprisoned by the mysterious aliens who have been in control of the island for so long. The ClueFinders and the islanders manage to escape right before the volcano on the island blows up.

Characters

None of the characters except the ClueFinders and Captain Clark are named; however, there are several characters who give the ClueFinders helpful advice throughout the game.

On the island

The old man

The old man in the forest just after the Sulfur River is the first islander to be seen. He tells Joni and Santiago about CrypTiles, breathing holes in the ground, and The Faces Within the Face, also telling them that the surface of the island is only half the story.

The young lady

The young lady, whose ancestors were stranded on the island apparently sometime around the time of American Civil War, standing in the rain gives Joni and Santiago silver CrypTiles after they help her rearrange her stories.

The man in the stockade

The only remaining resident of a town similar to those built in the American colonies during the Revolutionary War is a man who has apparently christened himself "The Great CrypTile Thief." Unfortunately for him, he was caught and put in the stockade, but not before hiding his CrypTile in the nearby the Poison Garden. He gives Joni and Santiago clues to the location of gold CrypTiles hidden within the Garden.

The Faces Within the Face

The Faces Within the Face are five stone faces, apparently having one main "spokesface" who tells Joni and Santiago they have to find both silver and gold Cryptiles to solve his challenge.

In the sea

The sub

Captain Clark's trusty submarine is damaged, but still operational. She helps Joni and Santiago scoop turquoise CrypTiles from the ocean floor.

The tubeworms

Strange worm creatures, resembling flexible transparent tubes, greet Joni and Santiago upon their arrival underwater, telling them about The Fish Within the Fish. One such creature also gives them jade CrypTiles after they unscramble his breathing tube segments.

The Fish Within the Fish

The Fish Within the Fish seems to be the underwater replica of The Faces Within the Face. Instead of five stone faces, there are five stone fish, again with one main "spokesfish", known as the shark. However, this time, the Shark demands turquoise and jade CrypTiles for his challenge.

Plot holes

• Though the ClueFinders are clearly depicted as rescuing the islanders, it's never explained what becomes of the mini-sub or the sea tubes.
• Everyone on the island appears to live like people did at the time their ancestors crashed on the island, meaning that, despite the size of the island, there is little or no communication between the different parties.
• It's never explained how it is that nobody ever reached "Inside," as the sea tubes call it, or "the Chamber," as the islanders call it, before the ClueFinders did.

Quotes

Joni: LapTrap, scoop up the artifact and head on back.

LapTrap: (grumbling to himself) "Scoop up the artifact, LapTrap," "Fix the mini-sub, LapTrap," "Blow dry my hair, LapTrap."

Leslie: By all appearances, Owen and I are sequestered in a subterranean chamber with no apparent means of egress.

LapTrap: (rolls eyes)

Owen: She means we're stuck underground somewhere.

Leslie: (grumbles) That's what I said!

Joni: Who are you?

Great CrypTile Thief: I'm the Great CrypTile Thief! I stole everybody's CrypTiles and buried them in my patch of dangerous trees.

Santiago: Why are you locked in the pillory?

Great CrypTile Thief: (dry) I got caught.

Robot: Spell words to create a safe path across.

(presents them with letters from the CrypTile language. This is the only scene throughout the program that shows a full key for the symbols)

Owen: Not that crazy language again! Don't you have anything in English?! I'm really good at English.

(letters are changed to the Latin alphabet)

External links

• Official website

1999 computer and video games | Windows games | Mac OS games | The ClueFinders