Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Developed by Nano Soft and released for Windows PC in 1998, Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves is a short interactive storybook for children based on the famous tale from One Thousand and One Nights. Rather than functioning as a traditional adventure game, it combines narrated storytelling with colorful cartoon scenes filled with objects and characters to click on. It is extremely simple and brief, but its charming presentation makes it an enjoyable example of late-1990s children's multimedia. Rating: 6/10.
The game follows the familiar story of Ali Baba, a poor man who discovers the secret hideout of a group of forty thieves. After witnessing the thieves entering their cave and learning the magical words needed to open it, Ali Baba discovers the enormous treasure hidden inside. His good fortune soon leads to trouble as the secret of the cave spreads and the thieves attempt to protect their riches.
Gameplay is almost entirely point-and-click. Each part of the story is represented by a colorful illustrated scene, and the player can move the mouse around the screen looking for interactive hotspots. Clicking characters, animals and background objects triggers short animations, sound effects or humorous reactions.
There is very little conventional challenge involved. You are not collecting inventory items, solving elaborate puzzles or navigating dialogue trees like in a traditional graphic adventure. Instead, the main attraction is simply experimenting with each scene and discovering everything that can be activated before continuing with the story.
That simplicity makes sense considering the young target audience. The controls require little more than moving the mouse and clicking, so even children with minimal experience using a computer can understand how everything works almost immediately. The game feels closer to an animated picture book than a conventional PC game.
The presentation is easily its strongest aspect. The environments use bright, hand-drawn 2D artwork with exaggerated cartoon characters and a distinctly late-1990s educational-software appearance. Desert landscapes, Arabian-style buildings, colorful costumes and expressive characters give the story plenty of personality despite the relatively limited animation.
Audio also plays an important role. Narration guides the player through the story while individual objects produce their own sounds and reactions when clicked. These little audio-visual surprises are often more entertaining than simply progressing through the narrative and encourage younger players to explore every part of the screen.
The biggest weakness is its length. Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves can be completed very quickly, and there is little substantial gameplay to extend the experience. Once you have heard the story and found most of the clickable interactions, there is not much left to discover. Older players in particular will probably exhaust the available content almost immediately.
Still, judging it as a children's interactive storybook rather than an adventure game makes it easier to appreciate. Nano Soft created a straightforward but attractive adaptation that uses animation, narration and playful interaction to make a familiar fairy tale more engaging.
Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves is therefore unlikely to satisfy anyone looking for puzzles or deep gameplay, but as a compact piece of 1998 children's PC software it has plenty of period charm. Its colorful illustrations and abundance of clickable surprises make it a pleasant little interactive story, even if the experience is over almost as soon as it begins.
Developed by Nano Soft and released for Windows PC in 1998, Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves is a short interactive storybook for children based on the famous tale from One Thousand and One Nights. Rather than functioning as a traditional adventure game, it combines narrated storytelling with colorful cartoon scenes filled with objects and characters to click on. It is extremely simple and brief, but its charming presentation makes it an enjoyable example of late-1990s children's multimedia. Rating: 6/10.
The game follows the familiar story of Ali Baba, a poor man who discovers the secret hideout of a group of forty thieves. After witnessing the thieves entering their cave and learning the magical words needed to open it, Ali Baba discovers the enormous treasure hidden inside. His good fortune soon leads to trouble as the secret of the cave spreads and the thieves attempt to protect their riches.
Gameplay is almost entirely point-and-click. Each part of the story is represented by a colorful illustrated scene, and the player can move the mouse around the screen looking for interactive hotspots. Clicking characters, animals and background objects triggers short animations, sound effects or humorous reactions.
There is very little conventional challenge involved. You are not collecting inventory items, solving elaborate puzzles or navigating dialogue trees like in a traditional graphic adventure. Instead, the main attraction is simply experimenting with each scene and discovering everything that can be activated before continuing with the story.
That simplicity makes sense considering the young target audience. The controls require little more than moving the mouse and clicking, so even children with minimal experience using a computer can understand how everything works almost immediately. The game feels closer to an animated picture book than a conventional PC game.
The presentation is easily its strongest aspect. The environments use bright, hand-drawn 2D artwork with exaggerated cartoon characters and a distinctly late-1990s educational-software appearance. Desert landscapes, Arabian-style buildings, colorful costumes and expressive characters give the story plenty of personality despite the relatively limited animation.
Audio also plays an important role. Narration guides the player through the story while individual objects produce their own sounds and reactions when clicked. These little audio-visual surprises are often more entertaining than simply progressing through the narrative and encourage younger players to explore every part of the screen.
The biggest weakness is its length. Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves can be completed very quickly, and there is little substantial gameplay to extend the experience. Once you have heard the story and found most of the clickable interactions, there is not much left to discover. Older players in particular will probably exhaust the available content almost immediately.
Still, judging it as a children's interactive storybook rather than an adventure game makes it easier to appreciate. Nano Soft created a straightforward but attractive adaptation that uses animation, narration and playful interaction to make a familiar fairy tale more engaging.
Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves is therefore unlikely to satisfy anyone looking for puzzles or deep gameplay, but as a compact piece of 1998 children's PC software it has plenty of period charm. Its colorful illustrations and abundance of clickable surprises make it a pleasant little interactive story, even if the experience is over almost as soon as it begins.
