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Space Quest V: The Next Mutation

Last updated: January 10, 2026

Overview

Space Quest V: Roger Wilco – The Next Mutation is a graphic adventure game developed by Dynamix and published by Sierra On-Line, released on February 5, 1993 for MS-DOS12. Designed by Mark Crowe, this was the first Space Quest game to be developed outside of Sierra On-Line proper, and the first not designed by both “Two Guys from Andromeda” as only Crowe worked on the project23. Set within a spoof of the Star Trek franchise, the story focuses on Roger Wilco finally achieving his dream of becoming a star captain, only to become involved in saving the galaxy from a deadly threat posed by a man-made virus12. The game was released on floppy disk only; early plans for a CD-ROM “talkie” version were cancelled because Dynamix was in financial trouble and eager to release new games rather than work on enhanced versions of already-released titles43.

Story Summary

Following the events of Space Quest IV, lowly janitor Roger Wilco applies for a place at Starcon Academy, hoping to become a captain on his own ship2. While at the Academy, Roger makes an enemy of Raems T. Quirk—a toupee-wearing commander in charge of Starcon’s most prized ship, the SCS Goliath, and a rather blatant spoof of Captain James T. Kirk25.

During an aptitude test, which Roger cheats through, Starcon is visited by Ambassador Beatrice Wankmeister—the very woman Roger is set to have a relationship with, after learning of her from his future son in Space Quest IV2. Beatrice requests an escort to investigate bizarre cases of toxic dumping across the galaxy; Quirk offers to assist her using the Goliath1. Meanwhile, Roger successfully achieves his dream and is given command of his own ship, the garbage scow SCS Eureka, which looks and functions like an oversized vacuum cleaner15.

Working alongside his crew, the Eureka works to clean up rubbish, picking up a facehugger creature that Roger takes on as a pet1. They also intercept a transmission on a Starcon frequency concerning a collection from an unknown figure5. After collecting rubbish in orbit over a jungle planet, the Eureka comes under attack by a homicidal gynoid named WD40, sent by the same company that came after Roger in Space Quest III2.

When the crew take a moment to relax at a “space bar,” Roger finds his chief engineer Cliffy—a parody of Scotty from Star Trek—engaged in a bar brawl with some of the Goliath’s crew5. Quirk arrests Cliffy, forcing Roger to break him out5. Later, Roger investigates a colony and finds the colonists have become mutants; a canister found nearby belongs to a genetics company, and a log entry reveals the colony was attacked after being visited by the Goliath1.

The Eureka receives an SOS from Quirk revealing his ship is under attack by mutants5. Responding, the crew find an escape pod containing Beatrice, who reveals the ship was hit by mutants and that Quirk and the crew were mutated as a result1. Roger puts her into cryo-sleep to slow her own mutation until he can find a cure5. Tracking down the genetics company, Roger discovers scientists created a terraforming virus that mutated and started attacking living creatures1. The experiment was ended, but the lead scientist had Quirk bribed to dump the vats of virus around the galaxy5. Roger ultimately defeats Quirk, cures Beatrice, and saves the galaxy once again2.

Gameplay

Space Quest V was developed using Sierra Creative Interpreter 1.1 (SCI1.1), featuring 256-color VGA graphics34. The game continues the point-and-click interface introduced in Space Quest IV.

Interface and Controls

  • Uses the same point-and-click icon interface as Space Quest IV5
  • The game features a command bridge where Roger can give orders to his crew1
  • Commands include interactions with officers, such as “activate cloaking device”6
  • No voice acting—the game was released on floppy disk only23

Structure and Progression

  • Roger commands the SCS Eureka and manages a crew of officers throughout the game15
  • The game takes place across multiple locations including Starcon Academy, various planets, the “space bar,” and the genetics company facility1
  • Players collect garbage at various stops while uncovering the conspiracy2

Puzzles and Mechanics

  • Inventory-based puzzle solving typical of Sierra adventures1
  • The game features extensive parody of Star Trek, including crew dynamics and ship operations25
  • Roger can interact with his pet facehugger creature found in the garbage1
  • Features product placement for Sprint, appearing in communications transmissions, on a billboard in the Spacebar, and in the ending credits2

Reception

Contemporary Reviews

Charles Ardai in Computer Gaming World (June 1993) stated that the game was “not just funny” but also “exciting and suspenseful, due in large part to its movie-quality score, its atmosphere-enhancing sound effects, and its remarkable visuals”6. He praised “the high-adventure plot, and the first-rate graphics and sound” and described the dialogue and narration as “written with a dry wit and a sense of character that makes them a pleasure to read”6. Ardai concluded “I think even the most demanding Wilcophiles will be pleased”6.

The game was welcomed by critics as a fun addition to the series, although it did not feature a voice-cast version as with Space Quest IV2. The absence of Scott Murphy from the design team was noted as resulting in a “somewhat altered sense of humor”7.

Modern Assessment

Adventure Gamers rated the game “Very good,” calling it “an impressive attempt to move the series into the next generation” with “the best story and characters of the series so far”8. The review praised the “colorful and interesting locations” and “variety of well-crafted puzzles,” while noting the lack of voice acting and “one of the worst mazes ever” as negatives8. The site estimated completion time at 6-8 hours, calling it “the lengthiest in the series so far”8.

The game holds a MobyScore of 8.1/10 with 82% positive critic reviews and ratings from 88 players1. On GOG, the Space Quest 4+5+6 collection has a 4.3/5 rating9. My Abandonware users rate it 4.6/5 from 62 votes10. HowLongToBeat reports the main story takes approximately 5.9 hours to complete11.

  • Adventure Gamers: “Very good” – best story/characters, improved graphics, challenging maze8
  • MobyGames: 8.1/10 MobyScore, 82% critics (88 player ratings)1
  • GOG: 4.3/5 (collection)9
  • Steam: Very Positive (312 reviews, collection)12
  • HowLongToBeat: 5.9 hours main story11

Development

Origins

In 1991, Mark Crowe relocated to Eugene, Oregon when his wife got a job there, and he transferred from Sierra’s Oakhurst headquarters to the Dynamix subsidiary13. According to Crowe: “SQ4 had been a particularly stressful development (I still consider it to be my masterpiece product) and I was ready to move on to something different… I was impressed with the work Jeff Tunnel was doing at Dynamix”14. This move separated the “Two Guys from Andromeda,” and Scott Murphy never worked with Crowe on another Space Quest game14.

Josh Mandel (later co-designer of Space Quest 6) was initially working on a design for SQ5 at Sierra, but Crowe was asked to take over the project at Dynamix14. Although Crowe had ideas for games using Dynamix’s own adventure development system, Sierra CEO Ken Williams mandated that Dynamix use Sierra’s SCI engine instead14.

Development for Space Quest V began in December 1991 when director Mark Crowe and assistant director David Selle sat down and began roughing out the story line34. It took them about a month of conceptual work to come up with the preliminary design and story3.

The next phase was to firm up the story, flesh out the design, and draw storyboards3. Art director Shawn Sharp penciled over 200 sketches for the storyboards over a two-month period34. Background painter Rhonda Conley was responsible for painting the nearly one hundred backgrounds sketched by Sharp3.

An extensive list detailing over 1,100 loops of animation was planned, with lead production artist Mike Jahnke and his team put in charge4. After static backgrounds were painted, digitized, and scanned, animation sequences included hand-painted loops and digitized video capture of live actors from a 3-chip video camera4.

Space Quest IV and Space Quest VGA composer Ken Allen had his soundtrack rejected for reasons unknown and quit Sierra sometime afterwards4. Dynamix musicians Christopher Stevens and Timothy Steven Clarke were rushed into the project to create a score within a short period of time34. Space Quest V took about fourteen months to finish4.

A CD-ROM version with voice acting was planned and hinted in the Hintbook and some magazines, but the project was cancelled. According to SQ5 artist Sean Murphy: “Politics and the fact that Dynamix was going through a very rough financial period at that time prevented us from doing any supplemental work on it… I suspect that the management was eager to move on to another ‘big profit’ project instead of spending time and resources for a ‘gold’ version of an already-released game”1443.

Technical Achievements

  • Developed using Sierra Creative Interpreter 1.1 (SCI1.1)34
  • Over 200 storyboard sketches and nearly 100 backgrounds34
  • Over 1,100 animation loops including digitized video capture4
  • First Space Quest developed by Dynamix rather than Sierra On-Line proper25
  • First Space Quest with only one of the “Two Guys from Andromeda” (Mark Crowe)2
  • Featured product placement for Sprint telephone company2
  • Released February 5, 1993 for MS-DOS on floppy disk only25
  • Aptitude test skip: Selecting the last option for every question allows Roger to pass the StarCon Aptitude Test without cheating—likely a QA feature left in by mistake15
  • Planet name trivia: “Lukaszuk II” is not a jab at LucasArts but a tribute to Polish programmer brothers Darius and Piotr Lukaszuk who worked at Dynamix15
  • End-game failsafe: If players forget to install the warp drive on the Goliath, the game mercifully teleports them to the engine room for a second chance instead of killing them outright15
  • Runs at 320x200 resolution with 256 colors; fully supported in ScummVM since version 1.2.016
  • Floppy installation note: SCI games have significant variation in resource file naming; for floppy versions with split files, RESOURCE.p0* files must be concatenated to RESOURCE.000 and RESOURCE.a0* to RESOURCE.AUD16

Version History

VersionDatePlatformNotes
1.0February 5, 1993DOSOriginal floppy release25
CD-ROMCancelled—Planned “talkie” version with voice acting never released43
GOG/Steam2012Windows (DOSBox)Included in Space Quest Collection912
ScummVM1.2.0+Multi-platformFull compatibility added16

SCI Interpreter:16

  • Engine: Sierra Creative Interpreter 1.1 (SCI1.1)
  • Resolution: 320x200, 256 colors

Patches and Fixes:17

  • SQ5PAT: Official Sierra patch fixing cloaking device, crest polish, and icon bugs
  • NewRisingSun patch: Fixes EVA pod speed bug on modern systems
  • AUDBLAST.DRV: Resolves “Unable to Initialize Audio Hardware” error

Easter Eggs and Trivia

  • Star Wars cameo: Wander around StarCon Academy halls and you’ll see Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi dueling in a far-away corridor18
  • Elvis sighting: Walk to the far east side of the rotunda at StarCon to see Elvis walking through a security checkpoint—Roger can’t follow as a lowly cadet18
  • 2001: A Space Odyssey homage: When Roger retrieves Cliffy via EVA pod, the sequence homages Kubrick’s film; additionally, Thus Spoke Zarathustra plays each time the Eureka collects space trash, with a sun rising behind a planet to reveal a garbage bag floating in space18
  • Pac-Man cameo: On Level 8 of the vents, Pac-Man chases Roger in a scene modeled after the Gemini Killer’s attack in The Exorcist III18
  • The Fly reference: A transporter accident causes Roger to swap heads with a fly18
  • Stealth pun: The Eureka’s self-destruct countdown mechanism is shaped like an egg—an “egg timer”18
  • Self-deprecating humor: The villainous biotech company Genetix has a logo similar to Dynamix, the game’s developer; the manual shows the creative team reading the Star Trek Compendium and a Star Wars guide with an Alien facehugger model on their desk18
  • Punny planet names: Gingivitis (in the Halitosis star system), Klorox II (Clorox bleach), Monostadt VII (Monistat 7), Commodore LXIV, Peeyu, and Kiz Urazgubi (“kiss your ass goodbye”)18
  • Retraux mode: In the maintenance tunnel, pulling a fuse reduces colors from 256 to 16—only works in that area since Roger replaces fuses when leaving18
  • EGA anti-frustration: When running in 16-color EGA mode, the game lets you skip the crest floor-cleaning sequence with full points, since limited colors make determining cleanliness difficult18
  • Aptitude test foreshadowing: Three puzzle solutions are hidden in the test’s multiple choice answers, including how to defeat W-D40 (boulder temporarily, banana in tailpipe permanently) and checking air toxicity before beaming down18
  • Series continuity error: Roger is pursued for not paying for the Labion terror beast mating whistle from Space Quest II, despite it being marked FREE on the order form18
  • Captain Quirk’s full name: Raemes Tipper Quirk (R.T. Quirk = J.T. Kirk parody)18
  • Astro Chicken cameo: Open the far left locker in the pod bay to see Astro Chicken pop out19
  • Worf parody: “Woof” sits in the Academy classroom, described as the Academy’s ambu-jitsu champion20
  • Guards playing arcade games: One guard in the rotunda plays Missile Command; another near Elvis plays Asteroids20
  • SQ3 Skull Fighter: One of the Skull Fighters from Space Quest 3 appears in the Academy landing bay20
  • Enterprise engine: A ship in the Academy landing bay has an engine styled after the USS Enterprise20
  • Flash Gordon & Einstein: Both appear on the gigantic grade master machine—and both fail20
  • Debug hotspot viewer: Pressing Alt+C blocks out images and shows hotspot colors for click events (doesn’t work in Collection version)21
  • Death message viewer (v0.028): An invisible button below “Space” on the death screen title bar cycles through death messages (causes frequent crashes)21

Pop Culture References

  • Star Trek “Spock’s Brain”: The Teacher device, KARA, and Sigma Draconis reference this episode22
  • Star Trek “Trouble with Tribbles”: Space Monkeys and Nelo Jones parody this episode22
  • Aliens: “Nuke the entire site from orbit” quote appears22
  • Spaceballs: “Heinous speed” reference in ending sequence22
  • Hitchhiker’s Guide: Eroticon 6 reference22
  • The Three Stooges: Moons named Larry, Moe, and Curly22
  • Beverly Hills 90210: Planet coordinates reference22
  • Nova 9 (Dynamix): Gir Draxon character from this Dynamix game appears22
  • Mixed Up Mother Goose: Sierra’s game referenced in an elevator death message22
  • Goliath ship: Parodies the Super Star Destroyer Executor from Star Wars22

Bugs and Compatibility

  • EVA pod speed bug: On fast systems, the EVA pod sequence during Cliffy’s rescue depletes fuel too rapidly; fixed by NewRisingSun patch or DOSBox17
  • Cloaking device bug: Cannot restore or quit when Roger runs out of time stealing from WD-40’s ship; requires SQ5PAT patch17
  • Crest polish skip bug: Unable to skip polishing sequence on 286 EGA systems; requires SQ5PAT patch17
  • Icon loss bug: Icon disappears at river log on Kiz Urazgubi; requires SQ5PAT patch17
  • Audio initialization: “Unable to Initialize Audio Hardware” error on modern systems; use DOSBox or AUDBLAST.DRV patch17

International Versions

  • Russian localization: Flash Gordon references changed to Boris Yeltsin, Soviet movie music replaced some themes, “buckazoid” translated to “babking,” and transporter controls differed19
  • 32-color Amiga version: Skipped the crest scrubbing sequence due to color palette limitations19

Plot Inconsistencies

  • Magazine contradiction: The Space Piston magazine (SQ4) features an interview with Roger about his adventures, but the Galactic Inquirer (SQ5) states nobody has heard from Roger since he began working on the Arcada23
  • StarCon Crest design: The main rotunda spans two screens containing the crest, but joining them reveals the crest isn’t actually triangular23
  • Cliffy’s spacesuit: When Cliffy spacewalks to repair the Eureka, he wears a spacesuit—but the game established that one suit had a ripped seat and the other was too small for Roger, making it certainly too small for Cliffy23
  • Shield inconsistencies: The Eureka’s shields have no effect on WD-40’s attacks, the Goliath, weapons use, or beaming down to some planets, yet shields must be lowered to enter Genetix or Molly’s Chug & Glug23
  • Garbage collection paradox: Players can’t visit the SpaceBar until collecting garbage from Gangularis, Peeyu, and Kiz Urazgubi, but WD-40 attacks before collecting trash at the latter—yet the game considers the mission complete23

Legacy

According to Sierra On-Line’s SEC filing, combined sales of the Space Quest series surpassed 1.2 million units by the end of March 199624. Space Quest V was one of several Sierra games given away as a reward for signing up for service with Sprint27.

The game also features a reference to AT&T, with dialogue where one character denounces MCI’s “Friends & Aliens” plan as “just not worth it”5. After Space Quest V, Mark Crowe and Scott Murphy would reunite for Space Quest 6: The Spinal Frontier in 19955.

Collections

This game has been included in the following collections:

Downloads

Purchase / Digital Stores

Download / Preservation

Manuals & Extras

Series Continuity

References

Footnotes

  1. MobyGames – Space Quest V – developer, publisher, platforms, credits, 8.1 MobyScore, 82% critics ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16 ↩17 ↩18 ↩19

  2. Space Quest Fandom Wiki – Space Quest V – release date, plot summary, characters, Star Trek parody, Sprint product placement ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16 ↩17 ↩18 ↩19

  3. SpaceQuest.net – Space Quest 5 Game Information – development process, team details, $69.99 price ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16

  4. Space Quest Fandom Wiki – SQ5 Development – detailed development history ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15

  5. Dynamix Fandom Wiki – Space Quest V – development, plot, technical details ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16

  6. Computer Gaming World – June 1993 (Issue 107) – Charles Ardai review, pp. 112-114: “first-rate graphics and sound”, “dry wit”, “Wilcophiles” ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  7. Sierra Fandom Wiki – Space Quest V – release date, developer, “somewhat altered sense of humor” ↩ ↩2

  8. Adventure Gamers – Space Quest V – “Very good” rating, “best story and characters,” 6-8 hours completion, “one of the worst mazes ever,” improved VGA graphics ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  9. GOG – Space Quest 4+5+6 – purchase, user reviews ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  10. My Abandonware – Space Quest V – platforms, availability ↩ ↩2

  11. HowLongToBeat – Space Quest V – completion times ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  12. Steam – Space Quest Collection – purchase, user reviews ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  13. Adventure Classic Gaming – Mark Crowe Interview – Oregon move, Dynamix transfer, Two Guys separation ↩ ↩2

  14. SpaceQuest.net – SQ5 Fun Facts – Mark Crowe quotes on SQ4 stress and Dynamix move, Josh Mandel’s earlier SQ5 design, Ken Williams SCI mandate, Sean Murphy CD-ROM cancellation quote ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  15. Space Quest Historian – 11 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Space Quest – aptitude test skip, Lukaszuk planet naming, warp drive failsafe ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  16. ScummVM Wiki – Space Quest V – 320x200 resolution, 256 colors, ScummVM 1.2.0 support, floppy resource file concatenation notes ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  17. Sierra Help – Space Quest V – EVA pod speed bug, cloaking device bug, audio driver fixes, patches ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  18. TV Tropes – Space Quest V – Star Wars/Elvis/Pac-Man cameos, 2001 homage, punny planet names, EGA anti-frustration, aptitude test foreshadowing, Genetix/Dynamix logo joke, series continuity error, Captain Quirk full name ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14

  19. SpaceQuest.net – SQ5 Easter Eggs – Astro Chicken cameo, Russian localization details, Amiga version differences ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  20. SpaceQuest.net – SQ5 Cameos – Worf/Woof parody, guards playing Missile Command and Asteroids, SQ3 Skull Fighter, Enterprise engine, Flash Gordon and Einstein on grade master ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  21. SpaceQuest.net – SQ5 Cheats & Debug – Alt+C hotspot viewer, death message viewer bug, debug commands ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  22. SpaceQuest.net – SQ5 Spoofs & References – Star Trek episode parodies, Aliens/Spaceballs/Hitchhiker’s Guide references, Dynamix in-game references ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11

  23. SpaceQuest.net – SQ5 Plot Inconsistencies – Magazine contradictions, StarCon Crest design issue, Cliffy spacesuit plot hole, shield inconsistencies, garbage collection paradox ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  24. SEC Filing – Sierra On-Line 10-K (March 1996) – “sold more than 1.2 million copies” for Space Quest series ↩

  25. Sierra Fandom Wiki – Dynamix – Sierra acquisitions, collections ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  26. Internet Archive – Space Quest V – preservation, historical versions ↩

  27. DOS.Zone – Space Quest V – play in browser ↩

  28. Virtual Broomcloset – Publications Archive – manuals, hint books ↩ ↩2

  29. Wikipedia – Space Quest V – encyclopedia article ↩

  30. PCGamingWiki – Space Quest V – technical specs, fixes ↩

  31. WiW – Space Quest V Point List – complete point list ↩

  32. GameFAQs – Space Quest V – user ratings, walkthroughs, FAQs ↩

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