Cory in the House

Cory in the House is a Nintendo DS adventure game based on the Disney Channel sitcom and its White House setting. Developed by Handheld Games and published by Disney Interactive Studios, it puts Cory Baxter at the center of an original story built for the handheld. Cory lives in the White House because his father Victor works there as the President's head chef, and the game turns that familiar premise into a light comic mystery across Washington, D.C. Its tone follows the show's broad humor while giving players a sequence of objectives, conversations, and touchscreen challenges to complete.

The story begins with Cory's attempt to turn a contest win into a business opportunity. He wants to sell Presidential bobbleheads, but the toys are seized by an evil toymaker with a plan to use them to hypnotize the people of Washington. Cory and his friends must recover the bobbleheads before the scheme succeeds. That setup gives the game a straightforward rescue plot, but it also creates room for the sort of odd situations associated with the television series: an ordinary school day, a trip through the mall, and a problem in the White House can all become steps in a much larger and sillier plan.

Play is structured around exploring locations, examining the environment, speaking with characters, and fulfilling the current task. Cory moves through White House corridors, school areas, shops, and city streets while the player searches for useful objects or the next person who can advance the mission. The game regularly asks players to pay attention to context rather than simply rush forward, making its cartoon-like spaces part of the puzzle-solving. Dialogue and comic scenes connect the objectives and keep the focus on Cory's efforts to improvise his way out of escalating trouble.

Stealth is one of the main ideas that separates Cory in the House from a typical menu-driven licensed game. At several points, players need to avoid guards or other obstacles instead of confronting them directly. Timing, positioning, and finding a safe route become important when Cory has to slip through a guarded space. The stealth material is intentionally simple and accessible, but it fits a story about a teenager trying to handle a dangerous situation in one of the most heavily guarded places in the country.

The Nintendo DS hardware is used for a variety of minigames. Touchscreen activities include hacking-style tasks, rhythm-based drumming, and circuit-connection puzzles, adding short changes of pace between the exploration sections. Other scenes can have Cory use improvised items, such as pastries, to deal with hypnotized people. These diversions make the campaign feel like a collection of TV-show episodes and mishaps rather than one continuous action game. They also give the stylus a practical role beyond navigating menus.

Handheld Games built the title specifically for the Nintendo DS, with Jake Torset directing the project and Disney Interactive Studios overseeing its release. The production credits include designers Adam Butler, Tony Zharoff, Robert Kehoe, and Christopher Smith, with Gerrin Tramis writing the script and dialogue. David Jaedyn Conley created the music and sound effects. Released in North America in April 2008, the game arrived while the Cory in the House television series was still on the air, making it a direct companion piece for viewers who wanted to revisit its characters away from the screen.

Cory in the House received poor contemporary reviews, with criticism directed at its controls and presentation, but it later gained a very different kind of visibility online. Internet jokes that playfully called the television series an anime helped turn the DS game into a recurring meme, and waves of enthusiastic user ratings brought renewed attention to it years after release. For collectors and Disney Channel fans, the cartridge remains a distinctly late-2000s licensed DS game: a comedic tie-in that combines White House escapades, stealthy errands, touchscreen minigames, and Cory Baxter's determined attempt to stop a ridiculous plot.