While the mystic elves command powerful magic, which shows in both their creatures and their buildings, humans exhibit a strong connection to medieval weaponry. In the fantasy online game Elvenar, almost every building can be upgraded and visually changed multiple times to increase productivity, becoming ever more beautiful in the process.
| Treasure Mountain! | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | The Learning Company |
| Publisher(s) | The Learning Company |
| Platform(s) | PC (Windows, Macintosh) |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Educational/Adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
Treasure Mountain! is an educational computer game published by The Learning Company in 1990[1] for both Windows and Macintosh PCs. It teaches children aged five to nine, reading, basic math, and logic skills.[1]Treasure Mountain is the third installment of the Super Solvers series.
Synopsis[edit]
Setting[edit]
Treasure Mountain! as well as the other 'Treasure' games in the Super Seekers games, take place in a magical realm called Treasureland. The game takes place on a mountain called 'Treasure Mountain'. Treasure MathStorm!, a later release, takes place on the same mountain.
Plot[edit]
As the game opens, the Master of Mischief, a common antagonist of The Learning Company's Super Seekers games, steals the kingdom's crown and hides all of the castle's treasures. The player takes on the role of the Super Seeker once again, whose job is to find the treasures and remove the Master of Mischief from the throne.
Gameplay[edit]
The objective of Treasure Mountain! is to find the hidden treasures and return them to the chest in the castle at the top of the mountain.[2]
The mountain consists of three levels. Players cannot climb higher until they have found the key to unlock the next level. To find the key, players must get clues about its location by answering elves' riddles. When players capture an elf carrying a scroll with their net and answer the riddle correctly, they will receive a clue consisting of a number, shape, or description about where the key to the next level is hidden, as well as any magical coins the elf is carrying.[3]
In the background, there are several groups of objects that have characteristics that can be matched to the clues. Players may search behind these objects by dropping a magic coin. If the objects match all three clues, the key to the next level will appear. If the objects match only two out of the three clues, one of the stolen treasures will be revealed.
After players find the key on each of the three levels of the mountain, they can enter the castle. At this point, players must climb up a maze of ladders, avoiding the Master of Mischief. When players reach the top, they deposit all treasures found into the castle's treasure chest and are given a prize - one of the treasures discovered during the game - as a reward for completing the three stages. This prize is kept on display in the clubhouse, showing how many times players have ascended the mountain. From this point, players may exit the clubhouse and start again from the bottom of the mountain.[3]
When a certain number of treasures have been deposited into the castle's treasure chest, players will go up a star rank. At higher ranks, the game becomes more difficult, as there will be more treasures to find, harder riddles to answer, and elves that steal magical coins by using elf dust.
Development[edit]
Treasure series[edit]
Treasure Mountain! is the first of four games in The Learning Company's 'Treasure' series along with Treasure Cove!, Treasure MathStorm!, and Treasure Galaxy!. The Treasure series is a subgroup of the company's Super Seekers games. All the games in this series are math and reading comprehension oriented educational adventure games aimed at younger children. Games in the treasure series all have the same three stage gameplay format where a special object, whose location can be deduced by answering questions, is needed to reach the next stage.[1]
Music[edit]
In lieu of original musical scores, Treasure Mountain! employs a number of classical pieces as background music. The music heard in the game's introduction is Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's 'Solfeggietto'.[4] The theme heard in the outdoor levels is a combination of two of Beethoven's contredanses,[4]WoO 14: No.1 and WoO 14: No.3.[nb 1] The theme heard in caves comes from the first movement of J. S. Bach's Keyboard Concerto no. 1 in D minor.[5] Level Three features the Gigue from J. S. Bach's English Suite No. 4 in F major, BWV 809.
Later versions[edit]
In 1994, a version with enhanced sound and graphics was released on CD-ROM.[1]
Treasure Mountain! was later released in a software bundle package with both Treasure Cove! and Treasure Galaxy! under the name 'Treasure Trio!'. This was one of the first software bundle packages ever sold.[6]
Treasure Mountain! was also released in a software bundle package with Treasure Cove!.
Reception[edit]
| Reception | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
Treasure Mountain! has received mediocre to positive reviews. Computer Gaming World gave the game four out of five stars, calling it 'an easy-to-play, visually appealing, non-violent arcade-style game for beginners' with some reading ability.[8] Lisa Savignano of Allgame gave the game 4.5 stars out of 5 stating that 'Treasure Mountain may be somewhat repetitive, but each level will impel the kids to go onward until they finally get all 300 treasures and win the game...the game can be played over and over again.'[2] Users at Home of the Underdogs gave Treasure Mountain! the Top Dog Award, an award given to games '(they) feel are severely underrated...to distinguish truly great underdogs from the pack.'[9] They gave it a thumbs up, claiming that 'children will be captivated by the game's vibrant graphics...They will spend many hours solving puzzles, doing math problems, and looking for hidden treasures-- sharpening their math skills without even realizing it.'[7]
Abandonia users gave more mediocre reviews, but said that 'collecting toys and getting to the next level can be somewhat addicting.'[1]
Notes[edit]
- ^ Found by comparing music from gameplay with Beethoven's contredanses
References[edit]
- ^ abcdefguesst. 'Super Solvers Treasure Mountain!'. 'Abandonia. Retrieved 2011-03-20.
- ^ abcSavignano, Lisa. 'Treasure Mountain! Review'. Allgame.
- ^ ab'Super Solvers: Treasure Mountain!'. MobyGames. Retrieved 2011-03-20.
- ^ abNCF. 'On The Music Of Video Games'. Kickass Classical Forums. Retrieved 2011-08-25.
- ^'Classical Music You Never Knew You Knew!'. Gaia Online. Retrieved 2011-03-20.
- ^'SoftKey International Makes The Learning Company's 'Super Solvers Super Learning Collection!' and 'Treasure Trio!' Premium Bundles Available to All Retailers'. PR Newswire. 1996-09-04. Retrieved 2011-03-27.
- ^ abUnderdogs. 'Super Solvers: Treasure Mountain'. Home of the Underdogs. Retrieved 2011-03-22.
- ^Ackelson, Caitlin (June 1991). 'Kaptivating Komputer Games Katch Kids' Imaginations'. Computer Gaming World. p. 82. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
- ^'Home of the Underdogs FAQ'. Home of the Underdogs. Retrieved 2011-03-27.
External links[edit]
- Treasure Mountain! at MobyGames
- Treasure Mountain! at AllGame
- Treasure Mountain! at Abandonia
- Treasure Mountain! at the Internet Archive
Real talk: I think learning is always fun. (Yes, I am absolutely a Ravenclaw. Why do you ask?) But when it’s a literal game? Then it’s even better, especially when you’re a kid. This is probably why there were so dang many fantastic educational '90s computer games — the rise of home computing (and, by extension, the rise of computing in the classroom) during the 1990s opened up a whole world of possibilities, including tons of ways to make learning a blast for the up-and-coming generations. And you know what? These games are still fun. And yes, I say that as a fully grown adult; don't knock going back and replaying the games you loved when you were 10 until you've tried it. Seriously.
As is often the case with the things we remember from the '90s, a lot of the games those of us who grew up during the decade filled our days with were originally developed and released long before the ‘90s. That's perhaps the reason '80s babies also have a certain degree of fondness for them; many of them actually dated back to the decade in which we were born. Some were part of long-running series, while still more of them received a number of remakes and reboots as technology improved. Though the graphics may be laughable now, just remember — once upon a time, they were the pinnacle of technological achievement.
So, in the spirit of nostalgia, here are 15 computer games from the ‘90s that made learning incredibly fun. Most of them are available to play on the internet now, so in these cases, I’ve also included links to where they can be found — frequently either an app store or the Internet Archive’s glorious collection of browser-based, emulated DOS games.
Have fun, kids!
1. Number Munchers and Word Munchers
List Of Old Mac Games
The Munchers series was created by the Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium — or, under a name with which you might be more familiar, MECC. I don’t know about you, but I have vivid memories of seeing those four letters scrawled across a huge number of the educational games I played at school; the company dated back to 1973 and was also responsible for games like the business simulator Lemonade Stand and the storytelling game Storybook Weaver.
The Munchers series' conceit was simple: They taught kids the basics of math and grammar. Number Munchers was originally released in 1990 for the Apple II, while Word Munchers had arrived a few years earlier in 1985. Gameplay-wise, both series functioned kind of like a turn-based version of Pacman; the object WAS to “eat” all of the numbers or words that correspond to the instructions on the screen (multiples of five, etc.) without getting caught by a Troggle.
What exactly are Troggles? No idea, but they're insatiable.
2. Math Blaster!
The original Math Blaster! was released in 1983 by the now-defunct developer Davidson & Associates, but it wasn’t until the ‘90s rolled around that the series really hit its stride. Between 1990 and 1999, a whopping 20 games were released in the Blaster Learning System — and somewhat astonishingly, a few more follow-ups trickled out between 2000 and 2008. Math wasn't the only subject addressed by the series; Reading Blaster!, for example,taught language arts. A Science Blaster! Jr. was also released at one point, but due to lack of popularity, it was the only entry in the series to tackle science-based topics.
Math Blaster! is available to play online now; additionally, a bunch of ports of the math-teaching game arrived as Android apps in October of 2013, so the series appears to be alive and well (if somewhat frozen in time).
3. Scooter’s Magic Castle
Like many early computer games, Scooter’s Magic Castle consisted of a relatively large environment full of what we now call mini-games. Released under Electronic Arts’ EA*Kids umbrella in 1993, the game involved players either assuming the role of or simply helping out an elf-like creature wearing a blue tunic, red sneakers, and a red baseball cap turned backwards (the '90s!) as they worked their way through a variety of activities. These activities were designed to teach everything from problem-solving to typing; you could even make terrible MIDI music by jumping up and down a set of colorful stairs.
Scooter's Magic Castle also has a super earworm-y theme song, so if you now have it stuck in your head for the rest of the day… sorry. My bad.
4. The Carmen Sandiego Series
No list of educational ‘90s computer games would be complete without an appearance by this mysterious, trench-coated criminal mastermind. The four major entries in the series — Where in the World, Where in the U.S.A., Where in Europe, and Where in Time — were all first released by Broderbund between 1985 and 1989; the deluxe versions of Where in the World and Where in the U.S.A., however, came along in 1992 and 1993, and as a result, it’s those versions that most ’90s kids remember so fondly. There was no better way to learn geography — and hey, Where in the World deluxe is playable at the Internet Archive, so it looks like I just figured out what I’m doing with myself this weekend.
Fun fact: A Facebook version of Where in the World was available to play in 2011; I’m not sure how I missed it, but it stuck around until 2012.
5. Kindercomp
I’m really dating myself here, but Kindercomp is probably the first computer game I remember playing. Initially released in 1983 by Spinnaker Software Corporation, it was exactly the kind of game that appealed to very young children: It consisted of six mini-games that taught kids their way around a keyboard by having them draw pictures, match pairs, and other simple activities. The one I remember is the 1984 version, but the Internet Archive has a whole bunch of ‘em available, so knock yourselves out. If you have a kid in your life who's around 3 years old, it might be a fun time to play with them!
Elves For Sale
6. Mario Teaches Typing
As a child in a house full of gamers, naturally I adored Mario Teaches Typing, which first hit the scene in the early '90s. One of a number of educational Mario games released between 1988 and 1996, it put the pixelated plumber to good work teaching us how to type. Hitting the correct key would prompt Mario to hit blocks, jump on Koopa Troopas, and more. Nintendo had almost no hand in the development of these games (a far cry from the tight hold the company tends to keep on the reigns of its properties nowadays), but they proved popular all the same.
I’ll be honest, though: I actually learned how to type by frequenting chat rooms. As a result, I can type an impressive number of words per minute; however, I definitely don’t use the “correct” fingers. Ah well. Whatever works, right?
7. Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing
Mario was second perhaps only to Mavis Beacon in the world of beloved typing programs — and what’s more, it’s still around: The first version debuted in 1987, and it has remained in production, continuing to get new and improved updates, pretty much ever since. You can download it for free right now if you like.
I was, by the way, absolutely devastated to learn recently that Mavis Beacon isn’t a real person. She was invented to give a face to the program in an era when human people weren't regularly associated with computer and video games (everything is a lie). 1985's The Chessmaster 2000had shown how effective putting a real person on the cover of a computer game could be; the wizard on the box was played by actor Will Hare, reported Vice in 2015. Mavis became the next incarnation of this strategy, as depicted by Renee L'Esperance.
8. 3D Dinosaur Adventure
Launched by Knowledge Adventure in 1993, 3D Dinosaur Adventure was little more than a glorified encyclopedia specializing in what we knew about dinosaurs at the time (much of which has since been determined to have been terribly, terribly wrong, even if the brontosaurus did make a triumphant comeback in 2015). That didn’t matter, though, because dinosaurs.
Also contained within 3D Dinosaur Adventure was a mini-game called 'Save The Dinosaurs' — which, to be perfectly honest, was downright terrifying. It required players to make their way through a series of maze-like hallways to find and rescue 15 types of dinosaurs before time ran out — and by 'before time ran out,' I mean 'before the comet that wiped out all of the dinosaurs crashed into the Earth, while you and the dinos were still on the planet.'
No pressure.
9. Odell Lake
Like the Munchers series, Odell Lake was created by MECC and therefore a fixture for many an elementary school computer lab. It debuted in the early 1980s, but it stuck around for long after that; it’s why so many of us ‘90s kids remember playing it when we were young.
In all honesty, it wasn’t really that exciting — all you did was swim around as a fish, trying to figure out whether you should eat, ignore, or run away from every other fish you encountered. I’m also not totally clear on why this was classified as an educational activity; Giant Bomb suggests it taught kids about food chains and predator/prey relationships, but I... clearly did not get that takeaway from it. But hey, I suppose survival skills are important, too, right?
Odell Lake is a real place, by the way; it’s in Oregon. Just, y’know, FYI.
10. Reader Rabbit
You know the old saying, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it? That’s pretty much the Reader Rabbit series in a proverbial nutshell: It’s so effective at teaching kids to read and write that it’s survived all the way since the first game launched in 1984. There's a huge list of Reader Rabbit titles scattered throughout educational computing history; at the series' height in the late '90s, six to seven titles in the line were being released each year. The output has since tapered off, of course, but the remarkable thing is that it's still around.
The last major PC release for a Reader Rabbit game was in 2010, but a number of titles have debuted since then as iOS apps. Many of the games are also, of course, available to play online courtesy of the Internet Archive.
11. Mixed-Up Mother Goose
Mixed-Up Mother Goose didn't have a ton of replay value; the point was to sort out all of the nursery rhymes that had gotten 'mixed up' and put them back in order, so after you did that once, your work there was done. However, the world in which the game existed was so delightful that I played it over and over again as a small child. Released by Sierra in 1987, with a handful of remakes appearing at regular intervals throughout the ‘90s, it was a point-and click adventure game that encourage problem-solving; it also gets bonus points for having tons of relatively diverse avatar options — something which was even rarer back then than it is now. (And, y'know, it's still a problem decades later, so that's... really saying something.)
12. Super Solvers: Treasure Mountain
I’ll be honest: I actually have no recollection of playing 1990’s Treasure Mountain, Treasure Cove, or any of the other Treasure titles in this series. Many other people seem to remember these games fondly, though, so I think they deserve an inclusion here. Like many educational games, 1990's Treasure Mountain — a creation of The Learning Company, like the Reader Rabbit series — involved solving riddles that led you to keys that unlocked each successive level. You also collected treasure as you went, returning it to the chest at the top of the titular mountain once you got there. A prize was awarded for depositing the treasure back into the chest.
Treasure Mountain and Treasure Cove both focused on general reading comprehension and basic math skills; however, other entries in the Super Solvers series tackled more specialized skill sets, including deductive reasoning and logic.
13. The Dr. Brain Series
Admittedly, I never played the fourth game in Sierra On-Line's long-running Dr. Brain series, and I wasn’t a big fan of the third — but the first two? Classic. The Castle of Dr. Brain, released in 1991, and the follow-up, 1992’s The Island of Dr. Brain, were a step up from a lot of the other puzzle-solving games out there; they were geared towards slightly older kids, so there was more to each puzzle than simply picking a matching shape or selecting the next number in a sequence. We’re talking intense logic puzzles that might stump even some adults.
Sierra merged with another educational game company, Bright Star Technology, following the release of The Island of Dr. Brain; the franchise was then handed over to a team from Bright Star, which might explain why 1995's The Lost Mind of Dr. Brain and 1996's The Time Warp of Dr. Brain were so different from the first two entries in the series.
14. Eagle Eye Mysteries
Like Scooter’s Magic Castle,1993’s Eagle Eye Mysteries and 1994’s Eagle Eyes Mysteries in London came to us courtesy of the now sadly defunct EA* Kids division of Electronic Arts. Unlike Scooter’s Magic Castle, though, they were meant for an older crowd. The games followed siblings Jake and Jennifer Eagle as they solved mysteries throughout first their hometown, then in London not — unlike a modernized, digital version of Encyclopedia Brown. If you were a pint-sized fan of whodunnits, this was the game for you; it helped you learn how to piece together different pieces of information until a complete picture emerged. A valuable skill to have, I feel.
15. Oregon Trail
Ah, yes: Oregon Trail, the game responsible for countless deaths by dysentery, many drownings of oxen who tried and failed to ford the river, and a plethora of memes. For anyone who grew up playing it, it's the gift that keeps on giving.
Speaking of people who grew up playing it, perhaps unexpectedly large swathe of the population falls into this category. Originally developed in 1971 and launched by MECC in 1974, roughly 20 versions of the game have been released since then — the most of which, believed it or not, arrived in 2018 as a handheld game similar to the Tiger Electronics games a lot of '80s kids grew up playing. Ostensibly, it taught kids what it was like to travel the Oregon Trail in a covered wagon in 1848; practically speaking, though, it mostly taught us about frustration.
Also: Never ford the river. Always caulk your wagon and float it.
Your oxen will thank you.
This article was originally published on