Best Kids' Software
From LoveToKnow Kids
The Best Kids' Software Ever
Sadly, it would probably be easier to list ten incredibly bad kids' software titles than it would to list best kids' software titles. The kids' software titles which follow are included because of a general consensus that they are high quality examples in a genre that is, unfortunately, peppered by more than a lion's share of duds, snoozers, and sad excuses for interactive entertainment or educational titles. Since the first copy of Elmo's ABC's was encoded on a 5 1/4" floppy disc or read from a cassette tape into a Commodore 64 computer, kids' software has been used as a way for publishers to push mindless and useless dreck on the consumer masses because they believed that, if it's for kids, it doesn't matter. Fortunately there have been several notable exceptions to that rule.
Oregon Trail
Arguably the first great "edutainment" title for personal computers was The Oregon Trail, a title that put players into the role of a nineteenth century pioneer making his way across the American wilderness with a wagon train. Each phase of gameplay presented tough decisions and pitted the player against the same life or death hardships endured by the real pioneers. The gameplay was engrossing and addictive, the best that computers had to offer at the time, while also being highly educational. The Oregon Trail is remembered to this day as one of the best kids' software titles ever to grace an RGB monitor and has earned accolades and awards from game experts and educators alike.
Carmen Sandiego
Getting a kid interested in geography is no easy task. It's hard to find a child who will remember where Pike's Peak and the Ganges River are located and harder to find one who will care. If tidbits of geographical information were handed out on a purely need-to-know basis, most kids wouldn't feel the need to know. Enter Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, the first kids' software title to make kids actually want to know where Mt. Rushmore, the French Quarter, the Taj Mahal, and the Amazon are found. By offering geographical clues to the whereabouts of multiple colorful criminal characters, including the crafty title femme fatal, kids find themselves passing geography tests as they have fun playing the game. Spawning multiple sequels and offshoots based on specific locations and other subjects, the Carmen Sandiego games are some of the best kids' software of all time. In fact, they are still being published and played to this day. They have also inspired a TV cartoon and a kids' game show that makes Jeopardy! seem like Tic-Tac-Dough.
Zork!
In the beginning, arcades and the Atari 2600 were for video games and personal computers were for word processors and other "real world" applications. Never the twain shall meet was the general belief because no one would feel comfortable spending over a thousand dollars on a machine so they could play Pong. Then a small software upstart called Infocon decided that the world of video games and the "serious" PC could indeed be married and the text-adventure was born. It was called Zork! and it was good. While not strictly a kids' title, Zork! proved rather frustrating for most adults while teens seemed adept at working out its logical puzzles. Infocon went on to release several other excellent text-based titles including Zork! sequels and an adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy before being driven out of business by an industry that was often more interested in flashy graphics than clever content.
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