Putt-Putt Joins the Parade

Putt-Putt Joins the Parade, released in 1992, is the first game from Humongous Entertainment and the start of its whole line of children's adventures. The studio was founded by Ron Gilbert and Shelley Day, both formerly of LucasArts, and it shows: the game runs on the SCUMM engine, the same technology behind the classic LucasArts adventures.\n\nThe difference lies in how it treats the player. Where adult adventures were built on item combinations and the constant possibility of getting stuck, Humongous designed this so a child could never reach an unrecoverable state. You click with the mouse, explore screens, talk to characters and complete simple tasks. Every screen also hides small animations that fire when clicked and serve no purpose beyond rewarding curiosity.\n\nTechnically it was well made for 1992: 256 colours, full voice acting on the CD version and hand-painted backgrounds. Voice acting was still novel in children's software then and helped enormously with players who could not yet read.\n\nThe series became one of the most successful in the children's market and defined how this type of game is built. It has also aged unusually well - the simplicity of the design keeps it playable.\n\nOn OldGame.cz the game runs straight in your browser, with no DOSBox installation and no configuration required.

What became of the studio is worth adding. Humongous Entertainment produced children's adventures throughout the nineties, and its games are still cited as a textbook example of how to design software for small children. The SCUMM engine underneath them is thoroughly documented as well, which makes these titles among the best preserved parts of the whole DOS era.