Big Thinkers (video game series)

Big Thinkers is a short line educational game from Humongous Entertainment, which revolved around siblings Ben and Becky Brightly (voiced by Mike Shapiro and Karen Kay Cody respectively), two characters with the ability to shape-shift into any object they desire. The series contains two games: Big Thinkers! Kindergarten and Big Thinkers! 1st Grade. Both titles feature the same goal of collecting stars. The title was conceived and developed by Jonathan Maier.

Big Thinkers
Genre(s)Adventure, Edutainment
Developer(s)Humongous Entertainment
Publisher(s)Humongous Entertainment
Platform(s)Windows, Macintosh, Steam
First releaseBig Thinkers! Kindergarten
October 17, 1997
Latest releaseBig Thinkers! 1st Grade
October 17, 1997

There were plans to release a third game in the series, Big Thinkers! 2nd Grade, which would have been released in 1998.[1] It was initially developed in parallel with the other two games, but was abandoned when working on three games at once proved to be too ambitious and due to poor sales for the first two titles.[2][3]

Production

Big Thinkers! was designed to consist of "a grade-specific learning program".[4]

Gameplay

The player interacts with Ben and Becky as objects, while exploring the house and playing sixteen mini-games to earn stars of one of five colors: red, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Each color represents a different category of education:
Red Smart Stars: Reading/English
Yellow Smart Stars: Art/Creativity
Green Smart Stars: Thinking Skills/Spatial Recognition
Blue Smart Stars: Math/Computation
Purple Smart Stars: Physical Science/Social Science
Upon collecting a large amount of each color, the player then has a chance to attempt a longer mini-game to obtain a larger dull orange-colored star wearing a square academic cap (sunglasses and a skateboard in First Grade). Many mini games are available in both games, but in each game they are different. The house lay-out is the same except in Big Thinkers 1st Grade the woods is replaced with a garage.

Big Thinkers! Kindergarten taught skills such as measurements, spelling, and letter identification.[5] In teaching math, language arts, science / social science, creative arts and skills, the game built upon the national curriculum standards for kindergarten students.[6]

Critical reception

The series had a mixed reception. The Boston Herald wrote that the series was released to a "universal yawn", as opposed to other Humongous series such as Putt-Putt and Freddi Fish, which were popular, fun, rewarding, and replayable, according to the site.[4] They added that the series' protagonists Ben and Becky "fail to ignite sympathy" and some activities were not well-designed, dull, and insoluble; however they thought other activities were "both age-appropriate and amusing".[4] The Rocky Mountain News wrote that while the series in theory "includes all the elements that should make for a successful program", in reality it was uncaptivating, confusing, and frustrating, with navigation being a significant issue.[6] The Washington Times deemed Kindergarten "skill-sharpening",[7] while Humpty Dumpty Magazine thought Kindergarten had "many great games to play".[8] ReviewCorner said Kindergarten was "busier" and more challenging than its competitors in the market.[9] Discovery Education reviewed 1st Grade by noting that many first-graders may find the program too challenging.[10]

References
  1. "Humongous Entertainment Delivers the First Educational Series With Personality; Ben and Becky Brightly Star in the New Big Thinkers! Series. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Archived from the original on 2016-09-17.
  2. Hurd, Devin (May 7, 2014). "Humongous Entertainment Alumni Public Group". Facebook. It was developed in parallel with Big Thinkers Kindergarten and Big Thinkers 1st Grade and eventually was abandoned when developing three titles with one team proved to be too ambitious.
  3. Ryan, James (July 2, 1998). "PROFILE; On the Job With Putt-Putt, Freddi Fish and Pajama Sam". The New York Times. One of [Shelley Day's] few management missteps was try to enter the arena of educational software for 5 and 6-year-olds with the company's Big Thinkers series, released in October 1997. The titles bombed, and Humongous has backed off for now.
  4. "CDs will hook Humongous fans.(Arts and Lifestyle)". 2000-03-12. Archived from the original on 2016-10-08. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. "SOFTWARE ENTERTAINS, EDUCATES CHILDREN". 2000-04-23. Archived from the original on 2016-10-08. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. "KIDS ON COMPUTERS.(Home Front)(Review)". 1998-05-31. Archived from the original on 2016-10-08. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. "Learn While Tooling around with Putt-Putt". 2000-03-21. Archived from the original on 2016-10-08. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. "Big thinkers! Kindergarten. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 2016-09-17.
  9. "Big Thinkers! Kindergarten Computer Game Reviews - Review Corner". 2007-11-07. Archived from the original on 2007-11-07. Retrieved 2016-09-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  10. "DiscoverySchool.com - Review Corner". school.discoveryeducation.com. Archived from the original on 2016-09-18. Retrieved 2016-09-17.
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