Gertrude's Secrets
| Gertrude's Secrets | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | The Learning Company |
| Platform(s) |
Apple II Commodore 64 DOS |
| Release date(s) | 1984 |
| Genre(s) | Edutainment |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Gertrude's Secrets is a 1984 children's edutainment computer game by The Learning Company.
The goal of the game is to solve puzzles and find secrets along with the game's titular character, Gertrude the goose. It features a variety of puzzles involving basic recognition of shapes, colors and patterns. The puzzles are designed to develop basic skills of logic and reasoning. A companion game, Gertrude's Puzzles was released at the same time.[1] Gertrude's Secrets was released for DOS, Commodore 64, and the Apple II.[2]
Gameplay
Gertrude's Secrets features rooms filled with puzzles to be solved by arranging objects by shape and colour. It is played by dragging Gertrude the Puzzle Bird into one of the various rooms. Gertrude then brings various shapes into the rooms which have to be arranged appropriately. Upon completion of the puzzle, Gertrude awards the player with a prize called a "treasure" which is stored in the player's treasure room.[1] Puzzle types include "loop" and train puzzles.[3] The game also includes a noisy bird and a room for editing shapes.
Reception
A review in the Journal of Learning Disabilities called the puzzles "challenging and highly entertaining" for children.[1] It was also cited as an example of a learning tool that can help teach children basic classification skills.[4][5] Leslie Eiser, writing for Compute! commented that the game required involvement from a parent, being designed to challenge children in addition to teaching them.[2]
References
- Charles, Rosalind and Karen K. Lind. (2009). Math & Science for Young Children. Belmont: Cengage. ISBN 1428375864
- 1 2 3 "Courseware Review: Gertrude's Secrets". Journal of Learning Disabilities. March 1984. pp. 188-198.
- 1 2 Eiser, Leslie. (1989). KIDS' TIME. Compute!, 113. p. 92.
- ↑ Charles and Lind, p. 490.
- ↑ Charles and Lind, p. 159.
- ↑ (1983). "High-tech 'textbooks' for children." Christian Science Monitor.