Early Games
| Early Games | |
|---|---|
 Title screen | |
| Developer(s) | Springboard Software |
| Publisher(s) | Counterpoint Software Inc. |
| Platform(s) | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, C64, IBM PC, Macintosh, TRS-80, TRS-80 Color Computer |
| Release | 1982 (Atari 8-bit) 1983 (Apple II, C64, TRS-80, TRS-80 CoCo) 1984 (DOS) 1986 (Macintosh) |
| Genre(s) | Educational |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Early Games (aka Early Games for Young Children) is 1982 educational video game by Counterpoint Software and Springboard Software, designed by John Paulson. The game contain a series of educational minigames targeted at preschoolers and designed to teach basic maths, language, and logic skills. It was part of the Skill Builder series along with: Fraction Factory, Match Maker, and Piece of Cake.[1][2]
Commercial performance
By April 6, 1985, Early Games had maintained an 18-week streak on the Billboard charts for Top Educational Software.[3] After dropping off the charts the following week, it re-entered at #5 on April 20, 1985.[4] By August of that year, the game would spend a total of 36 weeks on the charts, currently sitting at #3.[5] In May 3, 1986, the game re-entered the charts again at #8.[6]
Critical reception
PC Magazine negatively compared Early Games for Young Children's graphics to My Letters, through praised the user friendliness of its menu, ultimately giving it 10.5/18.[7] Texas Monthly thought the game was "easy to operate", and added that both the game and Kids on Keys (Spinnaker Software) were great options as the first experience young players could have with computers.[8]
References
- ^ Inc, Ziff Davis (1984-12-11). PC Mag. Ziff Davis, Inc.
{{cite book}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ Teaching and Computers. Scholastic. 1983-01-01.
- ^ Inc, Nielsen Business Media (1985-04-06). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.
{{cite book}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ Inc, Nielsen Business Media (1985-04-20). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.
{{cite book}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ Inc, Nielsen Business Media (1985-08-17). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.
{{cite book}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ Inc, Nielsen Business Media (1986-05-03). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.
{{cite book}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ Inc, Ziff Davis (1983-10-01). PC Mag. Ziff Davis, Inc.
{{cite book}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ Communications, Emmis (1984-10-01). Texas Monthly. Emmis Communications.