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Putt-Putt | |
---|---|
Genre(s) | Adventure, edutainment |
Developer(s) | Humongous Entertainment |
Publisher(s) | Humongous Entertainment Atari Infogrames Night Dive Studios |
Creator(s) | Shelley Day |
Platform(s) | DOS, Microsoft Windows, 3DO, Macintosh, iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 |
First release | Putt-Putt Joins the Parade September 9, 1992 |
Latest release | Putt-Putt's Fun House 2013 |
Putt-Putt is a series of children's adventure and puzzle computer games created by Humongous Entertainment. This franchise was Humongous Entertainment's first game series to be developed. [1] They primarily involve clicking to get to a destination, although some sub-quests and mini-games involve the keyboard. The main character, Putt-Putt, an anthropomorphic purple convertible, and his dog, Pep, travel to various locations.
Putt-Putt was originally thought up by Shelley Day as a series of bedtime stories for her son, Travis; the first story involved Putt-Putt saving a cat caught in a tree. [2] [3] Child actor Jason Ellefson did Putt-Putt's voice for the first eight of the games. In the next three games, Nancy Cartwright (of The Simpsons fame) voiced Putt-Putt. Michelle Thorson voiced Putt-Putt in Pep's Birthday Surprise.
The games are supported by ScummVM and thus can be played on other platforms such as handhelds. Humongous has brought several Putt-Putt and other titles to iOS [4] and Android.
In 1997, Humongous made an agreement with Lancit Media Entertainment to create an animated TV series titled Putt-Putt 'n Pals, along with films and home video releases. [5] [6] Ultimately, the deal fell through.
Several games from the original series were later re-released by Humongous on Steam in April 2014, [7] alongside games from the Pajama Sam, Freddi Fish, and Spy Fox series. [8] [9] The first two games used pixel art graphics; starting with the third game, the series uses hand-drawn animation.
Humongous Entertainment classified the adventure games as Junior Adventures for kids 3-8.
Adventure Games | |||
---|---|---|---|
Title | Release Date | Platforms | Developer/Publisher |
Putt-Putt Joins the Parade | November 6, 1992 (MS-DOS)
| 3DO, Android, iOS, Macintosh, Microsoft Windows, MS-DOS | Humongous Entertainment |
Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon |
| ||
Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo |
| Android, DVD, iOS,Macintosh, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 | |
Putt-Putt Travels Through Time |
| Android, iOS, Macintosh, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 | |
Putt-Putt Enters the Race [10] |
| Android, iOS, Macintosh, Microsoft Windows | |
Putt-Putt Joins the Circus [11] |
| Android, iOS, Macintosh, Microsoft Windows | |
Putt-Putt: Pep's Birthday Surprise |
| Macintosh, Microsoft Windows | |
Junior Arcade | |||
Title | Release Date | Platforms | Developer/Publisher |
Putt-Putt and Pep's Dog on a Stick |
| iOS, Macintosh, Microsoft Windows | Humongous Entertainment |
Putt-Putt and Pep's Balloon-o-Rama |
| Handheld, Linux, Macintosh, Microsoft Windows |
|
Activity Packs | |||
Title | Release Date | Platforms | Developer/Publisher |
Putt-Putt's Fun Pack | March 26, 1993 | 3DO, Macintosh, Microsoft Windows, MS-DOS | Humongous Entertainment |
Putt-Putt and Fatty Bear's Activity Pack |
| Macintosh, Microsoft Windows | |
Putt-Putt's One-Stop Fun Shop | May 23, 2000 | Macintosh, Microsoft Windows | |
Putt-Putt's Fun House | May 22, 2013 | iOS |
|
Players can change Putt-Putt's color to original purple, red, orange, yellow, green or blue. All colors can be painted on again. This also changes the color of the dashboard in Putt-Putt Enters the Race and Putt-Putt Joins the Circus. In Putt-Putt Joins the Parade and Putt-Putt Enters the Race, each color change costs three coins that can be collected in the game world. In Putt-Putt: Pep's Birthday Surprise, Putt-Putt's color can only be changed temporarily before reverting to purple after some traveling. His color can also be changed in certain levels of Putt-Putt and Pep's Balloon-o-Rama by using Pep to pop certain balloons tied to paint buckets, then catching the bucket containing the desired color as it falls to change Putt-Putt to.
Various children's books about Putt-Putt have been published by Lyrick Publishing and Random House. A cassette tape audio adaptation was created for "Putt-Putt's Night Before Christmas".
Title | Date | Writer | Publisher | Illustrator |
---|---|---|---|---|
Putt-Putt's Night Before Christmas [23] | December 1995 | Laurie Bauman Arnold | Humongous Entertainment, Inc. | Derek McCaughan, Edward Pun |
Putt-Putt and Pep [24] | May 7, 1996 | Del Thompson | Random House Books For Young Readers | |
Putt-Putt: The Great Pet Chase [25] | July 2000 | Laurie Bauman Arnold, Tricia Legault | Lyrick Publishing | |
Go, Go, Putt-Putt Go! [26] | 2000 | Laurie Bauman Arnold, N.S. Greenfield | Darren McKee | |
Putt-Putt: Lost In Time [27] | January 2001 | Nancy Parent | Josie Yee | |
Putt-Putt: Race Against the Clock [28] | July 2001 | Gayla Amaral | Sue DiCiccio | |
On the Road With Putt-Putt [29] |
The Putt-Putt series received various awards including "All-Star Software Award" from Children's Software Revue, "Reader's Choice Award" from Mac Home Journal and "2000 Best Picks Award" from Choosing Children's Software. [30]
Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion Virtual Machine (ScummVM) is a set of game engine recreations. Originally designed to play LucasArts adventure games that use the SCUMM system, it also supports a variety of non-SCUMM games by companies like Revolution Software and Adventure Soft. It was originally written by Ludvig Strigeus. ScummVM is free software that is released under the terms of the GNU General Public License.
Dave Grossman is an American game programmer and game designer, most known for his work at Telltale Games and early work at LucasArts. He has also written several children's books, and a book of "guy poetry" called Ode to the Stuff in the Sink.
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Freddi Fish 2: The Case of the Haunted Schoolhouse is a 1996 video game and the second of five adventure games in the Freddi Fish series of games developed and published by Humongous Entertainment. It was released on iOS under the title Freddi Fish Haunted Schoolhouse Mystery and on Android with a shortened title Freddi Fish: Haunted Schoolhouse in 2014. It was also released on the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in May 2024.
Freddi Fish 3: The Case of the Stolen Conch Shell is a 1998 video game and the third of five adventure games in the Freddi Fish series of games developed and published by Humongous Entertainment. An iOS version was released with a shortened title Freddi Fish & the Stolen Shell, and also released with a "Lite" demo version that featured subtitles and text boxes in the gameplay. It was considered one of Atari's capital projects available on its website and on the App Store. A Nintendo Switch version along with Putt-Putt Travels Through Time was released in January 2022, followed by the PlayStation 4 version on the PlayStation Store in November.
Freddi Fish 4: The Case of the Hogfish Rustlers of Briny Gulch is a 1999 video game and the fourth of five adventure games in the Freddi Fish series of games. It was developed and published by Humongous Entertainment.
Humongous Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Bothell, Washington. Founded in 1992, the company developed multiple edutainment franchises, most prominently Putt-Putt, Freddi Fish, Pajama Sam, Spy Fox, and Backyard Sports, which, combined, sold over 15 million copies and earned more than 400 awards of excellence.
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Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo is a 1995 video game and the third of seven adventure games in the Putt-Putt series of games developed and published by Humongous Entertainment. The animation style also changed with this game to hand-drawn animation, in contrast to the pixel art graphics of the previous two games, following the studio's jump from DOS to Windows with Freddi Fish and the Case of the Missing Kelp Seeds the previous year. The game was reissued on April 19, 1999. In November 2011, the game became the first Humongous Entertainment game to be rereleased for iOS and Google Play. Developed by Nimbus Games Inc., the iOS version of this game released by Atari was discontinued. A Nintendo Switch version was released in February 2022, followed by the PlayStation 4 version on the PlayStation Store in November the same year.
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Putt-Putt Enters the Race is an educational adventure game developed and published by Humongous Entertainment on January 1, 1999. The game is the fifth entry in the Putt-Putt series.
Putt-Putt and Pep's Balloon-o-Rama is a 1996 action video game, developed by Humongous Entertainment. The game is part of the Putt-Putt series of educational video games. It was part of a series of Junior Arcade games, targeted at kids aged three to eight.
Pajama Sam 2: Thunder and Lightning Aren't so Frightening is a children's point-and-click adventure game originally released for Windows and Macintosh in 1998. This game was ported to Android under the title Pajama Sam: Thunder and Lightning in April 2014. A Nintendo Switch version was released in February 2022, followed by the PlayStation 4 version on the PlayStation Store in November. The second game of the Pajama Sam franchise, it features the title character entering the World Wide Weather through his attic to stop the scary thunder and lightning.
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Putt-Putt Travels Through Time is a 1997 video game and the fourth of seven adventure games in the Putt-Putt series of games developed and published by Humongous Entertainment. In 2014 Night Dive Studios re-released the iOS, Linux and Steam versions. In 2022, a port was released on the Nintendo Switch in January, as one of the first Humongous Entertainment games to be released on the system alongside Freddi Fish 3: The Case of the Stolen Conch Shell, followed by a PlayStation 4 version in November.
Putt-Putt is the flagship title of the company
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