Imagination Express
| Imagination Express | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Educational |
| Developer | Edmark |
| Platforms | Windows, Macintosh |
| First release | Destination: Castle 1994 |
| Latest release | Destination: Time Trip, USA 1996 |
Imagination Express is an educational series of interactive storybook generator[1] video games developed by Edmark.[2][3] The titles in the series include Destination: Castle (November 15, 1994),[3] Destination: Neighborhood (November 15, 1994),[3] Destination: Rain Forest (May 5, 1995),[4] Destination: Ocean, Destination: Pyramids, and Destination: Time Trip, USA.
Development
[edit | edit source]At the launch of the product line, Edmark CEO Sally Narodick commented that "kids love to tell stories", noting the creations that playtesters of the series had already made.[3] A perspective-based piece of technology was added to the game; dubbed "auto-sizing", it meant that the size of an object changed as it was moved by the player toward the foreground or background.[2]
Gameplay
[edit | edit source]The games, which are targeted at children aged 6–12, transport players to learning destinations around the globe, and "inspire them to create interactive on-screen stories and beautiful printed books".[5] The games aim to encourage creative writing and imagination skills.[2] The games included background information, such as the "Destination: Rain Forest's Rain Forest Fact Book".[6] Players can add text, music, and their own narration.[7]
Commercial performance
[edit | edit source]Destination: Rain Forest was the 5th most popular title in the education category sold across 11 Software Etc. stores in the Washington area in the week ending on June 10, 1995.[8]
Critical reception
[edit | edit source]Chicago Sun-Times deemed the series "high-quality eduware" as well as "clever...mathematics teaching software". The newspaper said the series contained "some of the best software in years to help kids learn how to create stories".[9] Computer Shopper wrote that Destination: Ocean was less effective than it could be because it separated the education and entertainment portions of the game rather than seamlessly integrating them.[10] Daily News said Destination: Ocean "provides such a balance".[11] The Washington Post thought Destination: Rain Forest was a "high-class creativity program".[12] Computers in Libraries praised the series for "provid[ing] a host of tools and interactive methods for children to learn how to write their own stories", rather than passively absorbing the work of developers.[13] PC Mag described Destination: Rain Forest as a "creativity tool".[14] School Library Journal noted that recorded sounds could take up a considerable amount of space on a contemporary computer's harddrive.[15]
According to Billboard, the series is "award-winning".[16] Destination: Rain Forest won a Newsweek Editor's Choice Awards for best children's software in 1995.[17] That same year, Imagination Express received the Silver Award for Best Elementary Education Program for Children at the NewMedia INVISION Awards ceremony.[18] The series won one of the four awards at the 1995-1995 Software Awards; Technology & Learning wrote that the series was "sophisticated" and "smart".[19]
References
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