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This puts you in the rider’s seat. You have taken on the dangerous task of delivering the mail on time. It is 1861, and the Civil War has just begun. You must outwit Confederate spies who want California to secede from the Union. And every decision is up to you. The players point-and-click their way through various towns and express stations. Objects may hide information or puzzles and clicking on people plays a small scene. This way different stories unfold, for example a North-vs-South spy adventure or a Swedish immigrant family's journey to California. Additional educational content is relayed through letters, quotes, newspapers, and short descriptive texts (including some information about horses and famous riders of the Pony Express). Puzzles are mostly based around deciphering various codes (e.g. Morse, Native American Sign Language, Semaphore). A diary contains codes, maps, a dictionary and collected information. Interacting is largely optional, though "hero points" are rewarded for the completion of puzzles. Leaving a station, the graphics change and the riding simulation starts. If the rider runs into bandits, there is a shoot out, but since this is a game for children only the hats of the bandits are targets and nobody gets hurt. Shooting can be practiced at various locations throughout the game. Illustrated backgrounds and hilariously hammy real live actors (no real horses though; probably didn't fit in the studio). Rider POV in "quasi-3d" for the riding simulation. The educational content is categorized as "Social Studies" with a focus on events leading up to the American Civil War. Living conditions in the 19th century, slavery, abolitionist and feminist movements, emigration, westward expansion and struggles of Native Americans are all at least briefly covered. Not bad for a kids game about a postal service that lasted less than two years. |
