Over recent years, I have periodically searched.
Zoombinis' Logical Journey offers no new features, but is able to run on newer computers. A wave of childhood memories washed over me today when I looked up one of the first video games my parents bought for my sister and me: The Logical Journey of the Zoombinis ©1996, a puzzle/adventure computer game. It also required beating each path 3 times without losing any zoombini in order to raise its difficulty, instead of only needing to do so just once.
The latter re-released the game as Logical Journey of the Zoombinis Deluxe and finally Zoombinis' Logical Journey, which is important because the last release is capable of running on modern computers where the original and Deluxe are not.ĭeluxe introduced such features as Practice Mode, in which the player can pick any level and any difficulty to play without influencing their "campaign" progress, and the help icon, which explains how to solve each level from within it. Fortunately, 20 years later, the Zoombinis are about to be re-introduced to the masses for a whole new generation of. Logical Journey of the Zoombinis was released by Brøderbund but later on changed hands to the Learning Company. The original Zoombinis game just wasn’t able to keep up with newer devices. Lorrin Jones (Ferrous, Ulla Instantaneous).Randall Nazarian (Arno, Ignorameous, Captain Cajun).T he title screen of Logical Journey of the Zoombinis. There are 12 puzzles grouped into 4 regions: Our inspiration came from the stunning landscape paintings of Grant Wood (most famous for his American Gothic painting).The Zoombinis have become prisoners in their own island! Now they must escape, in groups of 16, to find their new home: Zoombiniville. An illustrator used that drawing to create an acrylic painting that was scanned for the digital backgrounds. If you’re not familiar with the Zoombinis’ story of a peaceful, productive life thrown off course, watch this video from the original…Īll the backgrounds in the game started with a layout drawing that incorporated functional design elements into a vibrant scene. That’s right, this cult classic is being revived for today’s platforms- check out the Zoombinis Kickstarter campaign! Although the game was intended for kids 9+, Zoombinis took on a Harry Potter-like status where older kids were playing with younger siblings and adults were playing alongside (or not) their kids.Īs art director, I had the opportunity to lead a team of uber-talented animators and artists who really pushed the boundaries of what was being done at the time, using a mix of the latest digital technologies and good old-fashioned pencil, paint and paper.īelow are videos and images highlighting what we created, along with some of the beautiful imagery for the NEW iteration. I’m very proud of everything I worked on at Brøderbund, but my all-time favorite project was Logical Journey of the Zoombinis, a brilliant logic puzzle game conceived and designed at TERC, a non-profit focused on education research and development. Odds are you or one of your kids would say “oh yeah, I remember Carmen Sandiego.” Or maybe Kid Pix, Myst, The Print Shop and many others that were award-winning hits of their time.
Alongside a team of talented, passionate people, we created and published some of the best, most enduring brands in the emerging “edutainment” software market. Name changes The original release of the game by Broderbund Europe in March 1996 came in three languages: British (v1.0BR), French (v1.0FR), and German (v1.0DE). Rewind to 1996 when I worked for a pioneering company, Brøderbund. The player can opt to have up to two identical Zoombinis in play if they prefer, meaning that in a single game, not all Zoombini combinations have to be used.