E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial: Digital Companion

Overview

E.T. Digital Companion is a PDA program/mini-game collection developed by Powerhead Games and published by NewKidCo for the Game Boy Color.

Functions

The E.T. Digital Companion functions as a PDA program aimed at children.

E-Mail

The game has a built-in "e-mail" function which allows players to write messages to others. The game will also occasionally send the player messages. There is no way to actually send messages to other players, but they can be printed out using the Game Boy Printer.

To-Do List

Players can set up a to-do list containing actions they want to be reminded to do. There are pre-set items or the player can type in a custom action.

Events

There is a built in calendar in E.T. Digital Companion that contains many pre-set holidays. These events will also include the players birthdays that have been set. This list of events can be printed using the Game Boy Printer.

Clock

The game features a clock that can be views from the tools menu. This clock shows the player the current time on an E.T. themed watch face.

Stopwatch

The stopwatch feature allows players to start and stop the timer to time activities. The only options are to start the time, stop the time, and reset the time. The stop watch face is the same E.T. themed one from the clock.

School Schedule

The calendar feature in E.T. Digital Companion allows players to input a school schedule which will display important events or just what period and time a class starts.

Set Up

Name

When first starting up E.T. Digital Companion, players will be asked to set the time and day. After setting the date and time it will be time to input first name, last name, and middle name as well as a nickname. Once these steps have been done players will go through an extensive list of items the game wants to know about. Any of these can be skipped.

Personal Information

• Birthday
• Phone Number
• Gender
• Address
• Zip Code
• City
• Statez
• E-mail Address
• Fathers First Name
• Mothers First Name

Favorites/Least Favorites

• Favorite Hobby
• Pets Names
• Favorite Color
• Least Favorite Color
• Favorite Food
• Grossest Food
• Favorite Animal
• Best Friends Name
• Favorite School Subject
• Favorite Band
• Favorite Actor/Actress
• Favorite Type of TV Show

Other

• What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?

Mini-Games

E.T. Digital Companion features five mini-games that can be played from the menu under the cool stuff option. The five games are:

Trivia Quiz

In trivia quiz there are two categories of questions for the player to choose from: E.T. Movie Trivia and Space Trivia. Once the player picks a category they will be given 10 questions with a score given at the end depending on the number of right answers.

Bicycle Race

When starting Bicycle Race players have the option of selecting easy, medium, or hard difficulty. In this game the goal is to get to the finish line in each stage. Players control the speed of the bike using left and right on the D-Pad and can move up and down. There are various obstacles to avoid. If too many obstacles are hit the the energy bar is depleted it is game over.

Word Scramble

word Scramble gives the player a word in which all the letters are all mixed up and the player must unscramble them to complete it. There is a hint option which will first give the player the category the word is in and then will give one letters set location.

Pair Up

Pair Up is a memory matching card game in which 30 cards are all laid out face down. The player then chooses two cards. If those cards match they will be removed from the table, if they are not they will be returned face down. The goal is to try and remove all the cards in the least amount of moves possible and reveal the picture underneath.

Tile Puzzle

When starting Tile Puzzle players will be given the option to choose easy, medium, or hard difficulties. The goal of Tile Puzzle is to complete the image by sliding a tile adjacent to the empty square to try and maneuver the tiles to create the image.

On the easy difficulty players will be given numbers on each tile to indicate where it should go. On medium no numbers will be shown but the picture will have a border around it to help figure out the edge pieces. On the hard difficulty the tiles have both no numbers and no border.

Flopglopple

Located under the Cool Stuff menu is the Flopglopple. The Flopglopple is a virtual pet creature that is very weasel like in its appearance. Players have the option to play, feed, and talk to the Flopglopple as well as check its status.

There are five different categories of stats on the Flopglopple:

• Mood
• Hunger
• Boredom
• Tired
• Age

Slideshow

Also located in the Cool Stuff menu is a slideshow option. In the slideshow players can view a rotating set of images that have been unlocked. To unlock more images the player must earn points by playing the mini-games. The images can be printed out using the Game Boy Printer.