The Playroom

Overview

The Playroom is an educational game released in 1991 by Brøderbund Software for children ages 3 to 6. The game helped children learn how to count, read, spell, and tell time.

Gameplay

Upon loading the game, the user is dropped into the titular Playroom. Nearly everything will interact when you click on it, and several items in the room lead to activities.

The Triceratops

Clicking the Triceratops will either cause him to yawn or to wag his tail.

Nightstand

A balloon will open from the drawer of the nightstand and will pop upon mouseover. Only one balloon can be out at a time.

Radio

The radio will play one of several public domain songs.

Bed

Clicking the bed will play a lullaby.

Cuckoo Clock

Starts the Clock game. See activities.

The Bird

The bird chirps.

Look-A-Lot the Alien

Click Look-A-Lot to make his eye roll. His name is never truly mentioned in the game, but the back of the box refers to him as 'Look-A-Lot'.

Elephant Penguin Mermaid toy

Starts the Mix n' Match game. See activities.

Window

Clicking the window will close the drapes and open them again to reveal a Dragon in the place of Pepper the Mouse.

Spinner Toy

This starts the Spinner game. See activities.

ABC Book

The ABC book will take users into the Picture Book game. See activities.

Computer

The computers starts the Typing game. See activities.

Goldfish

Selecting the goldfish will make the fish backflip out of the water and back into its bowl.

Bulletin Board

The Bulletin Board rewards the user with a quick animation and a small recording of the word on the board being said. Click the turned-up corner of the page to receive another word.

Mousehole

The Mousehole leads to Pepper's Dice game. See activities.

Clothes

The sleeve of the jacket will come to life and wave at the user.

Activities

Each activity has a different skill to be learned - telling time, creativity, spelling, etc.

Mix n' Match

Each character in the Mix n' Match game are divided into three parts: head, body, and legs. Children are invited to cycle through the different body parts until they create a wacky creature of their own. There is also a 'Random' button in the upper right that spits out a randomly generated creature.

Cuckoo Clock

The game showcases a day in Pepper's life. Selecting an hour will show the position of the sun in the sky, Pepper's activity of the hour, and a digital readout of the hour. A Cuckoo bird will also pop out of the top of the clock and tweet the time as music notes appear onscreen for kids to count along.

Spinner

The left spinner features objects such as ducks, top hats, and balloons and the right spinner lists the numbers 1 through 12 in a clock-style face. Selecting an object and number will show that number of objects on top of the screen. Clicking Pepper will start another style of activity. A number of objects will appear on the top screen and Pepper will ask how many there are. If the child chooses correctly, they are rewarded with a quick animation.

ABC Book

A sticker-placing game with two scenes, a fantasy world and a normal town. All the letters of the alphabet appear at the top of the screen, selecting a letter will give you a corresponding sticker, such as 'T' for 'truck' or 'troll' depending on what background the child is using. Select the moving truck icon to switch the background, the trash can to wipe your picture and start over, and the case button to toggle between upper and lower case letters.

Computer

Type a letter on the screen to have it appear on the toy computer's monitor. Clicking Pepper will start another activity. Several packages will appear on the screen, selecting one will allow children to type out the word as the package opens to reveal what the child just typed. There are also surprise words one can select by hitting the '???' present. A random word is picked and children must rely on Pepper's instructions to open the present and see what's inside.

Pepper's Dice game

A fairly standard board game, with single player or two player options. Pepper and a robot are racing to the end of the board game! Clicking on the dice shaker will reveal three dice, children must then pick which dice will allow them to move the farthest. The game board also features pegs that will send players flying: black pegs move the character backward an assigned number of spaces, and white pegs will move the character forward. A certain level of strategy is involved in this board game, as players must learn that selecting the dice roll with the biggest number is not always the best idea.

Brøderbund's World of Exploratory Learning Series

Playroom was one of three games in Brøderbund's 'World of Exploratory Learning' series. Each game had similar elements to The Playroom, but were not truly sequels. Once a child had mastered everything The Playroom could offer, the child would move onto The Backyard which taught animal habitats, social skills, and strategy and logic. The last in the series was The Treehouse, a game teaching musical instruments, deductive reasoning, and sentence structure. It should be noted that Pepper makes a triumphant return in The Treehouse, now with a girlfriend, Ginger the Mouse. Look-a-Lot, the stubby green cyclops, is featured in all three games and even stars in a board game in The Treehouse.

Re-release

The game was re-released in 1995 on CD with completely reworked graphics and the inclusion of Ginger. Several other minor changes, such as the radio being turned into a jukebox, were added.