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Goldfields (video game)

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Goldfields
Developer(s)Jacaranda Software
Publisher(s)Jacaranda Software
Platform(s)
Release
  • 1986
  • 2007
Genre(s)simulation game
Mode(s)Single-player

Goldfields is a computer game for children which simulates 'life on the diggings' during a 19th-century gold rush. Beginning with a concept by Trevor Jacob, it was developed and published by Jacaranda Software in Australia in 1986.[1] It was first released for Apple II, BBC Micro, Commodore 64[2] and IBM compatible systems.[3] The first Macintosh version was later developed using Hypercard.[4] The original Goldfields package contained a disk, teacher's guide, four black-line masters and a copy of A Goldfields Journal or A Guide to Prospective Gold Seekers. A review in Australian Educational Computing magazine described it as 'a particularly useful package, adaptable to a number of levels in both upper primary and secondary social science classes.'[3] The game also received a favourable review from the Australian Journal of Reading in 1986.[5] Despite its age, Goldfields remains well regarded as a mining-themed economic simulator with integrated action sequences.[6]

Due to its ongoing popularity with children and educators, it was rewritten from scratch for Windows XP and Macintosh OSX by Greygum Software in 2007,[7] who bought the rights to the title after Jacaranda Software's closure in the early 1990s.

An emulated version is available to play on archive.org.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Goldfields". Play it again... Retrieved 2015-01-27.
  2. ^ "Goldfields". Gamebase 64. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
  3. ^ a b "Software Reviews - Goldfields" (PDF). Australian Educational Computing. 1986-07-01. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
  4. ^ Goldfields : a simulation of life on the diggings. OCLC 222816122. Retrieved 2015-01-27 – via OCLC World Cat.
  5. ^ "Australian Journal of Reading Volume 9 Issue 4". Informit. 1986-11-01. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
  6. ^ "Strategy > 1990 > Goldfields". Squakenet. Archived from the original on 2013-09-18. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
  7. ^ "Greygum Software". Greygum Software. 2007-01-22. Retrieved 2015-01-27.