Castle Explorer

Castle Explorer is an educational title aimed at children aged around eight or nine and over.

Dorling Kindersley have used the medium of the game to show what a functioning castle would look like and explain about medieval life.

The player can explore the castle in two ways. By entering honestly the title this becomes an interactive educational title. However the king does not trust baron Mortimer who owns the castle and wants information. By accepting the king's mission and entering as a spy the player enters the game where they must search the castle for pieces of a secret map and find the answer to three question. Whichever path they take they will explore the castle as either a maid or a knight, meet important people such as the jailer, the alchemist, the baron, his cook and others. If successful the player is presented with a certificate from the king at the end of the game

The exploration is based on Dorling Kindersley's books with detailed cutaway drawings. Certain locations have interactive video sequences with live actors against computer generated backgrounds. Some of these contain simple tasks to be performed such as cleaning armour or putting bread into an oven while in others the player is asked questions to ensure that they are not a spy.

The game is backed up by a detailed reference section where any unfamiliar medieval word can be looked up, there are also 'Trails' by which the player can look into specific aspects of medieval life, warfare, crime, or society etc in detail. These contain the answers to the questions asked in the game.

This title uses Apple's QuickTime video and is entirely mouse controlled