Darby the Dragon

Darby the Dragon is a beautifully animated variation on the classic 'Dungeons and Dragons' critical thinking program. Here, the lead character finds a magic wand, and accidentally wishes his sister was smaller while they were struggling over the wand. The next thing you know, "poof!" she's been shrunk to quarter-size. Unfortunately, this magic wand needs to be re-charged by the wizard before it can return her to normal. And that requires three magic ingredients which Darby and sister Sparkle must hunt for. It's not as easy as it sounds. For example, one of the requisite objects is a special piece of fruit. To get the fruit, Darby and Sparkle must get past a swarm of bees. To get past the bees, they must have a special jar of preserves. To get the preserves, they must ask the Giant. The Giant, however is asleep, and can only be awakened by a special horn. To get the horn, Darby and Sparkle must befriend a beggar. Befriending the beggar requires a gold coin. Gold coins can be found in several non-obvious places, sometimes in response to problem solving by the user. One is in a trunk at the base of the tower where the Giant sleeps. Unlocking the trunk requires a key. The key is back in the castle, in the Queen's room.