Gizmos & Gadgets
Encyclopedia
Super Solvers: Gizmos & Gadgets is an educational science
computer game designed by The Learning Company
. It is intended to teach children between the ages of 7 and 12 introductory mechanics
, namely simple machines, magnets, basic electronics, and forms of energy. The original game is compatible with computers running DOS 3.3 or higher and a later CD release added Windows 95
and Macintosh compatibility. A popular game through 1997, The Learning Company
, then incorporated with Brøderbund
, discontinued Gizmos & Gadgets in 1998. Riverdeep
eventually obtained the rights and re-released it in some of the "Adventure Workshop" collections.
There are 15 races; five races in each of three categories, automotive, alternative energy, and aircraft. The races get progressively harder and the vehicles more complex as the player nears the fifth race in each category.
In building vehicles, players learn about good, better and best principles. For example, that a rounded nose on a car is more aerodynamic and faster than a flat nose, and a pointed nose is better still.
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
computer game designed by The Learning Company
The Learning Company
The Learning Company is an American educational software company, founded in 1980. It produced a grade-based system similar to Knowledge Adventure's JumpStart series. The products for preschoolers through second graders feature Reader Rabbit, and software for more advanced students features The...
. It is intended to teach children between the ages of 7 and 12 introductory mechanics
Mechanics
Mechanics is the branch of physics concerned with the behavior of physical bodies when subjected to forces or displacements, and the subsequent effects of the bodies on their environment....
, namely simple machines, magnets, basic electronics, and forms of energy. The original game is compatible with computers running DOS 3.3 or higher and a later CD release added Windows 95
Windows 95
Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products...
and Macintosh compatibility. A popular game through 1997, The Learning Company
The Learning Company
The Learning Company is an American educational software company, founded in 1980. It produced a grade-based system similar to Knowledge Adventure's JumpStart series. The products for preschoolers through second graders feature Reader Rabbit, and software for more advanced students features The...
, then incorporated with Brøderbund
Brøderbund
Brøderbund Software, Inc. was an American maker of computer games, educational software and The Print Shop productivity tools. It was best known as the original creator and publisher of the popular Carmen Sandiego games. The company was founded in Eugene, Oregon, but moved to San Rafael,...
, discontinued Gizmos & Gadgets in 1998. Riverdeep
Riverdeep
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Learning Technology originally started as Riverdeep Interactive Learning, is a publishing house for educational online and CD-ROM products based in San Francisco and Dublin, Ireland. Founded in 1995, Riverdeep was principally the creation of the Irish ex-investment banker...
eventually obtained the rights and re-released it in some of the "Adventure Workshop" collections.
Gameplay
The object of the game is to win 15 races in different vehicles against Morty Maxwell at the Shady Glen Technology Center. This is done by moving the Super Solver (Who has no facial features) around a series of warehouses to collect vehicle parts by solving puzzles involving principles of physics.There are 15 races; five races in each of three categories, automotive, alternative energy, and aircraft. The races get progressively harder and the vehicles more complex as the player nears the fifth race in each category.
Characters
- Super Solver – The Super Solver is the user-controlled main character. The user moves the Super Solver around warehouses collecting parts that are used to build the vehicles.
- Morty Maxwell – The game's antagonist. He battles the Super Solver in all 15 races.
- Cyberchimps – Morty's henchmen. They hang around the warehouse and if the player runs into them they steal one of the parts. The only way to stop them is to throw bananas at them, causing them to sleep and relinquish any part(s) they had taken.
Warehouse
The warehouse where the parts are kept is a maze-like building through which the player must navigate. There are multiple levels and the only ways to travel between them are to be blown by vents, jump off springboards, or jump off trampolines (to move up) or to walk off a ledge (to move down.) There is also a "front" (where the player can see the whole warehouse and few boxes are generally visible) and a "back" (which is a small portion of the front where the majority of boxes are.) They are separated by doors. Doors begin locked and can only be unlocked by solving a science-related puzzle. Once unlocked the player can move back and forth freely through that door. However, because the only way to reach the majority of the warehouse is through the "front" but since most boxes are on the "back" the player must unlock many, if not most of the doors.Educational value
In solving the puzzles, players learn about science and math principles, including:- Balance – balancing a scale using different weights and distances
- Electricity – constructing various types of series and parallel circuits
- Energy – matching activities to energy types: chemical, electrical, kinetic, nuclear, potential, light, heat, mechanical
- Force – propelling various sized objects into a flashing hole (depending on ramp, gravity and/or friction)
- Gears – constructing machines using gears of various sizes
- Magnetics – constructing various North-South pole patterns
- Machines – building common objects out of simple machine pieces
In building vehicles, players learn about good, better and best principles. For example, that a rounded nose on a car is more aerodynamic and faster than a flat nose, and a pointed nose is better still.