Agent USA facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Agent USA |
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| Developer(s) | Tom Snyder Productions |
| Publisher(s) | Scholastic |
| Designer(s) | Tom Snyder |
| Programmer(s) | Atari 8-bit Tom Snyder Omar Khudari Apple II, C64, IBM PC Leonard Bertoni |
| Platform(s) | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, IBM PC |
| Release date(s) | 1984 |
| Genre(s) | Adventure, educational |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Agent USA is an exciting adventure game from 1984. It was made to help kids learn important things. You can learn about US geography, time zones, and state capitals. The game also helps with spelling! Tom Snyder Productions created it, and Scholastic published it. You could play it on computers like the Apple II, Commodore 64, Atari 8-bit family, and IBM PC.
Contents
The Story of Agent USA
Imagine a giant, scary TV set called the "Fuzzbomb." This Fuzzbomb has a big problem: it's infecting cities all over America! When it infects people, they turn into walking balls of TV static. Your job is to play as a secret agent. Your mission is to stop the Fuzzbomb. You also need to rescue all the "fuzzed" people.
How to Play Agent USA
In Agent USA, you travel across the United States. You can use trains to get to different cities. Some trains are normal speed, and some are super fast! The faster trains are usually found in bigger cities.
Traveling Around
To ride a train, you need a ticket. You can get tickets at special booths in each city. The game will show you a list of cities you can go to. You must type the city name exactly right to get your ticket. Once you have your ticket, wait for the correct train. When it arrives, you can hop on board to your next destination!
As you travel, you'll notice something cool: time zones change! The game teaches you about different time zones across the country. Also, every state capital city has a special "info booth." At these booths, you can see a map of the US. This map shows you which cities are "fuzzed." It also shows where the Fuzzbomb is hiding. The Fuzzbomb moves around, so checking the map often is a good idea! Knowing the state capitals helps you find these important info booths.
Collecting Crystals
You start the game with 10 special crystals. These crystals are super important! If you drop them on the ground, and there's space nearby, they will start to multiply. More crystals will appear! Then, you can pick them up. But watch out! Other people in the game, called civilians, will try to grab your crystals too. You can push them out of the way. You can even push them onto another screen or a train. Bigger cities usually have more areas at their train stations. They also have more civilians trying to get your crystals.
Dealing with Fuzzed People
To "de-fuzz" a city, you need to use your crystals. Drop crystals in the path of the fuzzed people. When they touch a crystal, they turn back into normal civilians! Some civilians might even be carrying crystals themselves. The info map will show you how many crystals are in a city.
Be careful, though! If a fuzzed person touches a normal civilian, that civilian will also turn into a fuzzed person. And if a fuzzed person touches you, the agent, you will lose half of your crystals. If you have no crystals and a fuzzed person touches you, something strange happens. You turn into an uncontrollable fuzzed person yourself! You'll wander around aimlessly. You might even get on trains to other cities. The only way to become normal again is to touch a crystal. Fuzzed people can also arrive in your city by train if they came from a nearby infected city.
Winning the Game
Your main goal is to collect 100 crystals. The best way to do this is by dropping your crystals and letting them multiply. Once you have 100 crystals, you need to find the city where the Fuzzbomb is. Go to that city. Inside the Fuzzbomb's city, you must avoid all the fuzzed people. If you can touch the Fuzzbomb without being fuzzed yourself, you win the game!
