JumpStart Adventures 3rd Grade: Mystery Mountain facts for kids

Quick facts for kids JumpStart Adventures 3rd Grade: Mystery Mountain
The current (2007) cover of JumpStart Advanced 3rd Grade
Developer(s)	Knowledge Adventure
Publisher(s)	Knowledge Adventure
Producer(s)	David Fratto
Designer(s)	David Fratto Bernadette Gonzalez Barton Listick Rob Wrubel
Programmer(s)	Miguel Canales
Artist(s)	Bonnie Williams
Writer(s)	Doria Briddle Robert Nashak David Fratto
Composer(s)	HaleSong Music Productions Randy Hale
Series	JumpStart
Platform(s)	Windows, Macintosh
Release date(s)	December 2, 1996
Genre(s)	Educational/adventure
Mode(s)	Single player

JumpStart Adventures 3rd Grade: Mystery Mountain is a fun computer game. It's part of the JumpStart series from Knowledge Adventure. This game helps kids learn things usually taught in third grade. It first came out in 1996. It was so popular that it was still sold many years later! In 2003, it became part of JumpStart Advanced 3rd Grade.

Game Story: Polly's Plan

The game takes place in a cool, old-school future world. A girl named Polly Spark lives there. She is the daughter of a rich inventor. Polly failed a history quiz. She wants to change history so her wrong answers become right!

To do this, Polly sends 25 robots back in time. Her dad is away on a trip. So, Polly takes over their home, Mystery Mountain. This home is a huge mansion built into a mountain. Your job is to help Botley, a robot who usually watches Polly. You need to save the world! You must find all 25 robots and bring them back to the present time.

How to Play: Saving History

Each mission starts when you pick one of Polly's questions. You use a machine called the TransQuizzer. On it, Polly's teacher, Ms. Winkle, asks a history question. Polly gives a really silly answer.

Then, Polly appears on a screen. She tells you which robot she sent back in time. She also gives you four Mission Clues to find for that robot.

Finding Mission Clues

Botley uses his special device to figure out which games you need to play. These games help you find the Mission Clues. Once you collect all four clues, you still need to earn Invention Points. You need more and more points as you play. These points let you enter the Time Machine Mission Control.

The Wheel of Invention

Inside the Time Machine Mission Control, you face the Wheel of Invention. Polly changed it into a quiz show called "Pollywood Squares." Here, Monty Monitor asks you questions. These questions help you learn when Polly sent the robot. They also reveal the correct answer to Polly's original quiz question.

Time Travel and Robot Rescue

After the quiz, you enter the Time Machine. You travel back in time to find the missing robot. Then, you bring it back to the present. Rescued robots go to a place called the "robot roost."

You start a new mission by picking another question from the TransQuizzer. The game continues until all 25 robots are safe in the roost.

Characters in the Game

• Botley the Robot: Your helpful robot friend.
• Polly Spark: The girl who causes all the trouble.
• Ms. Winkle: Polly's history teacher.
• Professor Spark: Polly's inventor father.
• Monty Monitor: The host of "Pollywood Squares."
• Other characters include Mort, Bothoven, Maestro Trombot, Egbert, Mrs. Beasley, Frankie, and Buster.

Game Locations and Activities

You explore different parts of Mystery Mountain to find clues and play games.

• The Front Door

First Floor Areas

• The Kitchen
• The Art Gallery
  • The Professor's Virtual Collection
  • The Painting Gallery
• The Music Hall (also called Concert Hall)
• The Jumbo Electro Generator Room

Second Floor Areas

• The Biosphere
• The Shrinking Machine Room (also called Shrink-O-Matic)

Third Floor Areas

• The Observatory
• The Robot Maze (also called Robot Obstacle Course)

Time Machine Room Areas

• The Wheel of Invention (also called Pollywood Squares)
• Professor Sparks's Time Machine
• The Robot Roost