The Treehouse (video game) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids The Treehouse |
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Apple II cover art
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| Developer(s) | Brøderbund |
| Publisher(s) | Brøderbund |
| Producer(s) | Janese Swanson |
| Designer(s) | Leslie Grimm Lynn Kirkpatrick |
| Artist(s) | Fred Dianda |
| Composer(s) | Tom Rettig |
| Series | Early Learning Family Series |
| Engine | Mohawk |
| Platform(s) | MS-DOS, Apple II, Macintosh, FM Towns, Windows |
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| Genre(s) | Educational |
| Mode(s) | Single-player Two-player (in certain games) |
The Treehouse is an educational point-and-click personal computer game developed for MS-DOS and then ported to Macintosh and the FM Towns, with Windows versions arriving later. Following the success of The Playroom, Broderbund created The Treehouse, which provides more content and furthers the user's ability to explore. First released in 1991, most copies were sold in educational supply stores rather than mainstream stores that sold computer software; it included a sing-along cassette tape. It was re-released in 1996 for Windows 3.1 and Windows 95. Although the Windows version has the same general activities, the characters, interface, and locations are different.
Art and animation
Artist Fred Dianda did the artwork and sprites for the 1991 version; he stated that he "enjoyed the research of musical instruments" for The Treehouse. The backgrounds were done with a minimal palette of 8 colors with 44 different shades and various dithering effects implemented to create the illusion of even more colors.
Gameplay
The game's main characters are two opossums who at various times either want to play or take a nap. The activities within the game include music composition and learning, a music maze, a picture scene with interactive objects, a puppet show and a Monopoly-style game that teaches counting and currency concepts.
Educational goals
The game is designed for older learners than The Playroom. The subjects in the game include math, language, music, creative art and science. Children are encouraged to explore new places, learn new facts and put their creative skills to use.
