Gold Rush! PC

The action of the Gold Rush! produced by Sierra On-Line takes place in the middle of the nineteenth century in the United States. The main character of the game is Jerrod Wilson, an inhabitant of New York's Brooklyn, who writes articles in a local newspaper. Despite the possibility of promotion, good remuneration and a settled life, the young man is far from being happy. Wilson is concerned about his brother, who was forced to leave Brooklyn Heights by the local community years ago. Lack of any news from the only relative does not fill Wilson with optimism.

Everything changes in 1848, when a gold rush erupts in California. The willingness to get rich quickly means that many Americans throw everything to the devils and set off to the west. The news of precious metal attracts like a magnet, even though reaching the other coast of the United States is not only difficult, but also very dangerous. Among those looking for happiness in the west of the country is also Jerrod Wilson. In this case, however, gold is not the main reason for a sudden departure. It is a brother who, years later, has finally given a sign of life....

The player enters the action a few moments before the gold rush erupts. The letter from his brother makes Jerrod decide to sell the house and pay for the money he receives to travel to the other side of the coast. As you can easily guess, reaching a relative is the main goal of the struggle.

Although Gold Rush! at first glance resembles other Sierra On-Line adventures from that time, in fact the game designed by the MacNeill brothers is a product ahead of its time. I don't mean the audiovisual setting, which brings obvious associations with the first installments of the Leisure Suit Larry or Police Quest series. The uniqueness of this game results primarily from the fact that it can be completed by choosing one of three alternative routes, which differ from each other both in the locations visited and the puzzles encountered.

Gold Rush! is also unique because much of the game depends on the passage of time. For example, if we buy a ticket early enough for a means of transport that will take Wilson on the first stage of the great expedition, nobody will peel off our skins. Immediately after the outbreak of gold fever, i.e. after a dozen or so minutes of fun, the reality changes dramatically and it is necessary to suddenly exercise in order to pay the carrier, because the prices are going up sharply. We will meet similar situations during the game many times.

The game uses the AGI (Adventure Game Interpreter) engine, which means that all commands are given to Wilson using text, building simple sentences. The hero is controlled by cursors - the program does not support the mouse at all.

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Last updated on 10 December 2007