American Girl (video game series)

American Girl
Genres Edutainment, Adventure
Developers
Publishers American Girl, THQ, The Learning Company
Platforms iOS, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, Android
Platform of origin Mac OS
Microsoft Windows
First release The American Girls Premiere
1997/1998
Latest release WellieWishers
2016

American Girl is a series of video games developed by various studios and distributed by American Girl.

Games in the American Girl series are based upon characters and stories set within the toy line's fictional universe, from historical-era characters like Kit Kittredge, to contemporary ones such as those from the Girl of the Year line or WellieWishers. Common gameplay elements within the series center upon educational activities, mostly focusing around American history and culture, though other aspects such as adventure, puzzle or even action elements are occasionally interspersed in some of the games.

Titles

Timeline of release years
1997The American Girls Premiere (original release)
1998The American Girls Premiere (2nd Edition)
1999The American Girls: Dress Designer
Your Notebook (with help from Amelia)[lower-alpha 1]
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007Julie Saves the Eagles
Julie Finds a Way
2008Mia Goes for Great
Kit Mystery Challenge
Kit - A Tree House of My Own
2009
2010
2011Secret Wardrobe
Shave Ice
Cheer On!
2012Gymtastic
Port to Port
2013Paint Ponies
2014Tropical Toss
Playful Pet
Isabelle Dance Studio
2015Scene Sounds
Maryellen TV Console
Grace Sweet Shop
Rocket Rally
2016Lea's Born for Adventure
WellieWishers

Edutainment games

The first two games in the series marked American Girl's (then known as Pleasant Company) expansion into video games. They featured American Girl's historical character roster, which of the time consisted of six characters representing various periods of American history.

Besides Premiere and Dress Designer, Mattel Interactive also published Your Notebook (with help from Amelia), a software toy in the form of an interactive journal based on the Amelia's Notebooks children's book series by Marissa Moss, under the American Girl banner in 1999. Developed by KnowWonder, Your Notebook allowed the user to write their own journals with the help of the titular protagonist, and comes with stamps, text effects and styles to which the user can add to their entries.

Games published by THQ

In the late 2000s American Girl collaborated with THQ for a number of games based on their franchise. Three of the games were released exclusively for Microsoft Windows, all of which are presented in a 2.5D isometric viewpoint using pre-rendered characters and backgrounds, while the other two, namely Julie Finds a Way and Kit Mystery Challenge, are released for the Nintendo DS.

Mobile apps

Since 2011 American Girl released mobile apps for download on major smartphone and tablet platforms, mostly consisting of simple games and software toys for young girls. Almost all of the games, which were developed in-house by the company, are exclusive to iOS, though Isabelle Dance Studio and Grace Sweet Shop were later ported to Android.

Common elements

Most games in the series puts players in the role of an American Girl character, typically a Historical/BeForever character like Kit Kittredge or a contemporary one such as any of the Girl of the Year characters like Grace Thomas, Isabelle Palmer or Lea Clark. The games' presentation may vary from one title to the next, from an edutainment game typical of The American Girls Premiere and Dress Designer, a Nancy Drew-esque mystery as seen in Kit Mystery Challenge, to an action-adventure platform game as seen in Lea Born for Adventure.

History

The first game in the series, The American Girls Premiere for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS, marked the debut of Pleasant Company into the digital software space.[8] Linda Ehrmann, vice president of Internet business strategy consulting firm Grey Interactive, said that the video game had a due potential as it was entering a relatively untapped market, commenting that in the interactive media space, "girls are for the most part totally ignored."[9]

Reception

The American Girls Premiere was released to mostly positive reception, and received accolades from various parenting organizations; subsequent games in the series however received tepid to negative scores from gaming publications - American Girl: Kit Mystery Challenge for example was panned for its repetitive gameplay, controls and lack of replay value.[4]

Notes

  1. The Amelia's Notebooks line was released under the American Girl label from 1999 to 2003, but is generally not considered to be a part of the main franchise.

References

  1. ImaginEngine (2007-10-15). Julie Saves The Eagles. Microsoft Windows. THQ. Level/area: Readme.txt. Uses Lua 5.1 Copyright (C) 2003-2006 Tecgraf, PUC-Rio.
  2. "American Girl: Julie Saves the Eagles". Parents' Choice Foundation. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  3. DeVries, Jack (16 January 2008). "American Girl: Julie Finds a Way Review". IGN. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  4. 1 2 DeVries, Jack (1 August 2008). "American Girl: Kit Mystery Challenge Review". IGN. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  5. "Bon Art Studio: High Quality Art Solutions and Services for Game Developers, Publishers and Producers". Retrieved 30 January 2012.
  6. "Paint Ponies on the App Store on iTunes". Apple Inc. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  7. "Isabelle Dance Studio (iOS)". VGChartz. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  8. Ray, Robin (October 26, 1997). "All dolled up but nowhere to go". The Boston Herald via Highbeam.
  9. "SOFTWARE DESIGNERS GET WITH THE PROGRAM -- AT LAST, THEY'RE DISCOVERING GIRLS". The Buffalo News. November 9, 1997 via Highbeam.
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