"Let's Explore the Airport" and "Let's Explore the Farm" CD-ROMs -- players of all ages explore the world in junior field trips; Buzzy the Knowledge Bug flies with you through new titles for Windows 95.

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 26, 1995--"Let's Explore the Airport"(TM) and "Let's Explore the Farm"(TM) interactive field trips ($29.95 each ESP) will land in stores July 27. The two 32-bit, high-resolution titles are the first CD-ROMs from the new Junior Field Trips(TM) product line co-published by Humongous Entertainment and Random House. A third title, "Let's Explore the Jungle"(TM), is slated for October release. The titles run on Windows 95 and require no installation procedure; they also work on Windows 3.1. Macintosh versions will be available later this year.

Ron Gilbert, co-founder and creative director of Humongous Entertainment, said, "We've created real working worlds that kids can roam around in and explore at their own pace. In Junior Field Trips, they can follow their curiosity and learn about the things they discover along the way."

Players create their own experiences, visiting every part of the airport or farm, or investigating just the areas that interest them. Each title has more than 30 areas to explore and 250 detailed explanations for curious children and adults. An alphabetical index of Information Pages is hyperlinked to background information and illustrations. Buzzy the Knowledge Bug, your friendly guide, is always on call to fly in and dispense helpful information.

Humongous Entertainment created the interactive engine behind Junior Field Trips that makes the unique and intuitive features easy and fun to use. "We've built in hundreds of entertaining click points to surprise and delight children of all ages," said Dave Timoney, lead programmer for "Let's Explore the Farm."

When you click on the "What is it?" icon and place the "?" cursor over an item of interest, the word appears by the cursor and Buzzy says the word aloud. Click on the item, and you are transported to an illustrated page of information about that item. Then, click the blue speaker icon, and Buzzy reads the text aloud for you as it is highlighted. Click on any word within the definition, and Buzzy will say it. Blue-colored text is "hot" and hyperlinked to referenced background information. Click on any illustration within a definition, and you're transported to a place where the item can be found.

"Let's Explore the Airport"

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The dynamic, interactive world of "Let's Explore the Airport" is alive with high-quality experiences for children ages 3-8 to explore. Outside the airport, kids see and hear cars drive by, fuel trucks service airplanes, people walk by, and airplanes take off and land. Kids discover reading, the joy of exploring, new vocabulary words, and the fun of a field trip.

Richard Moe, lead programmer for "Let's Explore the Airport," said, "Kids have so much fun exploring the environment and playing the games. The next time they visit the airport, they find themselves rattling off facts to their parents. And once kids start playing, they don't want to stop!"

"Let's Explore the Farm"

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There's so much to do in "Let's Explore the Farm!" Go beyond the barn, where you can dive into the pond, investigate the beaver lodge, explore a gopher hole, watch a beehive up close, and check out a garden of fresh vegetables and a harvester machine. See and hear the farmer plow his field with a tractor. Watch horses trot, chickens feed, pigs wallow in the mud, and birds fly in the sky.

Educational Games Within "Let's Explore the Airport" and "Let's

Explore the Farm"

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Click "Time To Play," and you're transported to a world of five fun games related to the airport and the farm. Find It!, Trivia and a Coloring Book are three games featured in each title. Two additional games, Lost Luggage and What Is It?, are special to "Let's Explore the Airport." Eggs Away and Spell It are exclusive to "Let's Explore the Farm." More than 100 players can track their best scores for each of the games and print out their scores, Information Pages and coloring pages in color or black and white.

Moe explained, "The games are designed to engage the kids right away and to encourage them to use the Information Pages to learn. For example, Find It asks kids to explore the farm or airport to locate specific items. When kids have mastered this scavenger hunt, they have full knowledge of the game world they're exploring."

Lost Luggage: Kids and adults have a hard time tearing themselves away from this fun game that develops spatial-reasoning skills, planning ability and quick reflexes. The goal is to move colored suitcases through a series of mazes and place them into colored bins. This is accomplished by working a series of conveyor belts, managing a series of luggage pushers, and flipping switches to make the luggage move in the right directions without letting any suitcases fall onto the floor.

Eggs Away: As chickens lay eggs that fall down from the top of the screen, kids catch the eggs in their baskets before they splat on the floor. Players catch a certain number of eggs to advance to the next level. In higher levels of play, players dodge falling anvils, scare off egg-destroying ninja rate, and avoid green, rotten eggs that may spoil their catch!

Spell It: As in the traditional word game hangman, players are given blank spaces for the letters in a word. On the easiest level, a picture is shown as a helpful clue, and a few of the letters are already filled in for the player. The medium-difficulty level also provides a picture, but none of the letters. The toughest level has no picture and no letters -- you're on your own! You can make six mistakes: Six cows on the screen walk off the screen, one by one, with each wrong answer. Solve the word puzzle and the remaining cows do a celebration dance. You can use the keyboard or click a list of letters on the screen to fill in the missing letters.

What Is It?: Match the picture shown on the left side of the screen with one of four words on the right. Buzzy reads the words, so even pre-readers can play the game. If you are unsure of the answer, you can research the information by looking up the words in the Information Pages.

Find It!: Buzzy challenges you to remember and find items that are all around the airport or the farm -- such as the tail of an airplane or an animal. Easy, medium and difficult playing levels keep it challenging and fun for growing kids. Play Find It! while you explore and click throughout the airport.

Trivia: Buzzy asks approximately 100 multiple-choice questions about things you can find in the airport or the farm. Kids can go to the Information Pages to learn about the best answers. Easy, medium and hard skill levels keep it challenging and fun for a wide range of ages.

Coloring Book: The Coloring Book gives you 15 airport or farm scenes to color. Use the five base colors, or blend them with the color customizer to create thousands of possible colors to paint your picture. You can print your completed art in color or black and white.

Junior Adventures

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Humongous Entertainment's award-winning Junior Adventures titles are more than just books on a computer. Junior Adventures place the child in the heart of the story as they decide where to go, who to talk to and what to do next. Children explore and learn in a way that's not possible with simple, computerized page-turning software. Junior Adventures include "Putt-Putt Joins the Parade," "Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon," "Fatty Bear's Birthday Surprise," and "Putt-Putt & Fatty Bear's Activity Pack" (CD-ROM for Windows 95 and Windows 3.1 and CD-ROM for the Macintosh; each available for $39.95 ESP).

The hand-animated and critically acclaimed "Freddi Fish and the Case of the Missing Kelp Seeds" (Windows 95 and 3.1 CD-ROM; $39.95 ESP) will be available on Macintosh CD-ROM later this year. The hand-animated "Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo" (Windows 95 and 3.1 CD-ROM; $39.95 ESP) is scheduled for release Aug. 10, 1995.

Humongous Entertainment, established in 1992 by Shelley Day and Ron Gilbert, creates high-quality interactive entertainment for people of all ages. The film-like quality of Humongous' hand-drawn animation and original characters -- including Putt-Putt, Freddi Fish, Fatty Bear and Buzzy the Knowledge Bug -- create unique experiences for children and adults that entertain and feed their imaginations.

Humongous Entertainment's distribution partners include Electronic Arts and Random House.

Junior Field Trips CD-ROMs do not require any product installation with Windows 95. They also run on Windows 3.1. Additional system requirements are a personal computer with a 386 or higher processor running at 33 MHz or higher; 4 MB of RAM; a Super VGA monitor (640 x 480 resolution, 256 colors); a SVGA video card; a sound card; and a double-speed CD-ROM drive. -0-

Let's Explore the Airport, Let's Explore the Farm, Junior Field Trips, Let's Explore the Jungle, Junior Adventures, Fatty Bear's Birthday Surprise, Freddi Fish and the Case of the Missing Kelp Seeds and Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo are trademarks of Humongous Entertainment Inc.

Windows is either a trademark or registered trademark of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.

Macintosh is a registered trademark of Apple Computer Inc.

Other brand names and products may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. These products and Humongous Entertainment Inc. are not in any manner affiliated with Putt-Putt(R) Golf Courses of America Inc.

CONTACT: Humongous Entertainment

John Uppendahl or Zibby Wilder, 206/486-9258