Putt-Putt
Putt-Putt and Pep
Genre(s)Adventure, Edutainment
Developer(s)Humongous Entertainment
Publisher(s)Humongous Entertainment
Atari
Infogrames
Night Dive Studios
Creator(s)Shelley Day
Platform(s)DOS, Microsoft Windows, 3DO, Macintosh, iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4
First releasePutt-Putt Joins the Parade
September 9, 1992
Latest releasePutt-Putt's Fun House
2013

Putt-Putt is a series of children's adventure and puzzle computer games created by Humongous Entertainment. This franchise was Humongous Entertainment's first game series to be developed.[1] They primarily involve clicking to get to a destination, although some sub-quests and mini-games involve the keyboard. The main character, Putt-Putt, an anthropomorphic purple convertible, and his dog, Pep, travel to various locations.

History

Putt-Putt was originally thought up by Shelley Day as a series of bedtime stories for her son, Travis; the first story involved Putt-Putt saving a cat caught in a tree.[2][3] Child actor Jason Ellefson did Putt-Putt's voice for the first eight of the games. In the next three games, Nancy Cartwright (of The Simpsons fame) voiced Putt-Putt. Michelle Thorson voiced Putt-Putt in Pep's Birthday Surprise.

The games are supported by ScummVM and thus can be played on other platforms such as handhelds. Humongous has brought several Putt-Putt and other titles to iOS[4] and Android.

In 1997, Humongous made an agreement with Lancit Media Entertainment to create an animated TV series of Putt-Putt, planned for premiere in the fall of 1998, along with movies and home video releases.[5] It was later planned to premiere somewhere in 2000 under the title, "Putt-Putt 'n Pals".[6] Ultimately, the deal fell through.

Several games from the original series were later re-released by Humongous on Steam in April 2014,[7] alongside games from the Pajama Sam, Freddi Fish, and Spy Fox series.[8][9][10] The first two games used pixel art graphics; starting with the third game, the series uses hand-drawn animation.

Games

Adventure games

Humongous Entertainment classified these games as Junior Adventures (for kids 3–8):

  1. Putt-Putt Joins the Parade (September 9, 1992)
  2. Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon (October 1, 1993)
  3. Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo (August 10, 1995)
  4. Putt-Putt Travels Through Time (June 1, 1997)
  5. Putt-Putt Enters the Race (January 1, 1999)[11]
  6. Putt-Putt Joins the Circus (July 11, 2000)[12]
  7. Putt-Putt: Pep's Birthday Surprise (September 16, 2003)

Other games

"Junior Arcades"
Game Releases Developer/Publisher
Putt-Putt and Pep's Dog on a Stick October 15, 1996 (Win/Mac)
January 6, 2014 (iOS)		 Humongous Entertainment
Putt-Putt and Pep's Balloon-o-Rama October 15, 1996 (Win/Mac)
1999 (LCD)[13]
April 17, 2014 (Steam)		 Humongous Entertainment, Toymax (LCD)
"Activity Packs"
Game Releases Developer/Publisher
Putt-Putt's Fun Pack March 26, 1993 (DOS/Mac/3DO) Humongous Entertainment
Putt-Putt & Fatty Bear's Activity Pack March 25, 1994 (Win) Humongous Entertainment
Putt-Putt's One-Stop Fun Shop May 23, 2000 (Win/Mac) Humongous Entertainment
Putt-Putt's Fun House May 22, 2013 (iOS) Humongous Entertainment, Nimbus Games

Customization

Players can change Putt-Putt's color to original purple, red, orange, yellow, green or blue. All colors can be painted on again. This also changes the color of the dashboard in Putt-Putt Enters the Race and Putt-Putt Joins the Circus. However, in Putt-Putt Joins the Parade and Putt-Putt Enters the Race, each color change costs three coins that can be collected in the game world. In Putt-Putt: Pep's Birthday Surprise, Putt-Putt's color can only be changed temporarily before reverting to purple after some traveling. His color can also be changed in certain levels of Putt-Putt and Pep's Balloon-o-Rama by using Pep to pop certain balloons tied to paint buckets, then catching the bucket containing the desired color as it falls to change Putt-Putt to.

Availability

  • For Steam the games were released as single games,[14] or bundled together in the "Putt-Putt Complete Pack"[15] or came packaged with all Humongous Entertainment games in "Humongous Entertainment Complete Pack".[16]
  • Humongous Entertainment released a CD titled "Humongous Entertainment Triple Treat", which included Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo, Pajama Sam's Sock Works and Freddi Fish and the Case of the Missing Kelp Seeds.[17]
  • Humongous Entertainment released a CD titled "Humongous Entertainment Triple Treat 2", which included Putt Putt Travels Through Time, Pajama Sam: No Need to Hide When It's Dark Outside and Freddi Fish and Luther's Maze Madness.[18]
  • Humongous Entertainment released a "Putt-Putt Fun & Learning Kindergarten Edition"[19] package with a Putt-Putt notebook and a CD that included Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo and Big Thinkers Kindergarten.[20]
  • Putt-Putt and Pep's Balloon-O-Rama was released for Windows and Macintosh on a compilation CD titled "Super Duper Arcade 1",[21] along with Spy Fox in: Cheese Chase, Pajama Sam's Sock Works and Freddi Fish and Luther's Water Worries.[22]
  • Putt-Putt and Pep's Dog on a Stick was released for Windows and Macintosh on a compilation CD titled "Super Duper Arcade 2",[23] along with Spy Fox in: Hold the Mustard, Pajama Sam's Lost & Found and Freddi Fish and Luther's Maze Madness.[24]
  • Putt-Putt Travels Through Time was released on the Nintendo Switch eShop alongside Freddi Fish 3: The Case of the Stolen Conch Shell in January 2022. The next month, Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo was released alongside Pajama Sam: No Need to Hide When It's Dark Outside, Pajama Sam: Thunder and Lightning Aren't so Frightening, and Spy Fox in Dry Cereal.

Books

Various children's books about Putt-Putt have been published by Lyrick Publishing and Random House. A cassette tape audio adaptation was created for "Putt-Putt's Night Before Christmas".

TitleDateWriterPublisherIllustrator
Putt-Putt's Night Before Christmas[25] December 1995 Laurie Bauman Arnold Humongous Entertainment, Inc. Derek McCaughan, Edward Pun
Putt-Putt and Pep[26] May 7, 1996 Del Thompson Random House Books For Young Readers
Putt-Putt: The Great Pet Chase[27] July 2000 Laurie Bauman Arnold, Tricia Legault Lyrick Publishing
Go, Go, Putt-Putt Go![28] 2000 Laurie Bauman Arnold, N.S. Greenfield Lyrick Publishing Darren McKee
Putt-Putt: Lost In Time[29] January 2001 Nancy Parent Lyrick Publishing Josie Yee
Putt-Putt: Race Against the Clock[30] July 2001 Gayla Amaral Lyrick Publishing Sue DiCiccio
On the Road With Putt-Putt[31] July 2001 Lyrick Publishing

Reception

The Putt-Putt series received various awards including "All-Star Software Award" from Children's Software Revue, "Reader's Choice Award" from Mac Home Journal and "2000 Best Picks Award" from Choosing Children's Software.[32]

References

  1. ↑ Jacquie Kubin (October 1, 2000). "There's Humongous Rewards in Entertaining Little Kids". Archived from the original on October 12, 2016. Retrieved July 22, 2016. Putt-Putt is the flagship title of the company
  2. ↑ "Shelley Day profile in TIME magazine archive". 2009-05-12. Archived from the original on May 12, 2009. Retrieved 2013-12-05.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ↑ "H.E. Corp. Profile". Archived from the original on 1998-02-10. Retrieved 2017-01-18.
  4. ↑ Larry McMahon (2011-11-16). "Atari Resurrects Putt-Putt on the iPad". GamerPops. Archived from the original on 2015-11-05. Retrieved 2016-04-15.
  5. ↑ "LANCIT MEDIA AND HUMONGOUS ENTERTAINMENT TO CREATE TV, MOVIE, AND HOME VIDEO PROGRAMMING BASED ON CD-ROM SUPERSTARS "PUTT-PUTT," "FREDDI FISH," AND PAJAMA SAM"". Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  6. ↑ "Lancit and JuniorNet merge in an early-bird convergence effort". Archived from the original on 2022-09-30. Retrieved 2022-09-30.
  7. ↑ Vincent, Brittany (17 April 2014). "Childhood edutainment favorites Putt-Putt and Fatty Bear on Steam is Humongous". Destructoid. Archived from the original on 20 April 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  8. ↑ "Humongous Entertainment gets the Steam Treatment!". Humongous Entertainment. Archived from the original on 19 April 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  9. ↑ Good, Owen (19 April 2014). "Freddi Fish, Pajama Sam and Humongous Entertainment return to PC on Steam". Polygon. Archived from the original on 13 September 2016. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  10. ↑ Maiberg, Emanuel (19 April 2014). "Putt-Putt and Pajama Sam just as hardcore as Dark Souls according to Steam.com tags". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 11 November 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  11. ↑ "Humongous Entertainment Brings a New Perspective to Children's Software; Putt-Putt's Newest Junior Adventure™ Puts Kids in the Driver's Seat Putt-Putt Enters the Race™ Hits Retail Stores This Week; Humongous.com Kicks off Online Launch Party for Putt-Putt on January 14" (Press release). Humongous Entertainment. January 5, 1999. Archived from the original on October 2, 1999.
  12. ↑ "Putt-Putt® Joins the Circus™ from Humongous Entertainment® Offers Big Top Fun for Children of All Ages" (Press release). Humongous Entertainment. July 11, 2000. Archived from the original on November 20, 2000.
  13. ↑ "Putt-Putt Balloon-O-Rama - 1999 Humongous - Electronic Hand Held | #421220593". Archived from the original on 2016-03-09. Retrieved 2016-03-08.
  14. ↑ "Putt-Putt on Steam". Steam. Archived from the original on May 19, 2015. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
  15. ↑ "Putt-Putt Complete Pack on Steam". store.steampowered.com. Archived from the original on December 26, 2016. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
  16. ↑ "Humongous Entertainment Complete Pack on Steam". store.steampowered.com. Archived from the original on December 23, 2016. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Humongous Entertainment Triple Treat (Win95/Win98/Win3.1/Mac) - from CD-ROM Access". www.cdaccess.com. Archived from the original on 2000-05-10.
  18. ↑ Humongous Entertainment triple treat 2. OCLC 42255135.
  19. ↑ "UPC 742725165212 – World of Fun & Learning: Kindergarten Edition -". www.upccodesearch.com. Archived from the original on 2017-04-22. Retrieved 2017-04-22.
  20. ↑ "Putt-Putt Fun & Learning Kindergarten Edition". Archived from the original on 8 July 2008. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  21. ↑ "UPC 742725178342 – True Enterprise X8 PCI Express to 4Gbps Quad Port". www.upccodesearch.com. Archived from the original on 2017-04-22. Retrieved 2017-04-22.
  22. ↑ "Super Duper Arcade 1". Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
  23. ↑ "UPC 742725178373 – SuperDuper Arcade 2 (4 Humongous Titles)". www.upccodesearch.com. Archived from the original on 2017-04-22. Retrieved 2017-04-22.
  24. ↑ "Super Duper Arcade 2". Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
  25. ↑ "ISBN 1570649448". Barcode Lookup. Archived from the original on August 28, 2016. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  26. ↑ "ISBN 0679879587". Barcode Lookup. Archived from the original on August 28, 2016. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  27. ↑ "ISBN 1570649448". Barcode Lookup. Archived from the original on August 28, 2016. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  28. ↑ "ISBN 1570649456". Barcode Lookup. Archived from the original on August 28, 2016. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  29. ↑ "ISBN 1586680609". Barcode Lookup. Archived from the original on August 28, 2016. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  30. ↑ "ISBN 1586680676". Barcode Lookup. Archived from the original on August 28, 2016. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  31. ↑ "ISBN 1586681494". Barcode Lookup. Archived from the original on August 28, 2016. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  32. ↑ Ito, Mizuko (January 27, 2007). "Education V. Entertainment" (PDF): 12. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2015. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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