''Gold Rush!'' (later retitled ''California: Gold Rush!'') is a graphic

adventure video game An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based m ...

Sierra On-Line Sierra Entertainment, Inc. (formerly On-Line Systems and Sierra On-Line, Inc.) was an American video game developer and publisher founded in 1979 by Ken and Roberta Williams. The company is known for pioneering the graphic adventure game genre, ...

in 1988. ''Gold Rush!'' is one of the last games that Sierra made with the

AGI Silver iodide is an inorganic compound with the formula Ag I. The compound is a bright yellow solid, but samples almost always contain impurities of metallic silver that give a gray coloration. The silver contamination arises because AgI is hig ...

interface and is one of the most complicated. The rights to the game are currently owned and published by The Software Farm by its original developers the MacNeills.

Gameplay

The game is set in 1848, just before the

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...

. The player is

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

newspaperman Jerrod Wilson, who soon receives word that he must go to

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

to meet his long-lost brother. After a few minutes of gameplay, word arrives that gold has been found in California, and it becomes much more difficult for Jerrod to settle his affairs in Brooklyn and find a way to Sacramento. There are multiple paths which Jerrod can take to get to his brother. He can travel on a

stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

, which is the cheapest path, and the only path that is always available to Jerrod, no matter how long he spends in Brooklyn. This path brings Jerrod into contact with Native Americans, unruly oxen, parching deserts, and the likelihood of a winter storm in the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

. He can also travel by ship to

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

, cross through treacherous swamps and jungles on foot, and then catch another ship to Sacramento. This route is more expensive than the others and also requires Jerrod to prepare carefully for many hazards of the tropical climate of Panama, from

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

to jungle ants to crocodiles. The third and most time-consuming path is to journey all the way around

Cape Horn Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramírez ...

on a ship. This choice has its own perils, from storms to

scurvy Scurvy is a disease resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, feeling tired and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, decreased red blood cells, gum disease, changes to hair, and bleeding ...

. On each route, Jerrod can perish at random by a disease for which there is not yet any cure, such as

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

, making it prudent for players to save their game whenever possible and in multiple slots. Once Jerrod arrives in Sacramento, the three routes converge and all of the puzzles are the same. In California, Jerrod must try to prospect for gold, avoid bandits, and locate his mysterious brother.

Copy protection

''Gold Rush!'' uses words from the book California Gold: Story of the Rush to Riches by Lou and Phyllis Zauner, which came with the game as a form of

copy protection Copy protection, also known as content protection, copy prevention and copy restriction, describes measures to enforce copyright by preventing the reproduction of software, films, music, and other media. Copy protection is most commonly found on ...

. If the player fails to enter the correct word at a certain point during the game, their character is immediately arrested for claim jumping and

hanged Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging in ...

on the gallows, which is the same as the regular in-game punishment for claim jumping, being caught in someone's hotel room, or stealing.

Reception

In 1989, ''

Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

'' gave the game 4½ out of 5 stars. ''

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through ...

'' gave the game a positive review, noting it mixes historical simulation with Sierra's traditional adventure gameplay. ''

Compute! ''Compute!'' (), often stylized as ''COMPUTE!'', was an American home computer magazine that was published from 1979 to 1994. Its origins can be traced to 1978 in Len Lindsay's ''PET Gazette'', one of the first magazines for the Commodore PET c ...

'' called ''Gold Rush'' "entertaining, somewhat educational, and a terrific escapade for first-time adventure game players", but warned that its simplicity might disappoint veteran gamers and that the graphics were inferior to that of some other Sierra adventures. In 2011, ''

Adventure Gamers ''Adventure Gamers'' is a computer game website created by Marek Bronstring in March 1998 dedicated to the genre of adventure games. It publishes reviews and previews of adventure games, as well as opinion articles and interviews with game des ...

'' named ''Gold Rush!'' the 96th-best adventure game ever released.

Reviews

*''

The Games Machine ''The Games Machine'' is a video game magazine that was published from 1987 until 1990 in the United Kingdom by Newsfield, which also published ''CRASH'', ''Zzap!64'', ''Amtix!'' and other magazines. History The magazine ran head to head with ...

'' (Jul, 1989) *''

ASM (Aktueller Software Markt) ''Aktueller Software Markt'' (literally ''Current Software Market''), commonly known by its acronym, ''ASM'', was a German multi-platform video game magazine that was published by Tronic-Verlag from 1986 until 1995. It was one of the first magazine ...

'' (Mar, 1989) *''

'' (May, 1989) *''Power Play'' (Mar, 1989) *''

Zzap! ''Zzap!64'' was a computer games magazine covering games on the Commodore International series of computers, especially the Commodore 64 (C64). It was published in the UK by Newsfield Publications Ltd and later by Europress Impact. The magazine ...

'' (Jul, 1989) *''

Commodore User ''Commodore User'', known to the readers as the abbreviated ''CU'', was one of the oldest British Commodore magazines. With a publishing history spanning over 15 years, it mixed content with technical and video game features. Incorporating ''Vic ...

'' (Jul, 1989) *''

Amiga Computing ''Amiga Computing'' was a monthly computer magazine of a serious nature, published by Europress and IDG in both the UK and USA. A total of 117 issues came out. The games section was called Gamer, although later ''Amiga Action'' was incorporated i ...

'' (Sep, 1989) *''

Amiga Format ''Amiga Format'' was a British computer magazine for Amiga computers, published by Future plc. The magazine lasted 136 issues from 1989 to 2000. The magazine was formed when, in the wake of selling ''ACE'' to EMAP, Future split the dual-format t ...

'' (Oct, 1989) *''Australian Commodore and Amiga Review'' (Oct, 1989)

Legacy

Collector's edition

The Software Farm released a collector's edition of ''California: Gold Rush!'' in a wooden box in 2000. They also released an economy pack with just the game in an envelope.

Remake

German game developer Sunlight Games secured the rights and re-released the original version on July 25, 2014. A remake with the name ''Gold Rush! Anniversary'' was released on November 7, 2014 for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

OS X macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...

and

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...

versions were released later in November 2014. The ports for

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

and Android were released in March 2015. All graphics are pre-rendered, but all animations and characters are displayed in real-time 3D. The game's graphics are in high definition and the music was remade. All text from the original game was optimized with newly recorded voiceovers. The game can be controlled by a point-and-click control or with a

parser Parsing, syntax analysis, or syntactic analysis is the process of analyzing a string of symbols, either in natural language, computer languages or data structures, conforming to the rules of a formal grammar. The term ''parsing'' comes from Lati ...

(only Windows, Linux and Mac), which is similar to the old Sierra games which use the AGI interface. ''Gold Rush! 2'' was released in April 2017 as a sequel to ''Gold Rush! Anniversary''. Sunlight Games has also released a Special Edition which is limited to 350 copies. The Special Edition comes in a box with a

banderole A banderole (, "little banner") is a comparatively small but long flag, historically used by knights and on ships, and as a heraldic device for representing bishops. Bannerol, in its main uses is the same as banderole, and is the term especiall ...

, and the content of the box is similar to the old Sierra boxes is: a copy of the game on a DRM-free DVD, a poster, a card with the serial number, a printed making-of booklet, a printed booklet with concept drawings, and a golden-colored coin. ''Gold Rush! The Special Edition'' can only be ordered at Sunlight Games' online shop.

gave the remake 1½ stars out of 5.

Just Adventure ''Just Adventure'' is a computer game website dedicated to the genre of adventure games. Founded in 1997, it publishes reviews and previews of adventure games, as well as opinion articles and interviews with game designers. The site was found ...

gave the game a rating of B−. 3rd-strike gave the game a 7.0.

References

External links

*
Official website for the remake
b
Sunlight Games
* *
''Gold Rush!'' review
at ''

''
Gold Rush Classic Remake on Steam Store
{{Sierra Adventure Games, Stand-alone 1988 video games Adventure games Amiga games Apple II games Apple IIGS games Atari ST games California Gold Rush in fiction DOS games Classic Mac OS games ScummVM-supported games Sierra Entertainment games Video games set in Panama Video games set in the 19th century Video games set in the United States Western (genre) video games Video games developed in the United States Single-player video games