''Putt-Putt'' is a series of children's adventure and puzzle computer games created by

Humongous Entertainment Humongous Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Bothell, Washington. Founded in 1992, the company is best known for developing multiple edutainment franchises, most prominently ''Putt-Putt (series), Putt-Putt'', ''Fred ...

. This franchise was Humongous Entertainment's first game series to be developed. 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 A convertible or cabriolet () is a passenger car that can be driven with or without a roof in place. The methods of retracting and storing the roof vary among eras and manufacturers. A convertible car's design allows an open-air driving expe ...

, and his dog, Pep, travel to various locations.

History

Putt-Putt was originally thought up by

Shelley Day Shelley M. Day (born April 16, 1957) is a former Video game producer, producer of video games. She began her career in 1985, at Electronic Arts. Day also worked for Accolade (company), Accolade, Taito and LucasArts before founding Humongous Ent ...

as a series of bedtime stories for her son, Travis; the first story involved Putt-Putt saving a cat caught in a tree.

Child actor The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage or in film, movies or television. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associ ...

Jason Ellefson did Putt-Putt's voice for the first eight of the games. In the next three games,

Nancy Cartwright Nancy Cartwright (born October 25, 1957) is an American actress. She is the long-time voice of Bart Simpson on the animated television series ''The Simpsons'', for which she has received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Perform ...

(of ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...

'' fame) voiced Putt-Putt. Michelle Thorson voiced Putt-Putt in ''Pep's Birthday Surprise''. The games are supported by

ScummVM Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion Virtual Machine (ScummVM) is a set of game engine recreations. Originally designed to play LucasArts adventure games that use the SCUMM system, it also supports a variety of non-SCUMM games by companies ...

and thus can be played on other platforms such as handhelds. Humongous has brought several Putt-Putt and other titles to iOS 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. It was later planned to premiere somewhere in 2000 under the title, "Putt-Putt 'n Pals". Ultimately, the deal fell through. Several games from the original series were later re-released by Humongous on

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

in April 2014, alongside games from the ''Pajama Sam'', ''Freddi Fish'', and ''Spy Fox'' series. 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): # ''

Putt-Putt Joins the Parade ''Putt-Putt Joins the Parade'' is a 1992 video game and the first of seven adventure games in the Putt-Putt series of games developed and published by Humongous Entertainment. Upon release, the game sold over 300,000 copies. The combined sales ...

'' (September 9, 1992) # ''

Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon ''Putt-Putt Goes To The Moon'' is a 1993 video game and the second of seven adventure games in the Putt-Putt series developed and published by Humongous Entertainment. It is also the last game in the series to use pixel art graphics. Plot Put ...

'' (October 1, 1993) # ''

Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo ''Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo'' is a 1995 video game and the third of seven adventure games in the Putt-Putt series of games developed and published by Humongous Entertainment. The animation style also changed with this game to hand-drawn animation, ...

'' (August 10, 1995) # ''

Putt-Putt Travels Through Time ''Putt-Putt Travels Through Time'' is a 1997 video game and the fourth of seven adventure games in the Putt-Putt series of games developed and published by Humongous Entertainment. In 2014 Night Dive Studios re-released the iOS, Linux and Steam ...

'' (June 1, 1997) # ''

Putt-Putt Enters the Race ''Putt-Putt Enters the Race'' is an educational adventure game developed and published by Humongous Entertainment on January 1, 1999. The game is the fifth entry in the ''Putt-Putt (series), Putt-Putt'' series. This is the first of three games to ...

'' (January 14, 1999) # ''

Putt-Putt Joins the Circus ''Putt-Putt Joins the Circus'' is a video game and the sixth of adventure game of the '' Putt-Putt'' series of games. It was developed and published by Humongous Entertainment in 2000. This is the last of three games to feature Nancy Cartwright as ...

'' (June 16, 2000) # '' Putt-Putt: Pep's Birthday Surprise'' (September 16, 2003)

Other 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 ''Putt-Putt and Pep's Balloon-o-Rama'' is a 1996 action video game, developed by Humongous Entertainment. The game is part of the '' Putt-Putt'' series of educational video games. It was part of a series of Junior Arcade games, targeted at kids ag ...

'' 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

the games were released as single games, or bundled together in the "Putt-Putt Complete Pack" or came packaged with all Humongous Entertainment games in "Humongous Entertainment Complete Pack". *

released a CD titled "Humongous Entertainment Triple Treat", which included ''

'', ''Pajama Sam's Sock Works'' and ''

Freddi Fish and the Case of the Missing Kelp Seeds ''Freddi Fish and the Case of the Missing Kelp Seeds'' is a video game developed and published by Humongous Entertainment and the first game released for the ''Freddi Fish'' franchise. It was released on November 7, 1994. In 2008, it was released ...

''. *

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''. *

released a "Putt-Putt Fun & Learning Kindergarten Edition" package with a Putt-Putt notebook and a CD that included ''

'' and '' Big Thinkers Kindergarten''. * ''Putt-Putt and Pep's Balloon-O-Rama'' was released for Windows and Macintosh on a compilation CD titled "Super Duper Arcade 1", along with ''Spy Fox in: Cheese Chase'', ''Pajama Sam's Sock Works'' and ''Freddi Fish and Luther's Water Worries''. * ''Putt-Putt and Pep's Dog on a Stick'' was released for Windows and Macintosh on a compilation CD titled "Super Duper Arcade 2", along with ''Spy Fox in: Hold the Mustard'', ''Pajama Sam's Lost & Found'' and ''Freddi Fish and Luther's Maze Madness''. * ''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".

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.

References

External links

''Putt-Putt'' at Humongous Entertainment
* {{Humongous Children's educational video games Humongous Entertainment games Video game franchises Fictional cars Video games about dogs Video games about birthdays Works about friendship Video games developed in the United States Video game franchises introduced in 1992