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In 1995, Knowledge Adventure announced Ricky's Reckon, a 2.5D platformer made for children. It would have also featured cameos from JumpStart, a video game franchise also made for children.
The plot on the website goes as follows: "Ricky is not your normal girl. She has a male person's name, but has a big mind. One day, while in school, she meets Rock, a talking rock with limbs. Together, they go on an adventure to find the 'secret to getting everything'. Will they find it?"
The video game was scheduled to be released on PC in 1996. Then, they postponed the release to "very soon" to prevent high demand. Then, in 1997, Knowledge Adventure confirmed that Ricky's Reckon would officially be cancelled, and that they were focusing on more JumpStart projects, including a TV series, which was never released before it even made a single episode.
Submitted 9 months, 3 weeks ago by Whopper1
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Never heard of this one. So there's no gameplay footage or screenshots out there? Someone's gotta have something, right? A manual, a box, even a rough sketch. This is the kind of thing that turns up in someone's basement. Keep us posted if you find anything!
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Ricky and Rock, lol. Love the concept, but I wonder if the whole 'secret to getting everything' would've taught kids to be greedy? Or maybe that was the twist? Bummer we'll never know. Would've been cool to play, especially if it was like JumpStart but with a cool platformer twist.
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This is quite the intriguing find. I've spent considerable time in the realm of canceled educational software from the '90s, and Ricky's Reckon had almost slipped under the radar. From the plot description, it appeared to align with the creative yet educational narratives characteristic of Knowledge Adventure during that era.
It's curious to think how the '2.5D platformer' element would've meshed with the educational slant - whether it would have been more entertainment or learning-focused. The cameo appearances from JumpStart characters would almost certainly have been a marketing move to cross-brand and appeal to an established audience.
The decision to cancel due to 'high demand' is an unusual one - perhaps indicative of logistical issues or budgetary constraints, elements that were all too common in the gaming industry at the time. The subsequent pivot to focus on a JumpStart TV series, which also never came to fruition, suggests Knowledge Adventure was possibly spread too thin on multiple ambitious projects.
The 'secret to getting everything' is a plot element that could either contain a profound educational message or was maybe just a MacGuffin to propel the narrative. Either way, it's lost media like this that truly ignites the imagination. If anyone has contacts who worked at Knowledge Adventure in the mid-'90s, it might be worth inquiring about the existence of any design documents or playable builds.
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Dude, Ricky's Reckon sounds like it would've been a blast from the past. Shame that Knowledge Adventure pulled the plug. I used to love JumpStart games as a kid and always wondered about all the stuff they never released. Anyone knows if there's even a prototype floating around?