JumpStart Explorers — jstart

JumpStart Explorers is a personal 2D/3D computer game released by Knowledge Adventure in 2001. It focuses on history concepts for ages 5-8. This game was produced using Alias Wavefront Maya 3D animation software.

Characters

Main characters

Residents of the past

Cameos

Gameplay

In this game, CJ's six nieces and nephews have used his time machine to play hide-and-seek in time. Now CJ and Edison must search through several points in history to find them.

The player can earn points by playing activities, including a maze game, which can be traded in for stickers. There are forty stickers to collect. The player can also earn rainy day crafts each time they find a tadpole. There are twenty-five rainy day crafts from each of them to collect.

The game has three difficulty levels. The player chooses their difficulty level when they start a new game, and they can change their difficulty level at the sign-in screen.

Locations in Time

Egypt (1359 B.C.) - Polly hides here.

China (1280) - Molly hides here.

South America (1532) - Tad hides here.

North America - Plymouth Colony (1621) - Wolly hides here.

Antarctica (1911) - Chad and Wart hide here.

Activities

Egypt

Coddle the Cat - Use the various items to feed and play with the Egyptian royal pet cat. This activity awards 10 points.
Sphinx High Jinks - Create your own sphinx. Choose a head, and then click and drag facial features and decorations onto it. This activity awards 10 points.
Tadpole Glyphs - Decode hieroglyph messages. Look at the key to figure out which letter each picture stands for. Then type the letters using your keyboard to see the message. After you decode three messages, you get to write your own hieroglyph message. This activity awards 5 points for decoding 3 messages, and 15 points for writing your own message.
Wrap CJ - Wrap CJ up in bandages, and then put him the sarcophagus. This activity awards 10 points.

China

Paper Lanterns - Make your own lantern. Pick a lantern shape, and then click and drag artwork onto it. Click on the Edison button to light up the lantern. This activity awards 10 points.

South America

Feed and Comb the Llama - Click and drag grass to the llama's mouth to feed her. Click and drag the comb over the llama's fur to comb her. This activity awards 5 points.
Load the Llama - Pinca will give you a clue about which items should be loaded into the llama's pack saddle. Click and drag items from the ground to the llama's pack saddle. This activity awards 5 points.

Plymouth Colony

Planting Corn - Follow the instructions to plant corn. First, click and drag the gardening hoe to a hole in the ground. Then click on a fish and drag it to the hole. Then click and drag a corn kernel into the hole. Click on the hoe again and drag it over the hole to fill it with dirt. Then click on the gourd to move it over the hole and water the ground. If you follow the steps correctly, a corn stalk will have sprouted when you return here later on. This activity awards 5 points.
Husking Corn - Click on the left or right side of the corn to grab a bit of the husk. Drag the mouse to pull down the husk until it is completely off the screen. Then release the mouse button to drop it. Do the same for the other side. Then click and drag the corn into the basket. Try to husk as many ears of corn as you can in thirty seconds before the timer runs out. This activity awards 1 point for each ear of corn that you husk.
Feed the Chickens - Click on the cornmeal in Mary Brewster's bowl, and drag it over the yard. Release the mouse button to drop the cornmeal and feed the chickens. This activity awards 5 points.
Preparing the Feast - Follow Elizabeth Hopkins' instructions to help prepare for the Harvest Feast. This activity awards 10 points.
Archery - Click and drag an arrow to the bow. Move the cursor over a target to aim the arrow, and click to release the arrow. Questions will appear at the top of the screen, and answers will appear on the targets. Aim for the target with the correct answer. This activity awards 10 points for each correct answer.

Antarctica

Layer Up! - Click on the buttons to add clothes to CJ and Edison, starting with the first layer and ending with the last. Click on a button more than once to see different clothes. Click on the done button when you are finished. You can only play this activity once a game. This activity awards 20 points.
Message in a Cairn - Click and drag each stone to look for a message underneath. This activity awards 5 points.
Dog Sled Dash - Use the arrow keys to move CJ and Edison in the dogsled up, down, left, or right. CJ will tell you something about Antarctica. Move the dogsled over a green dog biscuit if CJ's statement is true. Move the dogsled over a red dog biscuit if the statement is false. This activity awards 5 points.

Other

The Mapping Game - Look at the set of directions in the bottom right corner of the screen. You will be asked to move a certain number of spaces north, south, east, or west. Use the buttons on the dashboard to move the Time Machine. Follow the set of directions to plan the route to the location. This activity awards 10 points.
Time Cards - CJ's Time Machine needs Time Cards to power it up. Look at the cards and find the ones that relate to the location you are traveling to. Click and drag the cards into the slot on the Time Machine's dashboard. When the Time Machine is fully powered up, click on the launch lever and pull it back. This activity awards 5 points.
Mazes - Move CJ and Edison through the maze by using the arrow keys. You need to make it to the end before the timer runs out, or else you'll be sent back to the beginning. Collect items on your way for extra points. There is one maze in each of the five locations. This activity awards 10 points for completion and 1 point for each item collected.
Tadpole Search Screens - Move the mouse around the screen to search for the tadpoles. The cursor turns into a hand when it finds a hiding place. When you find a tadpole, click on them. This activity awards 25 points.

Songs

Educational Concepts

History
Geography
Cultures
Problem-solving

Re-releases/Bundles

Around 2002, JumpStart Explorers was included in the JumpStart 1st-3rd Grade Learning Playground bundle along with along with JumpStart Reading for Second Graders and JumpStart Math for Second Graders.

The game was released in 2005 as a part of Australian McDonald's Happy Meals. This game was also released with Chick-fil-A Kids' Meals as part of a promotion for a limited time in 2007, along with a free trial to the then-new JumpStart World.

Trivia

In Antarctica, after layering up CJ and Edison, the cursor will be shivering cold until Roald puts a winter hat on it, thus breaking the fourth wall.
In Plymouth Colony, CJ gets stuck in a deer trap. This is only at the start of the game.
This game shares the same icon with its sister game, JumpStart Animal Adventures.
Several of the game's files for South America say "Peru" instead, implying that the South American location would've originally been Peru specifically. If there is a reason that the game avoids specifying any particular South American country, it may be because the Incan Empire spanned parts of several modern-day South American countries, not just Peru.