Where are they now? - 4mation Software


A lot of you may not remember 4mation Software but if any of you were educated in a British curriculum school in the '80s, you'll probably remember a fun little BBC Micro game called "Granny's Garden". Granny's Garden was an adventure game set in the "Magical Kingdom of the Mountains" where you were tasked on finding the six children of the King and Queen. Along the way, you'd have to solve several puzzles that were educational in nature.

In my memory, this was the very first edutainment title I ever played. Written by Mike Matson back in 1983, this game would prove to be a major success for the company 4mation. In fact, over two decades later, the company is still in business, no easy feat in the volatile software industry. According to them, they're one of the top independent educational software houses in the UK.

Mike Matson doesn't appear to be developing games anymore and is now working on web development and video production. In 2005, it was reported that he was working in Botswana.

You can purchase a retro version of Granny's Garden off the 4mation website for apparently 10 Pounds (which is about $18 AUD at the time of this post) if you wish to relive youth :).

Comments

  1. Oh my god! I totally remember this game from my primary school days.

    I think this was a bit later on for me, actually...my first edutainment game would have been...'Pod'? Pod can jump, Pod can run, etc...

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  2. Can't say I've ever played that one, but glad to see someone remember Granny's Garden :)! I'm planning to slowly progress through my history of old games through these "Where are they now?" articles whilst at the same time reporting about new ones.

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