JumpStart Games, Inc., formerly Knowledge Adventure, Inc., is an American

edutainment Educational entertainment (also referred to as edutainment) is media designed to educate through entertainment. The term was used as early as 1954 by Walt Disney. Most often it includes content intended to teach but has incidental entertainmen ...

video game company based in

Torrance, California Torrance is a city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay region of the metropolitan area. Torrance has of beachfront on the Pacific O ...

. Founded in 1991, it owns the ''

Neopets ''Neopets'' is a virtual pet website. Users can own virtual pets ("Neopets") and buy virtual items for them using one of two virtual currencies. One currency, called Neopoints, can be earned within the site, and the other, Neocash, can eithe ...

'' virtual pet website, and is itself owned by Chinese holding company NetDragon Websoft.

History

Until 1994, Knowledge Adventure had created DOS games, including ''Knowledge Adventure The Game'', ''

Isaac Asimov yi, יצחק אזימאװ , birth_date = , birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR , spouse = , relatives = , children = 2 , death_date = , death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S. , nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (192 ...

's Science Adventure'', ''Space Adventure'', ''Mario Teaches Typing'', ''

Mario Is Missing! ''Mario Is Missing!'' is a 1993 educational game developed and published by The Software Toolworks for MS-DOS, Nintendo Entertainment System, and Super Nintendo Entertainment System, later released on Macintosh in 1994. The player controls Luig ...

'', '' San Diego Zoo Presents: The Animals!'', ''Dinosaur Adventure'', ''The Tale of Peter Rabbit'', ''

Mario's Time Machine ''Mario's Time Machine'' is an educational video game originally released for MS-DOS and then for the Nintendo Entertainment System and Super NES consoles. The Software Toolworks both developed and published the MS-DOS and Super NES versions in 1 ...

'', ''Mario's Early Years! Fun with Letters'', ''Mario's Early Years! Fun with Numbers'', ''Imax's

Speed In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a scalar quant ...

'', '' Undersea Adventure'', '' 3D Dinosaur Adventure'', ''Isaac Asimov's Science Adventure II'', ''Kid's Zoo: A Baby Animal Adventure'', ''

3D Body Adventure ''3-D Body Adventure'' is a 1994 educational video game developed by Knowledge Adventure and published by Levande Böcker i Norden for MS-DOS, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows. In 2014, Jordan Freeman Group, a subsidiary of ZOOM, officially released ...

'', ''Space Adventure II'', ''Aviation Adventure'', ''America Adventure'', ''

Bug Adventure ''Bug Adventure'' is an educational video game about bugs by Knowledge Adventure. It was released in 1994 for MS-DOS and Macintosh, then for Windows in 2015. The interactive nature almanac and encyclopedia presents facts and media related to b ...

'', '' Imax's The Discoverers'', ''Mario's Early Years! Preschool Fun'', ''Magic Theater'', ''My First Encyclopedia'', ''

Zurk's Learning Safari ''Zurk's Learning Safari'' is an educational adventure game by American studio Soleil Software. It was followed by ''Zurk's Rainforest Lab'' and ''Zurk's Alaskan Trek''. They were part of a larger ''Soleil's Whole World Learning Series''. Producti ...

'', '' Zurk's Rainforest Lab'', '' Zurk's Alaskan Trek'', '' Mario's Fundamentals'', ''Mario's Early Years! Kindergarten Fun'', '' Pyramid: Challenge of the Pharaoh's Dream'', ''

Chess Mates ''Chess Mates'' is a computer software program, released in 1996 for Macintosh and 1997 for Microsoft Windows, designed to teach the basics of Chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of ...

'', ''Bricks the Ultimate Construction Toy!'', ''Flipper'', ''Drawing Discoveries'', ''Mario Teachers Typing 2'', ''Kid Keys: The Magical Typing Tutor'', ''Kid Pilots'', ''Dinosaur Adventure 3-D'', ''Lionel Trains Presents: Trans-Con!''. On November 5, 1996,

CUC International CUC (Comp-U-Card) International Inc. was a membership-based consumer services conglomerate with travel, shopping, auto, dining, home improvement and financial services offered to more than 60 million customers worldwide based in Stamford, Connectic ...

announced that it would acquire Knowledge Adventure and was completed on February 3, 1997, its

Davidson & Associates Davidson & Associates, Inc. was an American developer of educational software based in Torrance, California. The company was founded in 1984 by husband-and-wife Bob and Jan Davidson, the latter of whom led the company as president until January ...

subsidiary that CUC acquired in February 1996 will later merge with Knowledge Adventure in October 1998. On May 28, 1997, CUC International announced plans to merge with

Hospitality Franchise Systems Cendant Corporation was an American provider of business and consumer services, primarily within the real estate and travel industries. In 2005 and 2006, it broke up and spun off or sold its constituent businesses. Although it was based in New Yo ...

to create a single, "one-stop" entity. The merger was finalized in December that year and created

Cendant Cendant Corporation was an American provider of business and consumer services, primarily within the real estate and travel industries. In 2005 and 2006, it broke up and spun off or sold its constituent businesses. Although it was based in New Y ...

. As a result of the merger, CUC Software was renamed Cendant Software. On November 20, 1998, French media company

Havas Havas SA is a French multinational advertising and public relations company, headquartered in Paris, France. It operates in more than 100 countries and is one of the largest advertising and communications groups in the world. Havas consists of ...

(later acquired by water utility

Vivendi Vivendi SE is a French mass media holding company headquartered in Paris. Widely known as the owner of Gameloft, Groupe Canal+, Havas, Editis, Prisma Media, Vivendi Village and Dailymotion, the company has activities in television, film, video ...

) announced that it would acquire Cendant Software for in cash and up to contingent on the performance of Cendant Software. Subsequently, the division was renamed Havas Interactive. During that time, Knowledge Adventure released many branded games such as '' JumpStart'', '' Dr. Brain'', ''

Fisher-Price Fisher-Price is an American company that produces educational toys for infants, toddlers and preschoolers, headquartered in East Aurora, New York. The company was founded in 1930 during the Great Depression by Herman Fisher, Irving Price, Helen ...

'', ''

Barbie Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by American toy company Mattel, Inc. and launched on March 9, 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration. ...

'', ''

Bear in the Big Blue House ''Bear in the Big Blue House'' is an American children's television series created by Mitchell Kriegman and produced by Jim Henson Television for Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney preschool television block. Debuting on October 20, 1997, it aire ...

'', '' Blaster'', ''

Teletubbies ''Teletubbies'' is a British children's television series created by Anne Wood and Andrew Davenport for the BBC. The programme focuses on four differently coloured characters known as the Teletubbies, named after the television screens on t ...

'', '' Noddy'', ''

Jurassic Park III ''Jurassic Park III'' is a 2001 American science fiction action film, written by Peter Buchman, Alexander Payne, and Jim Taylor and directed by Joe Johnston. It is the third installment in the ''Jurassic Park'' franchise and the final fi ...

'', ''

Captain Kangaroo ''Captain Kangaroo'' is an American children's television series that aired weekday mornings on the American television network CBS for 29 years, from 1955 to 1984, making it the longest-running nationally broadcast children's television progra ...

'', ''

Curious George Curious George is a fictional monkey who is the title character of a series of popular children's picture books written by Margret and H. A. Rey. Various media, including films and TV shows, have been based upon the original book series. Geo ...

'' and ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to ...

''. In October 2004, Vivendi sold Knowledge Adventure to a group of investors interested in taking a more active management strategy, and in developing new educational software. The company has since released new products under both the JumpStart and Math Blaster brands. In October 2012, Knowledge Adventure changed its name to JumpStart Games. On March 17, 2014, JumpStart Games purchased

from Viacom. On July 7, 2017, JumpStart Games was acquired by Chinese online game publisher NetDragon Websoft.

Back-catalog digital re-releases

On November 25, 2014, five Knowledge Adventure titles were re-released digitally as DRM-Free exclusives on ZOOM-Platform.com through a partnership between JumpStart Games and the Jordan Freeman Group. The five titles included ''3D Body Adventure'', ''3D Dinosaur Adventure'', ''Dinosaur Adventure'' (Original), ''Space Adventure'', and ''Undersea Adventure''. On March 6, 2015, another Knowledge Adventure title, ''Bug Adventure'', was re-released digitally as a DRM-Free exclusive on ZOOM-Platform.com. This title was also released through the partnership between JumpStart and the Jordan Freeman Group. ZOOM-Platform.com indicated the game was released due to the "incredible reaction" they got to the first batch of Knowledge Adventure titles.

References

{{Reflist Educational software companies Software companies based in California Video game companies of the United States Video game companies established in 1991 Video game development companies Companies based in Torrance, California Former Vivendi subsidiaries 2017 mergers and acquisitions