''Crosscountry'' is a series of

educational video game An educational video game is a video game that provides learning or training value to the player. Edutainment describes an intentional merger of video games and educational software into a single product (and could therefore also comprise more ...

s for North American students ( grade one through

grade nine Ninth grade (also 9th grade or grade 9) is the ninth or tenth Educational stage, year of Formal education, formal or compulsory education in some countries. It is generally part of middle school or secondary school depending on country. Students i ...

). The games are published by Ingenuity Works, a

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

-based company originally known as Didatech Software. Most of the games simulate driving an 18-wheeler, picking up and delivering commodities to the specified cities, and making decisions about the best route, when to eat, sleep, get

gas Gas is a state of matter that has neither a fixed volume nor a fixed shape and is a compressible fluid. A ''pure gas'' is made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon) or molecules of either a single type of atom ( elements such as ...

, etc., in order to earn the most money.

''Crosscountry USA (1985)''

This was the first game in the series, released in 1985 by Didatech Software (later renamed to Ingenuity Works). Educational Software Reviews deemed it "the type of game you can play for a full hour without getting tired." Developed for the PC, the purpose of the game is to pick up commodities from one city and deliver them to another by driving across the country. Players interacted with the game through a command line using commands such as "turn on truck".

''Crosscountry Canada (1986)''

This was the second game in the series, released in 1986 for the Apple II by Didatech Software, and later ported to DOS in 1991. It was also ported to the

ICON An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...

, the made-in-Canada educational computer platform.

Home of the Underdogs Home of the Underdogs (often called HotU) is an abandonware archive founded by Sarinee Achavanuntakul, in October 1998. Before shutting down the original version in 2009, the site provided reviews for over 5,300 games and offered downloads of so ...

deemed ''Crosscountry Canada'' "One of the best edutainment titles ever made".
This title has since been made available on several websites, free-to-play.

''Crosscountry California (1987)''

As titled, players of this game are restricted to the boundaries of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. The gameplay was similar to ''Crosscountry USA''.

''Crosscountry Texas (1987)''

The game was the first geography simulation to be designed specifically for

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

schools. The game contained simulated travel from city to city throughout Texas. The game sees players travel to 135 cities and collect up to 55 commodities; the game requires 128Kb to run, and the school version includes a back-up disk and a teacher 's manual. This version was created without the state's involvement, similar to California, and in contrast to the North Dakota edition which would be released in 1992. According to Paul Melhus, president of Didatech, the simulation of Texas was designed to be as realistic as possible. The game was not used in Del Rio, as school officials noted the limited use of computers within education. The title was released onto DOS and the Apple II. The paper ''Technology: Window to the Future. Proceedings of the Annual State Conference of the Texas Computer Education Association'' noted that the game was more attractive to Texan teachers than Crosscountry USA due to the "proximity and familiarity with the content".

''Crosscountry North Dakota (1992)''

In October 1992, Didatech announced a deal with

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

's Department of Public Instruction to create a state-specific version of the software for the state's schools. The state would provide statistical data to adapt Cross Country USA to a North Dakotan edition. Didatech estimated a production schedule of 100 hours, much quicker than the year taken for the USA version. This came off the heels of the Canada, California, and Texas versions. The game was unique in that Didatech worked with the state's officials directly in production, while the Texan and Californian versions were created without the states' input. At the time of the announcement, Didatech was arranging deals similar to the North Dakotan one with the US states of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

and the Canadian provinces of

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

and

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. The game was released onto the Apple II, while a DOS version was being worked on for release the following year. The Computer Paper felt the project "makes the most of what the small firm has". The game turned out to be cost-effective; the state invested $45,000 and supplied information for the software maker to use, while Didatech produced the game and manual. Didatech sold a school version of the software to the state, which then sold it directly to schools; meanwhile Didatech would sell a separate retail version through its traditional retail channels. The cost per school was only $65, versus $350 for the site license of a national title. Didatech president Paul Melhus asserted that this type of collaboration was better suited to smaller states due to them being less bureaucratic, more flexible, and more open to innovation. This formula was inspired by the 1989 video game ''

Where in North Dakota Is Carmen Sandiego? ''Where in North Dakota Is Carmen Sandiego?'' is a 1989 educational video game. It is the fourth game in the Carmen Sandiego video game series after ''Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? (1985), World'' (1985), ''Where in the U.S.A. Is Carme ...

''.

''Crosscountry Canada Platinum (2000)''

This version of ''Crosscountry Canada '' incorporates several updates since 1991, including the new territory of

Nunavut Nunavut is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' and the Nunavut Land Claims Agr ...

(entered Confederation in 1999) and the

Confederation Bridge The Confederation Bridge () is a box girder bridge carrying the Trans-Canada Highway across the Abegweit Passage of the Northumberland Strait, linking the province of Prince Edward Island with the mainland province of New Brunswick. Opened ...

, which was completed in 1997 and connects

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island is an island Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. While it is the smallest province by land area and population, it is the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

and

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

''Crosscountry USA 2 (2002)''

The game was released in 2002, by Ingenuity Works.

''Crosscountry Canada 2 (2002)''

This game was released in 2002, by Ingenuity Works. Players drive an 18-wheeler truck picking up and delivering commodities across Canada while learning about provinces, cities, territories and more. Making wise decisions along the way will result in a successful trip. It features different large cities throughout Canada, and is an on-rails driving game.

''Crosscountry USA Photo Safari (2002)''

This game was released in 2002, by Ingenuity Works. The game is "much like Crosscountry USA 2 but with a focus on animals rather than commodities".

''Crosscountry Canada Photo Safari (2002)''

This game was released in 2002, by Ingenuity Works. The game is "much like Crosscountry Canada 2 but with a focus on animals rather than commodities".

''Crosscountry BC (2002)''

This game was released in 2002, by Ingenuity Works. As titled, players in this game are restricted to the boundaries of the Canadian province of

(BC).

References

{{reflist 15. ^ http://ingenuityworks.com/news/20060801.pdf

Notes

Middle School Journal
1994
The Software Catalog: Microcomputers
1987

External links

Ingenuity Works

''Crosscountry'' series
at

MobyGames MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controlle ...

''Crosscountry USA''
at

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''Crosscountry Canada''
at GameFAQs
''Crosscountry Canada'' (1986)
at

Archive.org The Internet Archive is an American non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including websites, software applic ...

''Crosscountry Canada'' (1991)
at Archive.org

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