Mentor Game Details
Award winner “Logical Journey of the Zoombinis” was originally developed by Chris Hancock and Scot Osterweil, who were co-workers at the Technical Education Research Centers (or TERC) in Cambridge, Massachusetts (TERC, 2024a). The game was launched with tremendous success in partnership with Broderbund in 1996, but as technology evolved the edutainment software was unable to keep pace (Toppo, 2015). Ownership of “Logical Journey of the Zoombinis” changed hands several times, and the game all but disappeared in a stream of mergers. In a surprising twist, TERC was able to reclaim the software in 2011, and in 2015 launched a Kickstarter campaign; news of the game’s revival was received with glee by long-time fans who more than doubled the $50,000 funding goal for an updated desktop version. According to Toppo’s article in USA Today, “Zoombinis” re-launched on August 6, 2015 through the Android and Apple Apps stores, and on Macintosh and Windows desktop platforms shortly thereafter.
