Think Quick!

IBM PC version of Think Quick

Think Quick is an educational puzzle game released by The Learning Company for the IBM PC and Apple II series of computers in 1987. For ages 7 and up, the game is designed to promote problem solving and logic skills through a series of mazes and puzzles that need to be solved within a given time limit.

In the game a dragon has taken over the Castle of Mystikar; the player's goal is to defeat the dragon by building an enchanted knight. The parts to build the knight are spread throughout a castle and players will need to first locate them all. The castle is somewhat of a maze and takes up multiple screens; also, not only are there numerous paths and rooms to explore, but doors block the way in many locations. To open doors, players can push a button but the button is often not right next to the door; it can sometimes even be in a completely different room on a different screen! To progress through the castle, figuring out a workable sequence of opening and closing doors is often necessary as a door may block one path when open and another when closed, or it may block access to the button for another door.

Parts for the knight are hidden behind secret panels; but players can't just pick up any panel, at the start of the game a secret panel code is provided that gives clues as to which panels to open. The clue is in the form of a shape which will indicate the following:

• Hole or no hole.
• Black or not black.
• Same number of sides.

Wandering throughout the castle are numerous slime worms; if players run into a slime worm they will be eaten! Once eaten, players need to escape from the slime worm's belly by navigating to the exit without running into any obstacles. Players can be eaten by slime worms any number of times without penalty, however trying to escape can often use up valuable time. Players begin the game with several flowers and may also locate more in the maze; slime worms will fall asleep and become harmless if they eat a flower so these can be placed in the worms path if one is in the way. In some skill levels players can also find a thumper; when placed in a room, slime worms will automatically be attracted to it and ignore the player.

From anywhere in the castle players can enter a hideout which provides temporary refuge from the castle. It will pause the timer which is shown here as an hourglass so players know how much time is left, it provides a peephole so players can see the current room, it allows players to store picked up items like clues and flowers, and shows the knight as it is being built.

The game includes multiple castles of varying difficulty; an editor is also available so players can build their own castles using any of the elements found in the game.