Untitled Barney math game (lost educational PC game; existence unconfirmed; 1992)

Status: Existence Unconfirmed

In 1992, The Lyons Group enlisted educational software columnist Denise Allen to supervise the development of a series of computer games based on the then-new PBS children's series Barney & Friends. Tailored for ages 3-8, these games would cover a specific pre-learning skill like letters, shapes and colors, and numbers. The latter concept was known to have been far in production, to the point that marketing plans were in place; one involved sending reviewers a capsule that when placed in water would transform into a Barney sponge.

Gameplay

The titles would have played out like most educational software at the time where players engage in a collection of mini-games. For instance, Allen describes one she came up with where Barney blows a bubble and the player has to identify what letter is inside it. Barney would also enforce good manners by saying "please" and "thank you" when giving players a prompt. A notable feature had users selecting a range of multiracial avatars to better represent them.

Availability

As reported in an August 1992 article for a local North Carolina paper, the math game was said to be almost finished for it to be tested by kids at Allen's own Southwest Elementary School (where she served as its media coordinator) and various schools in Texas. Nothing else has been said of the game since and as there are no listings on any gaming sites, it most likely ended up being unreleased. Whether the demo version was even sent out at all remains unknown.

Mention of the game online had been nonexistent until July 2024 when YouTube user BarneyMillennium made a video about it, including recreations of what the game might have looked like.

Gallery

BarneyMillennium's video on the topic.