A strange little side quest
The next time Princess Mermaid Coloring asks for one more try, remember that game ideas rarely appear from nowhere. Barbie Fashion Designer became a major software hit in 1996, selling more than 500,000 copies in two months and proving there was a large audience for fashion-focused computer play. A second detail makes the picture even better: Reader Rabbit's 1986 arrival was part of a major expansion of educational computer software before the CD-ROM boom of the 1990s. It is a good reminder that simple game mechanics can carry a surprising amount of history.
