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* CopyProtection: Of the "X word on Y page" variety. If you fail to enter the correct word, you get treated to a scene of Jerrod being hanged before a rather unceremonious force-quit to DOS prompt.
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* CopyProtection: Of the "X word on Y page" variety. If you fail to enter the correct word, the on-screen prospector says "Gotcha!", and you get treated to a scene of Jerrod being hanged before a rather unceremonious force-quit to DOS prompt.
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Badass Mustache and Badass Beard are being merged into Manly Facial Hair. Examples that don't fit or are zero-context are removed. To qualify for Manly Facial Hair, the facial hair must be associated with masculinity in some way. Please read the trope description before readding to make sure the example qualifies.
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* BadassBeard: Jerrod grows one when he gets to California, or to Independence on the overland route.
** The miners in California sport them too.
** The miners in California sport them too.
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* ShoutOut: In the Brooklyn Cemetery, on one of the graves(the on below the one with that's shaped like a cross) the deceased is described as a friend to the friendless and an enemy to those who have no enemies. Which is a reference to the opening narration on the Boston Blackie radio show.
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Added an image (I think it shows the game better than the boxart).
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[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/goldrushdosdreamofadventure.gif]]
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* TheMainCharactersDoEverything: On the overland route: Need animals? Send Jerrod to get them. Need to know when to leave? Get Jerrod to do it. Need to prepare the animals to descend down a hill to drink after traveling through a desert? Get Jerrod to do it.
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If you climb up a ladder on one screen, you can return to Jame's cabin via a trapdoor hidden under his rug. Found this during a recent playthrough
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* PointOfNoReturn: Two. Once you leave Brooklyn, you can't go back (the journey progresses until [[HaveANiceDeath you die]] or reach Sacramento), once you drop down the outhouse hole (ItMakesSenseInContext), [[{{Unwinnable}} you have no way of climbing back up if you can't open the door down there]].
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* PointOfNoReturn: Two. Once you leave Brooklyn, you can't go back (the journey progresses until [[HaveANiceDeath you die]] or reach Sacramento), once you drop down the outhouse hole (ItMakesSenseInContext), [[{{Unwinnable}} you have no way of climbing back up if you can't open the door down there]]. Sacramento).
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off too YMMV
Deleted line(s) 42 (click to see context) :
* WhatAnIdiot: Captain Buddy at one point in the game takes a route that goes through a ThirstyDesert leaving the rest of the gang mystified as there was another route that avoided the desert entirely! This can lead into LethallyStupid unless Jarrod can save everyone.
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* WhatAnIdiot: Captain Buddy at one point in the game takes a route that goes through a ThirstyDesert leaving the rest of the gang mystified as there was another route that avoided the desert entirely! This can lead into LethalStupidity unless Jarrod can save everyone.
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* WhatAnIdiot: Captain Buddy at one point in the game takes a route that goes through a ThirstyDesert leaving the rest of the gang mystified as there was another route that avoided the desert entirely! This can lead into LethalStupidity LethallyStupid unless Jarrod can save everyone.
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* WhatAnIdiot: Captain Buddy at one point in the game takes a route that goes through a ThirstyDesert leaving the rest of the gang mystified as there was another route that avoided the desert entirely! This can lead into LethalStupidity unless Jarrod can save everyone.
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* CaptainObvious: Oh room 11 in Green Pasteur's Hotel was next to room 12? You don't say Hotel clerk.
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* YouShouldntKnowThisAlready: You get a message to this affect if you read the Psalm before arriving in California.
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** If you take the Cape Horn route, you have to get the fruit before the Gold Rush announcement otherwise the store will close and you will die of scurvy.
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* BadassBeard: Jerrod grows one when he gets to California, or to Independence on the overland route.
** The miners in California sport them too.
** The miners in California sport them too.
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* NiceHat: Jerrod starts wearing one when he gets to California, and when he arrives in Independence on the overland route.
** Many miners wear one.
** Many miners wear one.
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''Gold Rush!'' gathered a few high-profile good reviews, but never sold very well, most likely due to using the outdated AGI engine, when Sierra's new SCI engine was already out by then. It's a rather drastic departure from other Sierra titles that were vastly more popular at the time, but is still well worth a look today if you want to try something different.
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''Gold Rush!'' gathered a few high-profile good reviews, but never sold very well, most likely due to using the outdated AGI engine, when Sierra's new SCI engine was already out in use by then. It's a rather drastic departure from other Sierra titles that were vastly more popular at the time, but is still well worth a look today if you want to try something different.
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* LuckBasedMission: When you reach the first leg of the Cape Horn path and the Overland path, Jerrod may be inexplicably stricken with cholera, falling over dead after a few minutes. Whether or not this will occur is determined before the scene where it kills you, with no indication given until it's too late, and there's absolutely no way to prevent it from occurring.
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* LuckBasedMission: When you reach the first leg of the Cape Horn path and the Overland path, Jerrod may be inexplicably stricken with cholera, falling over dead after a few minutes. Whether or not this will occur is determined before the scene where it kills you, with no indication given until it's too late, and there's absolutely no way to prevent it from occurring. ''The game itself'' tells you "There's nothing you could have done about it" (in those exact words).
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''Gold Rush!'' gathered a few high-profile good reviews, but never sold very well. It's a rather drastic departure from other Sierra titles that were vastly more popular at the time, but is still well worth a look today if you want to try something different.
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''Gold Rush!'' gathered a few high-profile good reviews, but never sold very well.well, most likely due to using the outdated AGI engine, when Sierra's new SCI engine was already out by then. It's a rather drastic departure from other Sierra titles that were vastly more popular at the time, but is still well worth a look today if you want to try something different.
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In 2014, 26 years after its original release, a FanRemake titled ''Gold Rush! Anniversary'' was released for UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} with an updated point-and-click user interface, voice acting, and improved graphics. You can purchase the game [[http://store.steampowered.com/app/319230/ here.]]
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''Gold Rush!'' gathered a few high-profile good reviews, but never sold very well. It's a rather drastic departure from the ''VideoGame/KingsQuest'' series that was vastly more popular at the time, but is still well worth a look today if you want to try something different.
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''Gold Rush!'' gathered a few high-profile good reviews, but never sold very well. It's a rather drastic departure from the ''VideoGame/KingsQuest'' series other Sierra titles that was were vastly more popular at the time, but is still well worth a look today if you want to try something different.
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* ShownTheirWork: The game is full of historical references and information, particularly during the journey from New York to California. The manual is also an accurate reference in regards to the gold rush of 1848, including information about the journey, daily life, and various tidbits that don't directly impact the game.
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** One particularly terrible version of this is extremely easy to run into unless you're used to looking everywhere. In Brooklyn, if you look carefully, you can find a single gold coin. If you don't find it, or fail to grab it (and there is zero on-screen indication of the coin's existence), you can play through more than ''two-thirds'' of the game and actually get to Sutter's Fort, only to find out that you have nothing with which to buy any of the tools that will get you gold. If you took the Panama route and found the hidden gold disk, you can trade that, but that will ''cost'' points, as it's worth far more than a single coin.
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* KarmaHoudini: Jerrod himself. Going to the hardware store or the market in New York will allow you to buy things on credit. However, before you leave, you effectively close your account at the bank, quit your job, and sell your house, meaning those stores will never actually get paid. There are no consequences for this: it's an expected part of the gameplay[[note]]In addition, there's only one thing you need to buy anyway, though it varies depending on the route[[/note]].
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''Gold Rush!'' is an adventure game from Sierra, initially released in 1988. The game chronicles the adventures of the main character Jerrod Wilson, a Brooklyn journalist in 1848 who, upon receiving a letter from his long-estranged brother, embarks on an adventure to California, to seek his fortune and reunite with the only family he has left.
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''Gold Rush!'' is an adventure game from Sierra, Creator/{{Sierra}}, initially released in 1988. The game chronicles the adventures of the main character Jerrod Wilson, a Brooklyn journalist in 1848 who, upon receiving a letter from his long-estranged brother, embarks on an adventure to California, to seek his fortune and reunite with the only family he has left.
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''Gold Rush!'' gathered a few high-profile good reviews, but never sold very well. It's a rather drastic departure from the VideoGame/KingsQuest series that was vastly more popular at the time, but is still well worth a look today if you want to try something different.
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''Gold Rush!'' gathered a few high-profile good reviews, but never sold very well. It's a rather drastic departure from the VideoGame/KingsQuest ''VideoGame/KingsQuest'' series that was vastly more popular at the time, but is still well worth a look today if you want to try something different.
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* UnwinnableByDesign: Surprisingly averted for a large number of puzzles. If you've forgotten to bring a particular item, there's generally another way to solve the puzzle. You can navigate a dark cave by bringing a lantern, ''or'' by feeling along the walls in the darkness (the latter being much more likely to result in death, however).
** Of course, [[AllThereInTheManual study of the manual]] is ''required'', in order to understand exactly why and how you've failed. Otherwise, you might end up forgetting a crucial piece of equipment, or missing a particular deadline that only results in failure many turns later.
** Of course, [[AllThereInTheManual study of the manual]] is ''required'', in order to understand exactly why and how you've failed. Otherwise, you might end up forgetting a crucial piece of equipment, or missing a particular deadline that only results in failure many turns later.
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* UnwinnableByDesign: Surprisingly averted for a large number of puzzles.puzzles (but sadly played straight for the rest). If you've forgotten to bring a particular item, there's generally another way to solve the puzzle. You can navigate a dark cave by bringing a lantern, ''or'' by feeling along the walls in the darkness (the latter being much more likely to result in death, however).
** Of course, [[AllThereInTheManual study of the manual]] is ''required'', in order to understand exactly why and how you've failed. Otherwise, you might end up forgetting a crucial piece of equipment, or missing a particular deadline that only results in failure many turnslater. later.
** And even then, there are still random events such as diseases and broken bridges that could kill you instantly without warning. It's meant to simulate the danger of a cross-country trip, but it only serves to punish the player with FakeDifficulty.
** Of course, [[AllThereInTheManual study of the manual]] is ''required'', in order to understand exactly why and how you've failed. Otherwise, you might end up forgetting a crucial piece of equipment, or missing a particular deadline that only results in failure many turns
** And even then, there are still random events such as diseases and broken bridges that could kill you instantly without warning. It's meant to simulate the danger of a cross-country trip, but it only serves to punish the player with FakeDifficulty.
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** Fortunately, though the game isn't ''maliciously'' cruel about it: you'll eventually be able to figure out that, if you can't skip the scene, it's because you're dead. It's still cruel, though, in that you can save before the end comes.
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* TimedMission: Several varieties, even. At the beginning of the game, in Brooklyn, you have exactly 15 minutes to choose a method of traveling to California. After time is up, the announcement that gold has been discovered is broadcast, and all the travel prices increase dramatically (locking you out of all but one method). In addition, on the Overland route, if you instruct the wagon master to leave too early or too late, the journey is doomed to failure ([[UnwinnableByDesign and you might not know until much later]]). And this doesn't count the myriad smaller timed tasks, like getting your oxen down the hills without destroying your wagon, or figuring out a way to get food on an ocean-going ship [[PoisonMushroom that hasn't exactly run out]].
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* TimedMission: Several varieties, even. At the beginning of the game, in Brooklyn, you have exactly 15 minutes to choose a method of traveling to California. After time is up, the announcement that gold has been discovered is broadcast, and all the travel prices increase dramatically (locking you out of all but one method). In addition, on the Overland route, if you instruct the wagon master to leave too early or too late, the journey is doomed to failure ([[UnwinnableByDesign and you might not know until much later]]). And this doesn't count the myriad smaller later]]).
** There are also several shorter timedtasks, like getting your oxen down missions, usually measured in seconds. For example, during the hills without destroying your wagon, or figuring out a way Overland route, you will come to get a point while crossing a desert in which you have literally just a few seconds to reach a water and food source on an ocean-going ship [[PoisonMushroom that hasn't exactly run out]].the screen[[note]]you have to start typing ''before'' you get there, because you have only two extra seconds after taking the time to walk to the right spot to eat and drink[[/note]]. Other timed missions are only ''slightly'' more lenient.
** There are also several shorter timed
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* PoisonMushroom: On the Cape Horn route, while traveling north again, food starts to run low, resulting in the slaughter of the pig brought along just in case. However, talking to the cook reveals that he ''may'' have left the corpse alone for too long before cooking it, resulting in fatal contamination; he's honestly not sure, and it smells okay. Eating the pig meat kills you immediately, but it is useful for something...
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The game doesn't bother too much with historical accuracy (or rather, it doesn't come up very much), but the manual, which was required for the CopyProtection, held a great deal of information on the time surrounding the 1848 gold rush, from the discovery of gold in California, to the eventual abandonment of the boom towns that sprang up.
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The game doesn't bother too much with historical accuracy (or rather, it doesn't come up very much), but the manual, which was required for the CopyProtection, held a great deal of information on the time surrounding the 1848 gold rush, from the discovery of gold in California, to the eventual abandonment of the boom towns that sprang up.
up after the gold rush ended.
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changed \"hung\" to \"hanged\" corrected spelling
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* CopyProtection: Of the "X word on Y page" variety. If you fail to enter the correct word, you get treated to a scene of Jerrod being hung before a rather unceremonious force-quit to DOS prompt.
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* CopyProtection: Of the "X word on Y page" variety. If you fail to enter the correct word, you get treated to a scene of Jerrod being hung hanged before a rather unceremonious force-quit to DOS prompt.
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''Gold Rush!'' gathered a few high-profile good reviews, but never sold very well. It's a rather drastic departure from the KingsQuest series that was vastly more popular at the time, but is still well worth a look today if you want to try something different.
to:
''Gold Rush!'' gathered a few high-profile good reviews, but never sold very well. It's a rather drastic departure from the KingsQuest VideoGame/KingsQuest series that was vastly more popular at the time, but is still well worth a look today if you want to try something different.
different.
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----
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Game, not a trope.
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BetterThanItSounds, ''Gold Rush!'' gathered a few high-profile good reviews, but never sold very well. It's a rather drastic departure from the KingsQuest series that was vastly more popular at the time, but is still well worth a look today if you want to try something different.
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''Gold Rush!'' is an adventure game from Sierra, initially released in 1988. The game chronicles the adventures of the main character Jerrod Wilson, a Brooklyn journalist in 1848 who, upon receiving a letter from his long-estranged brother, embarks on an adventure to California, to seek his fortune and reunite with the only family he has left.
Like most adventure games released at the time, ''Gold Rush!'' uses a text parser to allow the player to guide Jerrod's actions. Unusually for a Sierra adventure game at the time, the game offered multiple paths to completion, and each path, when fully completed, offered a chance at getting full points. Naturally, the game featured a surprisingly long list of deaths, all of which expounded on your inability to make the hazardous trip from New York to Sacramento, a trip that historically ''was'' fraught with incredible danger.
The game doesn't bother too much with historical accuracy (or rather, it doesn't come up very much), but the manual, which was required for the CopyProtection, held a great deal of information on the time surrounding the 1848 gold rush, from the discovery of gold in California, to the eventual abandonment of the boom towns that sprang up.
BetterThanItSounds, ''Gold Rush!'' gathered a few high-profile good reviews, but never sold very well. It's a rather drastic departure from the KingsQuest series that was vastly more popular at the time, but is still well worth a look today if you want to try something different.
----
!!This game proves examples of:
* BagOfSpilling: An in-game version. Regardless of which path you take, you will eventually shed a large amount of inventory in order to save weight (or appease some cannibals). The only things you will always get to keep are your bible, your gold coin, and your brother's letter.
* CopyProtection: Of the "X word on Y page" variety. If you fail to enter the correct word, you get treated to a scene of Jerrod being hung before a rather unceremonious force-quit to DOS prompt.
* GuideDangIt: It's a Sierra game. Examples include the importance of fresh fruit, the correct path through Panama (which is ''not'' the same as the safe path), and exactly what you're supposed to do with that mule you buy, something that's barely even alluded to in the game.
* HaveANiceDeath: Examples include: standing in the middle of the road long enough (you'll be trampled to death by a horse and carriage, which will not bother stopping to check on you), dying of cholera (see LuckBasedMission), and stepping on to the deck of the ship during a storm (you are literally blown off the stern).
* InterfaceScrew: If you manage to successfully complete the game [[spoiler: by finding the Mother Lode]], take a look at your inventory before quitting the game. [[spoiler: Your total cash will be intentionally glitched, to reflect the fact that you've found more gold than you could ever hope to count.]]
* KleptomaniacHero: Both played straight and averted: you're encouraged to pick up just about everything, but if you look for gold on someone else's claim, you're off to the gallows.
* LastLousyPoint: There are ''many'' things in the game that are not required to finish it, and many ''more'' things that will lower your point score if you do them. Solving puzzles is adventure-game-easy. Solving puzzle ''correctly'' requires more effort.
** In addition, 50 of the 250 points available must be acquired by finding gold. [[LevelGrinding You get one point every time you find gold]]. You'll only ''need'' to find gold 5 times to complete the game.
* LuckBasedMission: When you reach the first leg of the Cape Horn path and the Overland path, Jerrod may be inexplicably stricken with cholera, falling over dead after a few minutes. Whether or not this will occur is determined before the scene where it kills you, with no indication given until it's too late, and there's absolutely no way to prevent it from occurring.
** On the Cape Horn route, while traversing the Horn itself, there is a random chance to hit an iceberg. You cannot do anything to prevent this, and like the disease, it is determined before the scene actually occurs.
* MultipleEndings: Or rather, one true ending, multiple ways to get there. The easiest way to get to California is also the longest, traveling around the Cape Horn (in other words, from Brooklyn, around the southernmost tip of South America, and back up to California). The fastest way is Panama, but that also requires a lot of skill or SaveScumming to survive the hazards of the untamed jungle. The cheapest way is the Overland route, which requires a precise list of tools and very specific timing. Depending on the route you choose, gold will either be relatively easy or extremely difficult to find (the longer you take, the more people have arrived in California before you, making gold more rare).
* PointOfNoReturn: Two. Once you leave Brooklyn, you can't go back (the journey progresses until [[HaveANiceDeath you die]] or reach Sacramento), once you drop down the outhouse hole (ItMakesSenseInContext), [[{{Unwinnable}} you have no way of climbing back up if you can't open the door down there]].
* RedHerring: In the Brooklyn section of the game, you can visit a hardware store and buy a variety of different tools that would prove very useful for finding gold in California. Unfortunately, those tools never make it (see Bag Of Spilling above).
* SuperDrowningSkills: Falling into the ocean of Brooklyn Harbor kills you instantly. This can be done in less than a minute after starting the game.
* TimedMission: Several varieties, even. At the beginning of the game, in Brooklyn, you have exactly 15 minutes to choose a method of traveling to California. After time is up, the announcement that gold has been discovered is broadcast, and all the travel prices increase dramatically (locking you out of all but one method). In addition, on the Overland route, if you instruct the wagon master to leave too early or too late, the journey is doomed to failure ([[UnwinnableByDesign and you might not know until much later]]). And this doesn't count the myriad smaller timed tasks, like getting your oxen down the hills without destroying your wagon, or figuring out a way to get food on an ocean-going ship [[PoisonMushroom that hasn't exactly run out]].
* UnwinnableByDesign: Surprisingly averted for a large number of puzzles. If you've forgotten to bring a particular item, there's generally another way to solve the puzzle. You can navigate a dark cave by bringing a lantern, ''or'' by feeling along the walls in the darkness (the latter being much more likely to result in death, however).
** Of course, [[AllThereInTheManual study of the manual]] is ''required'', in order to understand exactly why and how you've failed. Otherwise, you might end up forgetting a crucial piece of equipment, or missing a particular deadline that only results in failure many turns later.
Like most adventure games released at the time, ''Gold Rush!'' uses a text parser to allow the player to guide Jerrod's actions. Unusually for a Sierra adventure game at the time, the game offered multiple paths to completion, and each path, when fully completed, offered a chance at getting full points. Naturally, the game featured a surprisingly long list of deaths, all of which expounded on your inability to make the hazardous trip from New York to Sacramento, a trip that historically ''was'' fraught with incredible danger.
The game doesn't bother too much with historical accuracy (or rather, it doesn't come up very much), but the manual, which was required for the CopyProtection, held a great deal of information on the time surrounding the 1848 gold rush, from the discovery of gold in California, to the eventual abandonment of the boom towns that sprang up.
BetterThanItSounds, ''Gold Rush!'' gathered a few high-profile good reviews, but never sold very well. It's a rather drastic departure from the KingsQuest series that was vastly more popular at the time, but is still well worth a look today if you want to try something different.
----
!!This game proves examples of:
* BagOfSpilling: An in-game version. Regardless of which path you take, you will eventually shed a large amount of inventory in order to save weight (or appease some cannibals). The only things you will always get to keep are your bible, your gold coin, and your brother's letter.
* CopyProtection: Of the "X word on Y page" variety. If you fail to enter the correct word, you get treated to a scene of Jerrod being hung before a rather unceremonious force-quit to DOS prompt.
* GuideDangIt: It's a Sierra game. Examples include the importance of fresh fruit, the correct path through Panama (which is ''not'' the same as the safe path), and exactly what you're supposed to do with that mule you buy, something that's barely even alluded to in the game.
* HaveANiceDeath: Examples include: standing in the middle of the road long enough (you'll be trampled to death by a horse and carriage, which will not bother stopping to check on you), dying of cholera (see LuckBasedMission), and stepping on to the deck of the ship during a storm (you are literally blown off the stern).
* InterfaceScrew: If you manage to successfully complete the game [[spoiler: by finding the Mother Lode]], take a look at your inventory before quitting the game. [[spoiler: Your total cash will be intentionally glitched, to reflect the fact that you've found more gold than you could ever hope to count.]]
* KleptomaniacHero: Both played straight and averted: you're encouraged to pick up just about everything, but if you look for gold on someone else's claim, you're off to the gallows.
* LastLousyPoint: There are ''many'' things in the game that are not required to finish it, and many ''more'' things that will lower your point score if you do them. Solving puzzles is adventure-game-easy. Solving puzzle ''correctly'' requires more effort.
** In addition, 50 of the 250 points available must be acquired by finding gold. [[LevelGrinding You get one point every time you find gold]]. You'll only ''need'' to find gold 5 times to complete the game.
* LuckBasedMission: When you reach the first leg of the Cape Horn path and the Overland path, Jerrod may be inexplicably stricken with cholera, falling over dead after a few minutes. Whether or not this will occur is determined before the scene where it kills you, with no indication given until it's too late, and there's absolutely no way to prevent it from occurring.
** On the Cape Horn route, while traversing the Horn itself, there is a random chance to hit an iceberg. You cannot do anything to prevent this, and like the disease, it is determined before the scene actually occurs.
* MultipleEndings: Or rather, one true ending, multiple ways to get there. The easiest way to get to California is also the longest, traveling around the Cape Horn (in other words, from Brooklyn, around the southernmost tip of South America, and back up to California). The fastest way is Panama, but that also requires a lot of skill or SaveScumming to survive the hazards of the untamed jungle. The cheapest way is the Overland route, which requires a precise list of tools and very specific timing. Depending on the route you choose, gold will either be relatively easy or extremely difficult to find (the longer you take, the more people have arrived in California before you, making gold more rare).
* PointOfNoReturn: Two. Once you leave Brooklyn, you can't go back (the journey progresses until [[HaveANiceDeath you die]] or reach Sacramento), once you drop down the outhouse hole (ItMakesSenseInContext), [[{{Unwinnable}} you have no way of climbing back up if you can't open the door down there]].
* RedHerring: In the Brooklyn section of the game, you can visit a hardware store and buy a variety of different tools that would prove very useful for finding gold in California. Unfortunately, those tools never make it (see Bag Of Spilling above).
* SuperDrowningSkills: Falling into the ocean of Brooklyn Harbor kills you instantly. This can be done in less than a minute after starting the game.
* TimedMission: Several varieties, even. At the beginning of the game, in Brooklyn, you have exactly 15 minutes to choose a method of traveling to California. After time is up, the announcement that gold has been discovered is broadcast, and all the travel prices increase dramatically (locking you out of all but one method). In addition, on the Overland route, if you instruct the wagon master to leave too early or too late, the journey is doomed to failure ([[UnwinnableByDesign and you might not know until much later]]). And this doesn't count the myriad smaller timed tasks, like getting your oxen down the hills without destroying your wagon, or figuring out a way to get food on an ocean-going ship [[PoisonMushroom that hasn't exactly run out]].
* UnwinnableByDesign: Surprisingly averted for a large number of puzzles. If you've forgotten to bring a particular item, there's generally another way to solve the puzzle. You can navigate a dark cave by bringing a lantern, ''or'' by feeling along the walls in the darkness (the latter being much more likely to result in death, however).
** Of course, [[AllThereInTheManual study of the manual]] is ''required'', in order to understand exactly why and how you've failed. Otherwise, you might end up forgetting a crucial piece of equipment, or missing a particular deadline that only results in failure many turns later.
