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This is the second in the series of educational point-and-click adventure titles focusing on American History. The year is 1848. The tenuous balance that had been struck concerning the issue of slavery wavers in the face of a nation expanding by conquest and treaty. Many in the south claim the "peculiar institution" is a matter of states' rights. However, the political rumblings concerning a newly proposed Fugitive Slave Act suggest that slaveholders would be happy to use the will of the federal government to force northern free states into compliance. Living in these tumultuous times is Lucy, a 14 year old slave of Kentucky's King Plantation. She gets up before the sun rises, and works until long past dark. Her father has been sold to another master, and, considering the poor harvest, there's rumors that her mother and brother will soon be as well. Lucy must balance her wishes for freedom with the risk of recapture, but an incident on the farm will force the issue sooner than she'd ever thought. What can a slave do? What should a slave do? What should Lucy do? It's less puzzle-solving than exploration, discovery, and conversation. Most of the five chapters start with Lucy receiving a task to complete, then moving from location to location choosing how to accomplish it. Sections of the game also include strategic traveling sections, and gathering evidence and witnesses when someone you know is accused of a crime. The epilogue branches in a number of ways, depending on what badges you've earned, and not all the endings are happy ones. |
