Jones in the Fast Lane

Lore & Background

The game world is represented by a board game-like ring of buildings in squares, resembling a cross between Monopoly and Careers. Up to four players take turns 'living' their respective weeks; a single player may play against the titular 'Jones'. Each player is represented by a coloured marble on the board, moving in either direction limited by time remaining per turn. Each turn represents a week of the character's life, during which the player decides what the character does.

On weekends, each character experiences an 'Oh What a Weekend' event, which uses up money (usually less than $200) or, if the player has a computer, creates money. Events are often based on purchases made during the previous week, or can be random, described with traditional Sierra humor. If the player deposits all cash in the bank or ends the week with no cash, no money is spent over the weekend, and a visit to the doctor is prevented.

The object is to be the first player to achieve 100% success by reaching the top of four goals: wealth, happiness, education, and career. Wealth is achieved by having a certain level of money in the bank, shares, and cash in hand. Happiness is achieved by acquiring goods and taking time off work. Education is achieved by completing university qualifications. Career is achieved by climbing the career ladder into a management position. Fail states include having money stolen by Wild Willy, a bank glitch causing loss of savings and jobs, and other events.

Reader's Guide

Jones in the Fast Lane is significant as an early social simulation game that successfully translated a board game experience to the computer, using a 256-color VGA interface that was impressive for its time. Its development began with storyboards before any coding, and the board game interface was designed to be intuitive for younger or inexperienced players. The game's working title was Keeping Up with Jones. The CD-ROM version, produced in 1990 and released in 1992, was one of the first games to run in Windows 3.1x. Contemporary reception praised the graphics, music, and gameplay, with The One giving the MS-DOS version an overall score of 88%, calling it a 'good example' of implementing board game gameplay on a computer. Strategy Plus noted the joy of discovery typical of Sierra games but found it overpriced given its simplicity. The game's legacy includes its humorous tone, digitized actors, and references to other Sierra titles, such as Monolith Burger from Space Quest. Unofficial remakes have been created, including a playable online version and a mobile version on Google Play.

Did You Know?

• The game's working title was Keeping Up with Jones.
• Monolith Burger, a fast food restaurant in the game, is a reference to a restaurant of the same name in the Sierra series Space Quest.
• The CD-ROM version, released in 1992, was one of the first games to run in Windows 3.1x.
• If a player deposits all cash in the bank or ends the week with no cash, no money is spent over the weekend.