Freddy Pharkas,
Frontier Pharmacist

In 1992, I noticed that there wasn't a single Western computer game, even though Western movies had been popular off and on for years. But I wanted to make a humorous Western. What sort of Western could be funny? While discussing this with Roberta Williams, I started to say "farmer" but my mouth tried to say "rancher"and out came a tangled mess that kind of sounded like, "farmer-cist." Hey! A pharmacist? Why not? Thus was born Freddy Pharkas, Frontier Pharmacist!

I think it may well be my funniest game, due in great part to the wit of Josh Mandel. Computer Gaming World called it "The Blazing Saddles of computer games" (see box cover below) which I considered perfect praise since that movie was my inspiration.

I had quite a bit of "back story" in order to explain the plot, so Josh wrote a brilliant set of lyrics to go with a theme song that I knocked out. You can read his lyrics and listen to me sing the "Ballad of Freddy Pharkas" and the "Closing Ballad of Freddy Pharkas."

And I've included MIDI files of much of the music written especially for Freddy Pharkas, Frontier Pharmacist by Aubrey Hodges. And here's the "Score!" sound effect you heard every time you scored a point.

Stuck? Here's a HTML Walk-Thru and another in downloadable PDF format with complete illustrations by Tom Hayes. How about a complete points list? Or some Hints that may help. And if you're having trouble getting the game running under modern Windows versions, here's some Troubleshooting help.

"Missing" the original manual that came with the game, The Modern Day Book of Health and Hygiene? You've got to have it or you'll never be able to concoct your pharmacutical products. Take your choice: here it is in fast-to-download and easy-to-search text format. Or, here's a better looking version, in Adobe Acrobat format.

Here are a pair of advertisements that Sierra ran for Freddy: The Good, The Bad, and the Butt Ugly plus Good Clean Fun -- Naaaaaaat!

Be sure to also visit Andrew Zitnay's absolutely all-inclusive web site, www.FreddyPharkas.com. I think it's the web's single best source of information about the game, including where to find it today.

© 1998 - 2008 by Al Lowe • All Rights Reserved • Last Update: May 22, 2008