)[1] is a graphic adventure video game designed by Doug and Ken MacNeill and originally released by Sierra On-Line in 1988.

The rights to the game are currently owned and published by The Software Farm by its original developers the MacNeills.

The player is Brooklyn newspaperman Jerrod Wilson, who soon receives word that he must go to Sacramento to meet his long-lost brother.

After a few minutes of gameplay, word arrives that gold has been found in California, and it becomes much more difficult for Jerrod to settle his affairs in Brooklyn and find a way to Sacramento.

This path brings Jerrod into contact with Native Americans, unruly oxen, parching deserts, and the likelihood of a winter storm in the Sierra Nevada.

This route is more expensive than the others and also requires Jerrod to prepare carefully for many hazards of the tropical climate of Panama, from malaria to jungle ants to crocodiles.

On each route, Jerrod can perish at random by a disease for which there is not yet any cure, such as cholera, making it prudent for players to save their game whenever possible and in multiple slots.

In California, Jerrod must try to prospect for gold, avoid bandits, and locate his mysterious brother.

uses words from the book California Gold: Story of the Rush to Riches by Lou and Phyllis Zauner, which came with the game as a form of copy protection.

If the player fails to enter the correct word at a certain point during the game, their character is immediately arrested for claim jumping and hanged on the gallows, which is the same as the regular in-game punishment for claim jumping, being caught in someone's hotel room, or stealing.