You can generally interact with the game by typing simple commands consisting of as little as a noun and a verb. For instance, the command "get into the car" can be shortened to "get in car". Unless otherwise instructed, follow all commands with ENTER. Gold Rush! will understand many common verbs, such as look, get, read, load, pry, climb, push, play, tell, use, ask, give, take and so on. You can repeat a command by pressing [F3].
Moving your character
You may move the character on the screen with arrow keys, the numeric keypad, or by clicking the left mouse button. To halt your character's steps with the keypad, press number 5, or press the last used direction key again. Do not hold the direction key.
Game speed control
At times it may be useful to slow down the speed of the game animation in order to negotiate a tricky section, or observe something more carefully. In Gold Rush, speed is controlled by selecting a choice from the Speed menu, using the mouse or arrow keys.
Game timer
Gold Rush is one of the first games to use a timer. The Gold Rush starts exactly 14 real-time minutes into gameplay. The ship leaves at the latest 18 minutes into gameplay and so on. It is important to complete certain actions in Brooklyn before the first 14 minutes expire, because, once the Gold Rush is announced, prices of goods and tickets will increase while property value will drop. For example Jerrod will be able to sell his house for only $750 instead of $850 after 14 minutes. If the ship has already left, then Jerrod will only be able to use the land route and so on. You can check the game time by pressing F6.
Save often!
There are many ways to die in Gold Rush! so it is important to save frequently and use several saving slots. One saving slot you may want to keep at all times, is the point where you decide which route to take from Brooklyn. Also in the cave at the end of the game, you will most likely fall to your death many times over, so, save often!
