Reviews (5)

Repetitive matching game, not much learning.
My 5 year old son does enjoy I See Sue, but I hoped for a more educational experience than this. The little informative elements are not interactive and he learned most of the content from a night of reading a good dinosaur book. Not recommended by a mom who prefers her child to be gaining a little more out of time spent on a computer.

This game is not for you! . . . . (It is for your kid.)
I am the main designer of this game.

It is painful to see some customers unhappy with their purchase. It clearly is not what they expected.

It was not designed to entertain busy adults. Instead, we played the game with four-year olds in a day care center until they could easily grasp the game, but still had to be pulled away.

Nor was it designed to be "educational" - as if there were a paleontology curriculum in kindergarten. If you want your child to distinguish the Jurassic era from the Mesozoic, buy a different title. Instead this game teaches your child to make wise trade-offs and to think ahead. You choose.

If you can read this review, you will probably find the game slow-paced and repetitive. You might quit before you discover that it is also subtle, deep and exciting.

We liked it!
Well, kids are different, aren't they? My 5-year-old liked playing cards against the computer to match the dinosaur parts, he liked seeing his dinosaurs appear on the various gameboards, and he liked the "prizes" which were coloring pages he could print out. It IS repetitive, but often kids this age like repetition. I wouldn't say it's highly educational about dinosaurs, but just as we don't have only one kind of book in our collection, we have a variety of software. I can tell my son enjoyed mastering this game.

[....]
No users manual, no help file, no clear explanation or guidance in the program itself. If I can't figure out what the point of this game is, then how can my four-year-old be expected to make any sense of it?

Don't Buy Sue the T.Rex
I just finished playing this game with my 4 year old son and I must say that neither of us found this title to be even remotely entertaining. It lacks the depth, superb graphics, and variety of the VERY good dinosaur game - Dinosaur Adventure 3-D. The entire game is this simple: Match 3 dinosaur tiles (head, mid-section, and tail) before your opponent does... and do it again, and again, and again... I didn't play it with my son for more than 20 minutes before I gave up from sheer boredom. I would suggest spending your money on Dinosaur Adventure 3-D instead. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Pajama Sam always helps those in need, and in Pajama Sam 3: You Are What You Eat from Your Head to Your Feet, the entire food pyramid requires his aid. Fats and sweets are clashing with more nutritious foods, and an all-out war is looming. A peace conference has been organized, so the various food groups can settle their differences, but clever sabotage by the desserts has trapped the conference delegates! It is up to Sam to locate and free the imprisoned foods before the ultimate food fight breaks out.

A third-person role-playing game for children, ages 3 to 8 years, Pajama Sam 3 provides a fun test of players' problem-solving abilities while not so subtly educating them about nutritional balance and proper eating habits. Players take Sam through the terrain of a surreal human body in the search for the missing conference delegates. To liberate them, Sam must gather up clues and tools that litter this body from its brain to its toes. He travels through the circulatory system by riding a friendly chocolate doughnut named Sprinkle, exploring the body's various locales and interacting with chatty foodstuffs. The game also has a small number of arcade sequences, such as a skiing simulation and a race through a library, where you must find a book while simultaneously dodging the librarian's shelving cart. Additionally, players must find hidden box tops in each new locale that they visit.

Pajama Sam 3's challenges fall in the medium range of difficulty. None of the puzzles is very tough, and as long as players keep investigating the various game screens and talking to the other characters, they are sure to find all the tools they need to complete their quest. Characters provide easy-to-follow verbal instructions with stress on the most critical elements, making this well-designed game fun and ideal for newer players. More experienced users will enjoy Sam's adventure, but they will finish You Are What You Eat too easily, and it has limited replay potential. But for fans of Pajama Sam, or any child interested in playing while learning the basics of nutrition, this is a delightful game. (Ages 3-8) --Alyx Dellamonica ... Read more

Reviews (17)

A good time, as usual
I expected my kids (6 and 4) would get tired of the humungous game series of role-playing games (Pajama Sam and Freddi Fish), but they don't! It seems they could play them forever, even though the basic gameplay is the same for all of them. Humungous keeps things fresh by introducing new characters and puzzle types that keep the kids hooked. The story is engaging enough that one kid doesn't mind watching while the other plays. But don't be fooled by the packaging that alludes to the educational benefit of learning about food groups--any learning that occurs will be by accident. Also, a few of the puzzles require reading skills and left my kids calling for help. All in all, a fun game that is worth the price of admission.

A Great game for Children of All Ages!
My children and I were so excited when we knew that a new Pajama Sam game had come out. My children have played it every day since we bought it and they still rave.

In this new game, the Food Guide Pyramid, needs Pajama Sams help. The evil Fat and Sugars are making trouble for the good ole natural foods. So Pajama Sam takes a cool ride into the human body for an adventurous quest between good and evil.

Pajama Sam and your children will learn about the difference between good food (fruits and vegetables) and junk food (cakes, cookies and chips).

As with all Humongous games, this one is filled with vibrant colors and cool sounds. There are many fun and friendly characters all throughout this enchanting game. There are different objectives each time the game is played. You can also save the game each time you play it.

I recommend this game to anyone with children. It does not matter their age, they will want to play it anyway.

great fun for more experience little gamers
If your child has played beginning level software and is ready to move on to more advanced gameplay, Humongous Entertainment's Pajama Sam series (and Freddi Fish and Putt-Putt as well) are an excellent choice. These titles take the cognitive tasks up a notch as children must accumulate specific items, navigate a number of locations, and use their problem-solving skills to help new friends and achieve larger goals. Along the way, funny and lovable Pajama Sam will meet a number of nice characters, visit a variety of interesting locations and play mini-games as he completes the larger task of getting a representative of each food group out of a pickle so they can get to an important meeting. Along the way he will solve a lot of smaller puzzles and click on many objects that dance or act out funny events. Specifics change if you start a new game, and you will want to play with your child a few times before they'll be able to enjoy it on their own, so each game is good for hours of fun.

This is a fine game in a great series. We have all the Pajama Sam titles and enjoy them all.

fun with food
Well my miniture pajama sam complete with his little red cape loves this one. Hes three by the way. Please note the way the characters drawn and the name it could be a sam or a samantha so will appeal equally to both.
You begin by finding sams cape and then away you go to mop top island (if you look closely you will see its patterned on pajama sam himself)
You start at the party and dont forget to pick up the box top as you cant come back for this one. Next is the jail and before you break out remember to pick up the box top.
Food is the theme and you meet some great foods as you travel around from the head to the feet and a couple of places inbetween.
Some of it can be quite difficult and some reading is required in one gamepath, but guesswork could be used for the younger kids if mum or dad or an older sibling isnt about.
Math is required in another gamepath so someone needs to be around to help out the younger ones.
Humour is there as always and of course plenty of click points.
Again four things to find and two places for each to hide. The gamepaths for the hiding places are far more similar this time but its still has plenty of replayability.
In some places picking up the box top is a little difficult as they are placed a little too close to the next screen arrow. But its a challenge to get all the box tops and see the box arrive in sams mailbox.
The kids loved sorting the beans and enjoy getting this game path.
They also enjoy skiing down the mountain.

Overall its a little harder than the first two but just as much fun.

not just for kids
I've been playing the Palama Sam games with my granddaughter,neices and nephews, and we have been having a great time. I'm 49 years old and find them interesting and they really make the kids think. They are for all ages. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Arthur, Francine, Baby Kate, and a host of other familiar faces are on hand to give children a guided tour of the preschool curriculum in Arthur's Preschool. This educational game is designed to give early learners some practice in basic concepts such as counting, shape recognition, the alphabet, and more. By helping Arthur's friends in these drills, players create pictures, build robots, and complete half-built puppets, just to name a few.

Children who don't mind straight-up education drills are the definite target of this game, aimed at the 3 to 5 years age range. Arthur's Preschool places a heavy emphasis on learning over play. The various activities--whether identifying letters by the sounds they make, choosing a particular shape in response to a verbal cue, or doing simple counting--offer, essentially, an electronic version of old-style educational flash cards. Each activity is designed to maximize learning and has a built-in scale of escalating difficulty. They will challenge users to harder tasks if they ace the first level of toughness.

For players who want their learning activities sugar-coated with a little arcade play or humor, Arthur's Preschool is certain to feel a little dry. This is not a flaw, though, so much as a difference in approach. Thegame provides learning statistics for parental review and offers one "achievement certificate," complete with a connect-the-dots game, for each academic subject. The game also offers a series of creativity-oriented games--arts, crafts, and musical activities--in addition to its more hard-core subjects.

With so many games and activities, it is safe to say this game is genuinely trying to pack everything but a teacher and school friends into its school-in-a-box. Arthur's Preschool takes itself seriously, true, but children who take it seriously, too, are sure to learn a great deal. --Alyx Dellamonica ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Great software!
This application is a bit older, and I don't think the publisher has upgraded it to XP or 2K. But that was not a problem for me, I have a bit older system.

My kid loves it! It's great. She is a big fan of Arthur and they really captured the essense of all the Arthur characters. Some of the activites are skewed a bit young, but for my 3 and a half year old, that was fine. It's the fist thing she asks to do if she sees me sitting at the computer. Highly recommended.

Windows Incompatability Problem-Very Dissappointed!!!
This CD-Rom is not compatable with Windows XP and it should be stated clearly somewhere on the packaging. The whole thing froze my computer. Extremely dissappointing!

Not Compatible with WIndows 2000 or XP
I'm a bit disappointed that it doesn't work on Windows XP and Windows 2000.

Excellent as a first preschool CD
My three year old really enjoyed all of the games and skill areas. The ladybug bridge activity was especially good for spatial skills. I would highly recommend this for 2 - 3 year olds as a first software program for preschool skills, but most of the games are too easy if the child has already mastered basic preschool skills using another program. My son had already mastered Elmo's Preschool before we tried this, and therefore it was mostly too easy and not as effective.

Good games, marred by bad implementation
My son has been using this for the last two months. He's 2 & 8 months, slightly under the recommended age for it.

As a game, it should have a lot going for it. For a new user, there are a variety of skills tested, from counting (using baseball), to alphabet (using a robot builder), to shape sorting (using piggy banks of different sizes & coins to match).

However, it is quite flawed in many ways. In most games, the instructions on what letter to select, will stop abruptly if a key is pressed or the mouse is clicked.

For example, in the alphabet game, Arthur will say something like, "Hand Brain the upper case letter A", & there are 5 choices. If however, my son happens to click anywhere on the screen, Arthur will stop before the sentence completes & my son will click at random. It's tough to pick a letter if Arthur doesn't say which one is to be picked!
That sort of thing happens in many of the games, so for us, quite a few of them are un-playable.

If you play the games more than a few times, there's not much variety in the games. The almost exact same things happen each time, even if they were completed correctly the last time.

Quite soon, I'm not sure if my son is learning new stuff or simply remembering the game's prompts from previous experience.

Bottom line : Good game with possibilities for a month or so, will become old hat after that. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

DONT BUY THIS
(....)I cannot install this on XP. I have tried all the work arounds found on the "Support" web site and a few of my own but it will not allow me to install. I am a software developer and know this software is flawed--they did not test it on XP.

Reader Rabbit reading Phoincs 3-6 Jewel case
This is not working in my system from the first day of having it, I have WINDOWS XP. I am so NOT happy I am not sure how to go about returning it asap even for an exchange. Please help me.
Angelia ... Read more

Features

• Ages 7 & up

Amazon.com Product Description

The second adventure featuring Pajama Sam, the world's youngest superhero. Join Sam as he journeys to World Wide Weather, the storm-stirring factory in the sky. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

I have a small pajama sam too
My three year old loves pajama sam, I made him a red cape so he could run around being pajama sam.
To the game, First you must find sams cape and then you find your way to the attic to face thunder and lightening. Thunder is a very grandmothery figure and lightening is like a dizzy maiden aunt.
You accidently press the red switch and have to find and mend all the weather machines before mother nature arrives. You also have to find the missing pieces of the jigsaw you spilt aand put it back together (there are a number of different jigsaws so you dont know which one you will get)
You have four weather machines to fix and they each have two places to hide, so the game is different each time you play.
Every time you fix a piece of the weather machine, thunder and lightening appear and congratulate you so there is plenty of positive reinforcement and encoragement for children to help others.
There is also a version of the game ludo, or maybe you know it as trouble, that I find my kids playing quite a lot (its a pity they couldnt have made it multiplayer) as only you and the computer can play.
Have fun in the greenhouse making apples eggplants bananas and pickles grow on little bushes, you need them sometimes. Or maybe see if there is a pot of gold under the rainbow you make. Kids also learn to follow a recipe, get everything right and you are rewarded with an animation and maybe something you will need later.
Overall its a great game with plenty of warm fuzzys.

another winner from Humongous Entertainment
If your child has played beginning level software and is ready to move on to more advanced gameplay, Humongous Entertainment's Pajama Sam series (and Freddi Fish and Putt-Putt as well) are an excellent choice. These titles take the cognitive tasks up a notch as children must accumulate specific items, navigate a number of locations, and use their problem-solving skills to help new friends and achieve larger goals. Along the way, funny and lovable Pajama Sam will meet a number of nice characters, visit a variety of interesting locations and play mini-games as he completes the larger task of helping to fix the interesting and entertaining weather machine. Along the way he will solve a lot o smaller puzzles. Specifics change if you start a new game, and you will want to play with your child a few times before they'll be able to enjoy it on their own, so each game is good for hours of fun.

This is a fine game in a great series. We have all the Pajama Sam titles and enjoy them all.

Excellent, with assistance
My 3 and 1/2 year old loves the movement and many levels of this game; however, she cannot do it alone. After we went through it together (and it did take quite a bit of time) she was able to navigate a bit better on her own. There are numbers/codes involved, so I expect the makers of the game knew an adult would have to help out the younger players as well. Imaginative and fun!

Pajama Sam 2
My grandson, Jake, is 5 1/2 years old and he says it's great. He mastered all the levels and is very proud of himself. Not only is the CD ROM good, your outside vendor was also great in delivering promptly as promised.

THIS GAME WAS GOOD
This game was good but not as terrific as the 1st pajama sam. In Pajama Sam 2 pajama sam is scared of the thunder and lightening so he goes and tries to stop then he ends up tripping and lands on a button then all the weather pieces come off of there places and get lost and thunder and lightening(2 characters in the game)
give sam a sheet of the missing pieces (because if mother nature finds out they'll get in trouble)and its sams job to go find them.It is very adventurous and if your child is scared of the dark or likes the dark and loves adventure and likes to talk and socialize with people this is the game for you!

About Pajama Sam: Was created in 1996.He is a young polite bold and brave boy he is always ready for a new big and fun adventure.
He loves Pajama man (a guy he sees in magazines and on tv.Pajama Sam is a great role model for kids.But he always has to be home before dinner time!

About the games for Pajama Sam: There is Pajama Sam 1 no need to hide when its dark outside Pajama sam 2 thunder and lightening aren't so frightening Pajama Sam 3 you are what you eat from your head to your feet Pajama Sam one shop fun stop Pajama Sam lost and Found and Pajama Sam sock works. Pajama Sam Any Day games. They are all marvelous I'm sure you will like them!

Other humungous games like Pajama Sam: Freddy fish,Putt putt, and spy fox.

Well I hope this review was helpful to you!

ENJOY! ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Game title is offensive--Game play is not
Shame on you, Vivendi Universal Games!

I'm a dad who has a 7-yr old daughter who enjoys playing the originally titled "Fisher-Price Big Action Construction" game on my old Win98 PC. I'm buying this compilation only because the original game does not work in my new WinXP PC.

Tell you what: I'm going to scan the artwork and booklet, then use photo-editing software to change the "for Boys" into "for Kids", and re-print. I'll even do a new round label to cover over the one on the disc.

I hope VUG hears from parents like me who are dismayed by VUG's outdated notions. If VUG doesn't change soon, then I'm voting with my dollars.

Fun games for children
We bought this for our son over a year ago. He still plays the games all the time. Some of the games are educational and some are just for fun, he enjoys them all. All of the children who come to play at our house like to play. Some of the games are easier to use than others. Some of the activities are very simple and he loses interest in them very quickly, but over all he enjoys it. The games are easy to install and our son came play them without much help (he was 3 1/2 when purchased).

Lending Credence to ridiculous stereotype
I would like to state my objection to the falsehood that any computer game is for boys and not girls. It is ridiculous statements and advertising such as this which harm and demean young girls' self-images. If you are limiting their opportunities at this age then you are beginning a long, downward spiral. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

A collision with a meteorite has stopped Earth from rotating on itsaxis! Now half of the planet is turning to a ball of ice while the side facingthe sun gets hotter... and hotter. If the planet is to survive, you mustgenerate enough electricity to power a giant impulse machine, the only devicethat can get the planet rotating again. The only problem is with the impulsemachine's electrical generators--not only are they scattered throughout theworld, none of them is working correctly.

Physicus is a first-person role-playing game in the style of Myst,designed for players aged 10 and older. Players click through a nearly endlessseries of gorgeously rendered scenes, scanning any stray objects they find andusing them to repair and activate the electrical generators. The key differencebetween this and similar games, though, is that all the puzzles inPhysicus are based on solid scientific principle.

Fortunately, you do not have to be a wizard in optics, Newton's principles ofmotion, or any other aspect of the physical sciences to play this game. Theexpert is provided for you, in the form of a virtual laptop, which can guide youthrough your world-spanning task. Within the laptop, the fundamental concepts ofphysical science are laid out in a clear and entertaining format, complete withdiagrams and animated illustrations. This banquet of information is broken intobite-sized morsels for younger players, and is available for access at any pointin the game. What's more, the game is very well cross-indexed, with links to thecorrect sections of the laptop appearing whenever a puzzle presents itself.

Physicus is one of the rare educational games that genuinely have it all:great story, super graphics, and truly interesting puzzles. Visually, it melds alush Victorian retrotech sensibility with hardcore educational content. Thefirst-person interface gives the players the opportunity to fully imaginethemselves in this complex adventure. Engaging enough to hold the attention ofadults as well as younger players, it makes an excellent shared project for aparent-and-child team. --Alyx Dellamonica ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Awesome graphics, but a huge disappointment
This game looked so cool as it made my Pentium 1 computer crash again and again that I purchased a new Pentium 4 machine JUST TO GET THIS GAME TO RUN!

Physicus has an intriguing storyline. Awesome, superior 3D graphics. The reference material is top rate.

But the game: In a scavenger hunt scenario you search for clues then solve problems. There is not enough direction. Hours of aimless frustrating hunting. There is no help in the game that provides any guidance as to what to do next.

The Tivola website offers some guidance, even shows you the answers for the next step but this leaves you no feeling of success. Even after these Tivola hints, you still can't find subsequent clues until more aimless frustrating hunting.

I don't like scavenger hunts where I don't know what I'm looking for so this game is a huge disppointment for myself and 9 yr old child.

It could be useful as reference material for explaining physics related subjects to kids, but the game needs a greater degree of direction.

Physicus
Physicus is a terrific game. It is similar to Myst, with the game play and graphics, and has the added bonus of being very informative. The information on optics, mechanics, acoustics, electricity, and heat are excellent. Some of my middle school students love it. They have fun playing, and they're learning.

Famous Software Tool
This software is found to be educational for those who are currently interested in the physics field and/or want to pursue future careers that generally involve physics. Recently, I've observed that the software itself is truly designed for teenaged students aged 10-16, in grades 5-11 and an excellent resource for physics-related science coaches. After all, it also provides an opportunity for many middle and high schoolers to excel in this software for many education purposes.

For instance, it is mainly used for situations when a teenager wants to try harder to sucessfully progress his masteries in various courses without any of bothersomeness in his parents' authority. As an idealist of the new century, I hope you find this to be your success material of all!!

Need More Work From the Creators
This game is an interesting one, but completely confusing. I would like if it could tell the player what she/he is supposed to do. I try to play this game, but I am always bewildered about what exactly do I have to do to reach the next level. I just get lost and walk around for like hours without a clue! You should say something like "Here you must solve the ........." or something like that. This way people can understand what you mean and what they have to accomplish.

Really Cool
I really liked this game. The graphics are awesome and it's tricky enough to hold my attention but easy enough (okay, I looked at the hints twice!) to know that I will save the world! Very cool. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Your child will laugh and play with Kermit, Piggy, and all the Muppet Kids while learning critical thinking skills in this three-volume collection. The Thinking Skills software was designed by educators to teach as well as entertain. The set features more than 60 games and activities so your child can learn important skills through exploration. Feedback, which is such an important part of learning, is even more exciting with 3-D animated clips of the "grown-up" Kermit and Gonzo commenting on your child's progress. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Now kids can play and learn with their favorite Learning Company characters online at KidsEdge, the safe, family-friendly Web site with over 170 educational games and growing. Parents receive detailed progress reports, as well as recommendations for helping their children excel. One membership covers the entire family. This package contains the KidsEdge travel CD-ROM, which allows kids to play games even when they’re not connected to the Internet, and the ClueFinders Mystery Adventure CD-ROM. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Absolute Junk!
If you are a computer expert, enjoy constant crashes and unavailable servers and your child has patience beyond belief then this is the product for you. This product does not work! We spent a week trying to log on to the server which was down, then when we finally got on and registered the games and activites (which are no very good at all) take about 10 minutes to come up before you can play them. If you are hoping that you will be able to let your child play independently with this product, you better think again. You will be the one trying to navigate the instructions and reading the rules. Your child will be able to click every once in a while when you tell them to click on a certain item, but that is about it. DON'T BUY THIS PRODUCT!!

Smart Choice
So glad to see you finally added this product. I have been hooked on the Kidsedge website for a year now. It is the best all around educational "magazine" I have found. I get great ideas for my third graders -- the ones who need motivation and the GATE kids. We used it today during science and ended up at a virtual museum tour on bugs. I couldn't get the kids to stop for lunch! The articles are interesting, and I am always downloading them for the teacher's room. My husband teaches computers in high school and liked the recent article on cheating in America. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Freddi Fish and Luther are saddling up for the Wild West. Cousin Calico's prize-winning hogfish have been fiendishly fishnapped by some hogfish rustlers. Freddi Fish and Luther resolve to find the rustler's hideout, rescue the hogfish, wrangle those rustlers, and discover the identity of the mysterious Mr. Big. Kids help Freddi and Luther bring justice to Briny Gulch as they explore exciting Wild West locations, investigate clues, and meet new characters. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Great game for young kids
My four-year-old son's favorite games over the past year, by far, are the Freddi Fish ones. They are challenging, change a bit every time but maintain enough consistency to be easy to navigate, and are lots of fun. The later games (#4 and up?)have a "save" feature, which is awesome. Highly recommend!

Only Getting Better, A family Favorite
My husband and I both enjoy playing this game. More importantly, our son, age four, really enjoys it. This game encourages creative thinking, problem solving, memory skills and more. One thing I particularly like is that each time you solve the game and it's over, when you begin again, it's like palying a new game. The problems change, the puzzles change, the objects you need to find and collect change.

These games have gotten better with each game.

Well worth the money.
Enjoy

My three year old loves Freddi! Her first pc game
I bought this for my daughter when she was two and a half. We put it in and played with it together for a few months. Just before she turned three, I let her play with it by herself to practice using the mouse. She loves it! The graphics are cartoony and fun, and the verbal instructions given by Freddi are simple. There are so many things to click on in most scenes that it will grab attention. My daughter just practiced using the mouse and getting it to click on the right picture. Now she solves the mystery and completes the game all by herself.
Bottom line:
A great beginner software for three and up.

Freddi Fish 4: The Case of th Hogfish Rustlers of Briny Gulc
Neat idea but my 6 year old loses interest. It is too complicated to keep him involved. We (mom and dad) enjoyed playing it but it took too long to find clues and there were too many levels for him to understand what was happening.

They're getting better
The games seem to improve as you move from #1 to #4. My 5-yr old likes it that each time you play it is slightly different. ... Read more

Features

• Six fun story games and learning activities help children learn as they play
• Teaches essential skills such as reading comprehension, listening and critical thinking
• Also introduces logic & memory, hand-eye coordination and basic motor skills
• Ages 3 and up

Amazon.com Review

Be prepared: Your child may develop a yellow-sock obsession after discovering this charming, multilingual European CD-ROM. Socks--yellow ones with holes--are the only things that can free Willie, the friendly ghost, from his tower. He eats them to maintain his ghostly powers, and he's terribly hungry. Max must choose whether or not to leave the twilight comfort of his uncle's backyard on a mission to the haunted castle to free the ghost. Fortunately, this spooky spot is more full of delight than dread.

The haunted castle's 13 rooms are cozy, cluttered, and riddled with secret passageways. The object here is simply to search for little yellow socks in this multidimensional storybook world. Click on a rug, and it transforms into a ghostly keyboard, each note a quivering moan. In another room, click on a washing machine, and a grungy ghost flies in, goes through a cycle, and flies out, sparkling white. There's endless fun to be had searching for the all-important footwear; this CD-ROM emphasizes the exploration (there's a ghost in the shower!) that happens on the way to achievement (must get yellow socks!)

As your child helps Max discover new rooms, narrative text appears onscreen, adding to the storybook feel and encouraging literacy skills. Memory and orientation come into play as explorers negotiate the castle's doors and secret passageways, and kids can even dabble in German and French by changing the language setting. As bats deliver mail from home, and statuary drops hints to sock seekers, this place doesn't feel haunted; it feels charmed. (Ages 3-7) --Anne Erickson ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Ok, but primitive
Our 6 & 7 year old enjoyed playing this once- and it did take several sessions to get throug it, but I doubt that they will play it again, as it doesn't seem to change w/ each game. The slow play drove me wild, but they didn't seem as bothered by it. For example, when you click on a doorway, to get Max to go there, you don't just go- a voice over says, very slowly, "should Max go through the doorway into the cellar? Yes [a thumbs up appears]or No [a thumbs down appears]?", then you click on whichever you want, and the same voice says the choice you made (yes or no), and then you can go through. If you are used to American software it will seem a bit primitive.

Slow & Dull
My twin almost-four year olds are fast becoming video game veterans - the Jump Start Series, Winnie the Pooh, Pajama Sam. This game got on my nerves quickly - when you try to move from room to room, EVERY SINGLE TIME it asks "Are you SURE you want to go through this door? Yes or no?" and makes you click on an up-thumb or a down-thumb. That gets old FAST. If you click on a door, obviously you want to go through it! It does not allow you to hit the "escape" key to skip the long, dull opening narrative as most games do after you've played it once. You don't want the five-minute story EVERY time. Every room you enter requires you to sit through another long narrative describing what you can easily see just by looking at the room. Most games would allow you to click and skip the talk. Not this one. No way to turn off the self-involved talky Brit who wrote this. (From the UK). Pajama Sam is a better alternative to this, but you'll have to walk through that one the first time with the under-6 age group. After one walk through, though, my toddlers loved PS. This one they walked away from in disinterest after only 15 minutes....very poorly designed, IMHO.

A keeper
My daughter loves this game! We have played it many times and she has yet to really tire of it. Surprisingly enough my 2-year old loves watching and playing along too. A great game with a gentle spirit and a sense of fun.

Please get more like this one for my kids!
This is the software that is tons of fun and does not pollute your childs imagination! My kids spend hours playing this one and I like it because they are learning while they are playing in the story. The most important message in the story line is to help your friend in need. The game is rewarding and thus also make your kid feel like they have accomplished something. GOOD STUFF! ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

As ladybugs cha-cha across the bottom of the screen, and the always-game Francine whacks balls into the outfield, kids will feel like part of Arthur's gang of pals as they explore the world of Arthur's Preschool. The feeling is reinforced, thanks to a personalization feature that causes Arthur to name players by name and reference things such as their favorite color or animal throughout the program. Be forewarned: if your child has an unusual name, Arthur may not be able to pronounce it. He discreetly ignored the name Rosalind in our trials.Each activity is based around a character from the Arthur television show. Kids can help Brain build a robot by handing him boxes containing the letters he asks for. They can help Muffy design a Mount Rushmore-like sculpture of her snooty family by choosing photos whose faces match the emotion she's looking for. Or they can pick up and count the baseballs Francine hits at batting practice. There are eight activities in all. Three levels of difficulty and Arthur's helpful suggestions to up the level when play becomes too easy ensure that kids won't get bored. Also, Arthur patiently instructs kids on how to use the mouse and gives a "how-to" demonstration whenever a new player encounters a game for the first time.There's a second CD-ROM in the boxed set that has a music-making station, a place to make greeting cards, and printable activities--all rather second fiddle compared to hanging out with Arthur and his buddies.We've never been able to figure out exactly what kind of bespectacled, round-eared, sincere animal Arthur is, but we no longer care, since we've discovered he's a wonderful and benevolent early-learning coach for preschoolers. (Ages 3 to 5) --Anne Erickson ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Excellent program for 3s
My 3-year old daughter first used the computer with this game. She appreciates that Arthur says her name and I appreciate that it self-adjusts to her skill level. This is a 2-cd set with a variety of activities. There are games, learning adventures and a *wide* variety of programs to choose from. If you buy just one to start this is the one.

My 3 year old loves it
I bought this for my three year old daughter, and she really loves it. It holds her attention, she learns but it's while doing fun things and it has repeat value. On MY end, my favorite part is each challenge automatically adjusts the level based on how well your child is doing. You don't have to go in and change it from, let's say, level one to 2. The levels are always listed on the top corner. You can also change it from there if you like by clicking on the level color. She is very good at using the mouse and understanding the computer, but it is very kid friendly. And the challenges aren't too hard where she gets frustrated, as, right now, in the Jumpstart series where you really need to have a better grip of the alphabet, etc. I definitely recommend it.

very pleased
Finding out what my daughter was learning in school made me want to reinforce her learning at home. We choose Arthur because she really likes all the characters in their show. All the activities have three levels of difficulty and will also track the scores. The best part was after accomplishing a few games in each activity my child was awarded a dot to dot certificate, which is now her favorite. She found all the activies very fun and rewarding. She was also very excited when they wished her a happy birthday! ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

A great way to learn the alphabet--from Aunt Annie's alligator to the Zizzer-Zazzer-Zuzz--Dr. Seuss's beloved word play and fanciful illustrations are brought beautifully to life through this software. Each page has multiple hidden places to click, along with pictures, actions, and songs just waiting to surprise you.

For a great activity for more advanced readers, have them pick out just the verbs or nouns on each page. Younger siblings can learn to recognize both capitals and lowercase letters. Sound effects and talking characters add depth and humor to the basic alphabet, and Seuss's version of the "ABC" song will become a permanent sing-along favorite. The CD can even be played on your regular home music system--a great bonus when parents need their computer back!

Required mouse skills can be as simple as clicking one icon to turn the page; kids can also discover clickables no matter what level of coordination they have. --Jill Lightner ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Can't find one better!
My daughter has loved this book since she was born. I've literally been showing it to her since she was only a couple months old and she still can sit through the whole book (about a half hour or so) every day! I think it's better than the others because (1) it's read in kid's voices, (2) every page looks different unlike many of these software books, and (3) it has lots of nice music and song effects. And I don't feel so guilty for using a computer book since it's somewhat educational. I wish I could find another she likes half as much because I've seen this one a thousand times! (By the way, hitting the space bar while it's in reading mode stops it.)

Artistically great but there are some practical problems.
This is a very nice animated adaption of the old Dr. Seuss book which my 3.5 yr-old liked for about 8 minutes and that's where the problem came in. There is no apparent way to stop it! In fact the mouse is disabled until the entire book has read itself. Nothing in the instructions about how to interrupt it either. My son ejected and restarted the CD before I had a chance to stop him, the program re-launched, consumed the rest of my memory and I had to hard boot my PC. Whatever changes the program made to the settings (x2) made my PC fail to boot the first 2 tries. Be careful using this and be prepared to let it play itself out without you!

Good, but too much belching
This was the first software that we bought for our sons. They enjoyed it from about 2 1/2 years old. My youngest, at 4 1/2, wouldn't now reach for it, but would do it if it was set up. My only complaint is that the characters can't seem to eat anything without belching.

Excellent Software for Toddlers
This was the 1st piece of software we purchased for our daughter and before we knew it she was both singing and reciting her ABC's. It will not only teach your children their ABC's but will also help their hand eye coordination with the mouse. In addition, it will keep your child captivated with all the silly things we love and hold dear from Dr. Seuss.

Grows with your child
Our daughter has been enthralled by this CD since she was 14 months old and simply watched as the book was read to her, letter by letter. As she's become familiar and proficient with the mouse, she keeps coming back to discover new characters, words and activities. It's given us all hours of enjoyment. ... Read more