Educational Game Reviews

This is the best game ever. We bought this on a recent family trip and we were hooked. Every age range in our family played from grandkids to grandparents and everyone in between. It is fun, strategic and totally addicting. We played every night and could not put it down!

Our family loves to play games together so I am always looking for a new game. This game is our favorite currently. It goes pretty fast and everyone is on the same level. I have a 22, 13, and 11 year old so something that is equal to all of them is a must. They all love this one and usually head out the door with it to a friends house.

Being a teen, I wasn't to psyched when my friends opened this game up to play. But, My mind was soon changed. This is a highly addictive strategy game. The cool thing is, theres no one strategy that will win it for you everytime. You constantly have to adjust your strategy to what your opponets are doing. Very fun, definite "Must Buy".

I got this for my daughter several years ago. When a friend and I were recently discussing all the toys we had bought that the kids never play with, this came up as one of the few purchases that I felt I got my moneys worth and the kids have played with it over the years. It has held up great. It's perfect for cold, rainy days when the kids have energy to burn. It helps with coordination. I don't know if it still comes with the plastic carrying case, but the case is good for keeping it clean and taking it where ever you go.

We have 5 years old twin daughters, that are to say the least not easy to please. Yet from the first day on that their Uncle presented them with the Hopscotch playmat, they routinely play the fun game over and over again. When they're done they place it inside the vynil bag, it came in. Good price,Very practicle, Great educational value, Clear instructions, Machine washable and best of all our kids love it! Thank you Amazon and Thank you Let's Learn Educational toys - Keep up the good work! Johann Kaizer

I can't tell you how great this has been for my kids. My kids were getting hooked on video games and staring aimlessly into the computer screen.

But this Scavenger Hunt game is finally letting them work with their imagination. Watching them play around the house is just fantastic. They are completely entertained it costs less than a quarter the cost of any new video game.

This is a great educational family game.
However, please be aware that Amazon ships this game wrapped in a plastic bag with no padding. The first one received was crushed and torn on one corner. Amazon promptly arranged a pickup and replacement. The replacement arrived also wrapped in a plastic bag and was crushed on one edge. I decided to keep it rather than deal with another return. I figured it could have been worse; imagine a small unprotected board game competing with other shipments in a UPS truck. Amazon used to pack items in a box with packing material. This is no longer the case. Beware.

We just bought this game for our five year old son. He loves maps and could name some of the more recognizable states already, so we figured he would love it. However...

The gameplay is nonexistent. There really is no game. It's rote learning of the states and their capitals cloaked in "an exciting geography game". But it's NOT exciting. After your child learns the states (which might take a week or so, game or no game) then even that element of enjoyment is gone from this game.

The factoid postcards are not that interesting, restricting themselves to well-known landmarks and not delving into many historic or demographic details. The cards themselves are printed on cheap paper stock rather than glossy card stock, so they get bent very easily.

The spinner is on a flimsy cardboard insert that isn't flat, so the spinner doesn't spin all that consistently.

We've had this one for a week, and it's already on the shelf. The game says it's for kids Grade 3 and up...I can't imagine how older kids would enjoy this game if it can't hold a five year old's attention.

I homeschool my kids and we have a ton of games to help them learn. This is one of their most favorites. My son is eager to play this game. It has helped him learn interesting facts about the states, where they are located and what their capitals are. He will even study outside the game in hopes to beat me at the game.

First you start off by spinning the spinner and finding the state number that it landed on. To continue with your turn, you must correctly name the capital of that state. If you can't, your turn ends. If you do get the capital correct you then roll the dice and move the appropriate spaces. If you land on a space where you must draw a card, you must name the state by the hint left on the card. Most of the time it is land marks or tourist spots.

I definitely think that every parents should buy this game. It does not matter if your child attends public school, private school or home school. This game will make learning the states fun for your child and the whole family.

Okay, okay, I had fun. But I was also incredibly frustrated by the set up and "logic" (or I should say lack of logic) of this game and that truly detracted from my enjoyment. I wanted to learn something from this game, but I didn't get the connections half the time!
This game has so much potential for teaching chemistry, but the set up was lacking logic - you don't know what you are supposed to be doing, and you have to go back and forth between the various "stops", never knowing if you have really done what needs to be done. And because you have to go back and forth so much, you have to wait for each area to load when you go to another stop. I tried skipping the animation of the transport zooming through the tube, but it still took a long time for the stop to load. And you want to scream when you click on the wrong button and have to wait twice!!
One example of frustration for us is that you have to melt the ingredients for solder someplace other than the melting furnace before you put it into the melting furnace... How does that make sense? The logic behind why some ingredients are placed in certain places is very foggy, and sometimes you just don't have enough (understandable) information to figure something out, or the information is there but so obscure that you have to be a rocket scientist to understand it.
So you look for help, and all you are given is a walkthrough, when hints would be so much better... and would help you learn why you are doing things. I have thought of making my own hints to pass on to someone who would like to learn something from the game.
I ran Chemicus on a mac running OSX. It had to run on classic, so there were many times when it lagged. Don't know how it runs on a PC.

My wife and I are avid adventure gamers and, to help pass the time until "URU: Ages Beyond Myst" is released later this year, we decided to try "Chemicus". We played "Physicus" a couple years ago and, while we enjoyed it, we both thought that it could have been a much better game if it had tied into Physics a little deeper and if more effort was put into the adventure game design (look for my earlier review).

We just completed "Chemicus" and I can honestly say that this was a MUCH better overall attempt. Nearly all of the puzzles of the game are chemistry-related ranging from the fairly easy and logical to the pretty hard and requiring a hint or two (we peeked into the included walkthrough only a couple of times to get us unstuck).

The greatest improvement over "Physicus", however, was on the game design side. Like "Physicus" the graphics and music are lush and inviting. But, the scope of the game is where "Chemicus" shines over its predecessor. "Physicus" was just a singular environment or location to explore with very few cut-scenes and conveyances to enjoy along the way; both popular elements to a successful adventure game. In "Chemicus", even though the "subway" system was a little on the cheesy and repetitive side, at least it felt like we were transporting between unique locations (thank goodness the space bar forwards you through the animations). Plus, after solving some particularly difficult puzzles, we were rewarded with some nice cut-scenes; the balloon ride over the city being the best one. It wasn't on the same level as the bigger games like Riven and Schizm, but still an improvement.

One thing that "Physicus" did get right and that "Chemicus" fails on, is its link into the "Brain Center", the included chemistry text book. The content of the chemistry text is impressive, although, it looks as if the inclusion of animation and narration of some of the experiments and topics went by the wayside probably due to the added scope of the underlying game. What really annoyed us was the fact that we couldn't follow a link from the particular puzzle we were working on into the appropriate chapters or topics of the textbook. Along the way, you pick up "Knowledge Chips" that add chapters to your Brain Center and I suppose, if you kept up with the reading along the way, the new topics would relate to the new puzzles in the area. But, later on, when we were still working on the puzzle, it was very difficult to find those same topics in the textbook again. Like "Physicus", a link to just the appropriate topics would have been very useful.

Other than that, the game was very well written and designed. The user interface was very intuitive and easy to use. Could have done without the gratuitous, politically-correct diatribes on "greenhouse gasses" and "socially responsible science" that we have come to expect in these games (easy to ignore, though). We just started on "Bioscopia", but it looks as if that one more closely resembles "Physicus" in design and scope, bummer. I hear they are working on a "Chemicus II" game, so once we finish with URU, we will probably give it a go, too.

This is great game but it is NOT easily solved. It has Myst like elements where you find puzzles and solve them to move around. The game has a twist where you keep an inventory of items you will need in other areas of the game. The hints that came with the game were helpful..I hated to use them but after getting stuck and not making progress after a few hours I had to take a quick peek to continue. At first I thought it was too easy but then it got hard. If anyone writes otherwise they are not being truthful. I took many chem classes in college and not everything is intuitive in the game. Infact, sometimes you know what to do but the game only lets you do things in order to perform a task and you think that you are wrong (but you're not). You only switch CD's once ever and then you are done. I copied the help file to my computer so I would not have to reference it off of the disk. The only part I did not like was the navigation. If it had not been for that I would have given it 5 stars. . All in all I have zero regrets getting this game. I had just finished playing Myst III and I wanted another same type game. great buy

We bought this rug for our 17-month old daughter, who is the recipient of many of the toys we wish *we* had. Right now, she's more enamored of having her own play space than she is interested in the neighborhood aspect. But, the rug is quite fun, with houses, a duck pond, zoo, park, school, etc.--all in slightly "off" perspective. The lanes on the streets are the perfect size for matchbox-sized cars, for when your little one is older, but toddler-sized cars work just as well.

All in all, I'm very happy with this purchase. It seems a durable, colorful rug. It's long, providing lots of play space. Its no-slip backing should provide safety on tile or wood floors (though we have it on the carpeted floor of our living room). The best aspect? Our daughter keeps her blocks and cars on the rug--instead of everywhere else underfoot.

This is a great educational family game.
However, please be aware that Amazon ships this game wrapped in a plastic bag with no padding. Another game of the same order was received was crushed and torn on one corner. Amazon promptly arranged a pickup and replacement. This game arrive with crushed edges, but I decided to keep it rather than deal with another return. I figured it could have been worse; imagine a small unprotected board game competing with other shipments in a UPS truck. Amazon used to pack items in a box with packing material. This is no longer the case. Beware.

Great idea for a board game with lots of learning potential for younger children, however children 10+ years may soon find this formula a little unchallenging. Several improvements could make this a better product; notably, heavier paper for the frequently handled question cards, and a much larger map on the game board. Some of the countries appear too small for grandparents and children with poor eyesight. Also, the spinner is labeled with text that should be larger. With just a few design changes and the opportunity to purchase additional question card packs, perhaps geared towards different age groups, we could recommend this game more enthusiastically.

This game really puts the world at your child's fingertips. My daughter begs to play even after her dad and I are pooped. And at eight years old, she knows more about geography than I did when I was much older. I'm getting her "Name That State" for her birthday and expect the same reaction.