Edutainment best suited for toddlers and preschoolers
Well, The Backyard is not just a wildcard type of deal, it is a great game nonetheless but the developers had been responsible for a few other great edutainment bundles to have the time to learn their craft, amongst which The Playroom managed to stand tall as well. At any rate, this is not a very hard collection of puzzles and minigames; in fact it is the equivalent of those hardcover paged books that were popular when I was a child, which taught basic words, covered the association of images and words, taught all sort of things about nature, and so on. Anyway, the game is based on 6 activities, focused on facial recognition, finding the hidden spot, map navigation (granted, the maps are very simple!) and also, a game which tasks the player with putting the critter or animal in the habitat of where it is known to live). The other three activities share the same concern for the natural world and are focused on other activities. The make or break of such games, given that the an adult is supposed to aid the kids while playing, is whether the game is interesting for the adult as well. And I must admit, I for once was caught in it, and I think that playing it with your little ones can be quite an interesting experience. So, parents of preschoolers, if you are in the habit of playing oldschool games with your small children, you might want to give this bundle a go as well, it sure is a nice, colorful one!
