Product Overview
Starring characters from the movie The King And I, this software program is designed to stimulate critical thinking skills. It contains a number of activities that will keep kids busy:
- Rama's Hot Air Rescue is an arcade style game in which kids propel a hot-air balloon rescuing people and avoiding obstacles.
- The King's Printing Press contains rather simple print options including 3 different kinds of projects — cards, awards, and newsletters. Players simply select from a few pictures and words to customize their projects, and they are limited to the given text.
- Louis's Floating Fireworks involves directing a boy on a raft around a maze-like river to push boxes onto the loading dock. Kids need to plan ahead and use a bit of strategy to play this game.
- Tusker's Fruit Launch is great fun. Kids need to adjust the force and angle at which Tusker the baby elephant throws fruit in order to get it in a basket. They must consider the weight of the fruit and the height of the basket from the ground.
- Prince's Practice Match involves repeating patterns of the Prince's fighting actions (kick, straight, duck, etc.). As the levels increase, there are more moves and longer sequences to remember.
- Anna's Umbrella Game is a real test of memory and concentration. Players hide given objects in the kids' umbrellas, and must watch as the children toss and exchange umbrellas in order to remember where the objects are hidden!
- Tuptim's Mixed-up Music requires kids to place bars of musical notes into the correct order to play a given song.
- Master Little's Jug-O-Gems is an arcade-style activity that involves maneuvering Master Little to catch falling gems while avoiding falling rocks at the same time.
There is a nice variety of activities in this program, and a broad range of skill levels. However, many of the activities on the easy level will be too hard for the average 4-5 year old. The print activities are rather limited. Tusker's Fruit Launch is great fun — kids learn about force, weight, and angle. The only complaint I have is that you cannot retry the same throw immediately after having an unsuccessful one. However, if kids play long enough, they will become experts at estimating.
The child testers had a good time with the program. The 5 year-old was intimidated by some of the arcade games and preferred to watch the 8 year-old playing them. However, both very happily played for extended periods.
Technically Speaking
Minimum requirements are Windows 95/98, a Pentium 90 (P 133 recommended), 16 Mb RAM (24 Mb rec.), and 4X CD ROM (8X recommended). Mac users require a Power PC with 16 Mb RAM (24 Mb recommended), and at least 4X CD ROM. The program requires 24 Mb of hard drive space.
Skills Covered
logical problem-solving, concentration and memory challenges, planning and adaptation, observing cause and effect, experimenting with music, basic physics
Educational Value
The activities help kids think logically and strategically. Some are too challenging for the younger kids in the suggested age group.
Entertainment Value
The games are rather entertaining, and the program is appealing to play overall, with nice graphics and fun characters from the movie.
Design
Children have an easy time navigating this program, and the difficulty levels are easy to adjust.
Replayability
I expect some replay value with this game, as there is a good variety of activities to explore.
Dollar Value
$20 US is a fair price for the program.
Released: 1999
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