Sailing the high seas and exploring an island in search of treasure — what more could a child ask for? This pirate adventure game delivers a whole lot of fun as it provides the perfect setting for children to problem-solve their way to a treasure. This fantastic program is broken up into "chapters", taking kids through a humorous and adventurous story in which Moop and Dreadly star, but kids solve all the problems.
Right from the start, children who have played Freddi Fish and Putt Putt CD-ROMs will find some similarities in this new title, which was developed by the creators of these well-established franchises. The game plays like an adventure in which kids explore fabulously animated screens, collect items, "talk" to humorous characters, and solve all sorts of dilemmas. The format, however, is somewhat different because the adventure is organized into Chapters 1 through 6. This format adds great value to the experience from both entertainment and usability perspectives. Chapters begin with a recap and a new mission, and end with an exciting cliffhanger. This makes the adventure feel much like an interactive chapter book, and helps motivate children to return to the adventure until the entire story has played out. At the same time, the chapter format gives kids a strong sense of being in control.
The adventure begins as Dreadly, an energetic and super-confident captain, finds part of a treasure map. His shipmate, Moop, an over-sized purple creature whose gibberish can only be understood by Dreadly, stays at his Captain's side throughout. In fact, Moop proves that appearances can be deceiving — despite his dopey look, he seems to have most of the answers.
The first challenge for the duo is to find a sail for their ship. Children help out by exploring the ship and effectively making a new sail. Once they land on Bing Bong Island, plenty more challenges await. They must pass the "test of strength" to get the other half of the treasure map, for example. This involves a series of challenges, one of which is finding the coveted Nicky-Nicky fish and then trading it for a fishing net. Later, in Chapter 3, kids need to get an important key, but a group of pirates is in their way. How to get the pirates away is not immediately apparent. Can they be distracted in some way? Kids need to pay attention to clues, like an overheard comment from one of the pirates that the place is a little "scary", in order to conjecture that they might try scaring the pirates away. Then, players need to explore the island to find something that will do the trick.
This game is extraordinarily appealing and beautifully designed. Children will likely need some help, as they will get stuck from time to time. Persistence, curiosity, and willingness to think, will be rewarded. Although the game can be tackled independently, it is also ideal for more than one child to attempt together.
A wonderful option is the ability to play the game in either English or Spanish. This not only means the program reaches a wider audience. it also adds a foreign language educational spin to the game for both Spanish- and English-speaking children.
Hulabee promises that this Moop and Dreadly adventure is only their first, and we are looking forward to future installments. Although the CD case tells us that the game is designed for children ages 5-8, we think 7-11 is more realistic. Children ages 5-6 may enjoy the adventure, but not without a whole lot of help from older siblings or parents. Note that the game has only one game path, so that once children have completed this interactive treasure hunt, the only motivation to spin the disc again would be to re-experience the same game.
