Computer Times
Editors' Choice DS Game
I Spy Fun House
(Nintendo DS)
Reviewed by Angie Kibiloski
Scholastic brings their popular I Spy title to the Nintendo DS with I Spy Fun House (Retail $29.99). This picture hunt game is great for children between about 5 and 10 years old. The picture riddles and other activities offer skills in observation, word/picture correlations, colors, numbers, listening skills, and categorization. Set in the colorful atmosphere of a carnival, I Spy Fun House provides hours of fun and learning.
There are 6 themed puzzle areas, where 18 I Spy riddles can be solved: Spinning Tube, Circus Poster, Balloon, Fun House Mirror, Carousel, and X-Ray. The X-Ray riddle is particularly cool, because you need to look through x-ray glasses to find half of the items in the riddle. The puzzles are solved by finding and touching each of the items listed in the riddle with the DS stylus. When you touch a correct item, it animates to let you know you have found something, and the word in the riddle changes color. When you have found all the items, there is a bonus level. Here you must compare 2 almost identical pictures (a small portion of the scene you have just solved the riddle with), and find what is different between the 2 pictures. Once you have completed the bonus level, you are awarded a ticket.
There are 3 other types of puzzles in the Fun House, aside from the riddles. Pop 'n' Drop asks kids to eliminate 3 or more similar items that are touching one another, using 1 of 4 criteria: color, type, shape, and exact match. When you have cleared enough items, you progress to the next round. In Listen Up! you are given a series of sounds that go along with pictures of the things that make each sound. You must listen to the order and then touch the items in the same order to play the sounds back. Hoop Shot presents you with a conveyor belt of various objects on the bottom screen, and circles on the top screen, either alone or overlapping each other. You must pick up an object on the bottom screen and sling shot it up into one of the top circles, grouping like items together in the different circles. For instance, all round things might go in one circle, all green things in another, and if those 2 circles overlap at any point, anything that is both green and round would go in the area of the overlap. In each of these 3 activities, you must complete 5 rounds each to earn a ticket.
When you have earned 10 tickets, you may go to the Prize Popper. This is the game you play in order to leave the Fun House. There are a number of prizes on the bottom screen which you must fling to the top screen, matching items together. A paint brush at the bottom might match with a can of paint at the top, a key with a lock, and so on. After you have left the Fun House, quit the game or come back in for more fun, and play the riddles and activities over and over.
This game is great for both people who are familiar with the I Spy product line, and those who may have never heard of it before. I Spy Fun House is an interactive learning experience that will get kids thinking creatively for hours. The fact that so many of their skills will be used to complete each activity - word and picture association, matching like items, and paying attention to detail - make this game a must for your child's DS collection.