Game review: GameTap

I have been a GameTap subscriber for a long time. GameTap is an online video game service. They don't rent video games. Instead you download games through their software and play them on your computer. For $10 per month, you can download as many games as you like. There is a huge variety of games available. My five-year old daughter can play educational games such as Arthur's Kindergarten: Trouble in Arthur's Treehouse, most of the JumpStart game catalog and Millie's Math House. Though the kids' games section isn't completely filled with educational games. There are also fun games like Pajama Sam and Putt-Putt. I've found these games to be a wonderful addition to my daughter's collection.

GameTap isn't just for kids though. I have played a majority of the Sam & Max games, which are exclusively available on the GameTap service. For those of you looking for a bit of nostalgia, there are older games too. BurgerTime, Zaxxon and Space Invaders are all here along with the ever-popular Worms games. And if you really need to let off some steam, try one of the 82 fighting games. In total, there are almost 1450 games available right now on the service.

This really is one of my favorite monthly services that I subscribe to. There is something that every member of my family would enjoy playing and they are adding new games all the time. It's definitely cheaper than buying new or used games at the store and you don't even have to leave your house! A win on all sides.

Game review: Secrets of Great Art

I have a weakness for hidden object games. They are usually fairly easy and I can play them with my five-year old daughter. Tonight I tried Secrets of Great Art from Big Fish Games Their description of the game reads: "Secrets slither within the canvas in Secrets of Great Art. Only you can uncover the truth behind the brush strokes! Help your amnesia stricken hero recover his lost memory and solve the mystery hidden within antique paintings. Explore 60 unique levels of beautiful paintings and put your perception skills to the test." It's a weird storyline. You play a man who has found himself in some sort of museum where only he can see the hidden objects in the paintings. The goal is to figure out why you are there.

In between each hidden object 'level' of the game, you are faced with a Find The Differences puzzle. They don't do a whole lot to move the storyline forward and they end up being rather aggravating after awhile. The hidden object parts of the game are OK but they aren't anything spectacular. As a matter of fact, with the way this game is scored, you are penalized 100 points for every wrong click you make. Considering there are about 20 objects hidden in the picture with only five objects listed at any given time, it's easy to make a ton of wrong clicks. Especially if you have no idea what the listed object is.

While this isn't the worst hidden object game I've played, this was definitely the most boring. There is absolutely nothing to set this apart from other games in this genre and the storyline is confusing. I was ready for the game to be over by the time ran out on the 60 minute demo.

Jump Start World

For those geeks out there with small children, there is now a computer game that is a perfect learning tool for the youngsters. Jump Start World is an educational game that starts with Kindergarten and goes up to Second Grade. Since my daughter will be going into kindergarten in the fall, I'll be talking about that particular version of it. The game encompasses 12 "Adventure Packs" with the first two packs included in the purchase of the game. (The additional packs are purchased at $8 each. Your credit card will automatically be charged each time your child finished a pack.) As your child progresses through the game, his/her status is updated via the internet to a parental tool. Now, the child is not actually playing on the internet so there are no worries that something bad will get downloaded.

When you click on the Parental Tool icon, which is separate from the game icon, you'll get a variety of options. From something as mundane as picking which holidays the game characters celebrate to the terrific page that tracks how your child does on each activity. For that part, you'll get to choose which pack you want to check on. Then you will get a list of what activities are contained in that pack, such as counting from 1 to 10 or matching lowercase letters with the uppercase letter, and a percentage on how well the child did in that area. It's a wonderful feeling to see the 100% pop up everywhere. It also lets you know which areas your child needs to work on so you can help them offline if necessary.

My daughter truly loves this game. Almost every night she asks me if she can play it and I have no problems letting her play it for a little while each night. And she knows that she can tell me when she's having a problem with a particular area so I can help her work on it. While this shouldn't replace a formal education of some sort, it is a great addition to help reinforce concepts. I would recommend it to anyone with small children and a computer.