Thinkin' Things Sky Island Mysteries

Description:

Thinkin' Things Sky Island Mysteries is another title in Edmark's Thinkin' Things series that utilizes critical thinking skills to deduct clues and solve mysteries. There are 14 mysteries to solve, but since the games can be played independently of the cases the fun doesn't have to stop there. Kids will be taken to Clue Central the first time they play Sky Island Mysteries, where Jo Cluestoe will explain how to use the machines to review the clues. Now on with the case!

After the introduction, kids will be free to go to the island of their choice. There are 3 islands: Airshow Isle, Stadium Isle, and Rebus Isle. On each island there is the option of playing in the Question & Answer Mode to collect clues, or the Explore Mode to experiment and create. As soon as clues are collected, they will be sent to Clue Central where kids can go at any time to look at the clues and use them to narrow the suspect list. From the suspect list, they can pick certain characteristics that match the clues and check their choice.

On Airshow Isle, players must prioritize certain things for the airplanes to do, like which altitude to fly, what tricks to do, and so on. As with each Isle, there are oral instructions on how to play, but the instructions were vague at best. This wasn't a problem in the easiest levels, but once we got to the harder ones, we soon figured out that we evidently were doing something wrong and just hadn't understood the directions clearly. After listening to them again, we still didn't understand how to do the flight log, it took trial and error to finally get the hang of how to organize the Flight Log. Some online examples would have helped tremendously!

Rebus Isle has, you guessed it, rebuses! Rebuses are used to decipher some very silly jokes that kids will love. Along with the Question & Answer and Explore Modes, there is an added Challenge mode where kids can solve each other's puzzles. We especially liked the option of making your own rebuses. You can choose from the game's stickers or make your own with drawing tools, record sounds for them, and even animate them by using 4 different frames for the sticker! At Stadium Isle, kids will meet the Fripples, who will need to be sorted by attributes to follow the instructions given. Each kind of Fripple has its own set of rules, for example: a Cheerleader Fripple will only cheer when seated next to another Cheerleader Fripple, and the Kid Lemon Fripples will always move to the top of the bleachers unless blocked or seated by a Parent Lemon or another Kid, but if seated by more Kids than Parents, they will get noisy!

Features:

• Critical thinking skills
• Prioritizing
• Reasoning
• Optional modes of exploration without restrictions
• Grow Slide that adjusts the difficulty level automatically, or manually

Technical Aspects:

Report and Conclusions: