When the game came out late last year I read the reviews and all were similar: "fun game, standard platform, great fun, good graphics, yadda yadda". After sitting with my kids and playing the game myself I came to the conclusion that the reviewers (no offense intended) had become so accustomed to playing puzzle/platform games that they missed something really unique and quite nice about this game - it is appropriate for children. Most games made for children are licensed from children's media and don't often stack up, but this game was perfect for my 5 and 7 year-olds to play together; or, my 7-year old alone. So, I asked my 7-year old, Alexandre, exactly what this game is about:

Question: What is the name of this game?
Alexandre: The Hobbit, mom.

Question: What is it about?
Alexandre: It's about a little hobbit going on an adventure with 14 dwarves and a wizard to go claim gold from the Lonely Mountain. And, during the trip the hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, finds the Ring of Power and Sting the Shortsword from the Trolls' cave.

Question: Why are they going to the Lonely Mountain?
Alexandre: Because a big dragon named Smaugh burned up all of their people and stole their gold. That's where the dragon lives and they're going to get it back.

Question: How does Bilbo start his quest?
Alexandre: He has to find his walking stick - he uses it for jumping and walking and pole-vaulting. He also has to collect food for the quest.

Question: What other things does he collect along the way?
Alexandre: Gems to get courage which give him more lives - they're like pieces of health to let you live longer. You also collect silver pennies.

Question: What do you do with the silver pennies?
Alexandre: You buy things like rock packs, health potions, keys and backpacks.

Question: What kind of combat does Bilbo do?
Alexandre: He throws rocks at things. He has a special aim button that he can use to hit better. And, there are special potions that you can use that turn them into fire or ice rocks that do extra damage. The freeze potion for the rocks freezes the monsters and then you can walk up to them with your walking stick and whack and whack and they don't even unfreeze.

Question: How does he fight with his stick or sword?
Aleandre: He swings it very hard at an orc or goblin. The monsters have yellow triangles above them to show their health and every time you hit them, it goes down. You can only use the jump attack to break through shields.

Question: What special attacks, like the jump attack, does he have?
Alexandre: He has a jump swing attack. And there's double hack where you attack twice with your sword or walking stick.

Question: What kind of monsters do you fight?
Alexandre: Goblins, orcs, spiders (some are poisonous), wolves, man-eating plants, monsters with claws that attack you with their feet - ouchy.

Question: What are the quests like?
Alexandre: They're puzzles with collecting things like firewood, keeping orcs or goblins away, finding people or saving people from jail.

Question: What are the puzzles like? What do you have to figure out?
Alexandre: How to sneak by guards and use a switch. There's one where you have to steal William the Troll's wallet. You have to do things in a certain order and flip switches and find the right way. There's one where you find mechanical parts to make a lever.

Question: Does Bilbo have any special abilities?
Alexandre: He can pick locks on chests. You have a timer to finish it - some you have to pick the right circle, some you have to stop the dial in the right place, some you have to stop the lever. And some are poisonous if you don't solve it.

Question: How do you know what you are supposed to do in the game?
Alexandre: It gives you quests by talking to people. You have a quest log, too, that tells all the quests you're working on. You also have an inventory where you can see what you have for your quests and what potions and things you're carrying.

Question: Are the controls on the gamepad hard to work?
Alexandre: No, but sometimes they can be confusing if you don't remember what you're doing. You can attack, talk, put on the Ring of Power, climb ropes, jump and pole vault. Sometimes you can fix things and pull levers. You can even sneak.

Question: Is this game scary?
Alexandre: No, not very much. I've never seen any scary parts.

Question: Do you like this game?
Alexandre: Yes, very much because it's fun to sneak and fight with goblins and orcs and spiders. And its fun to find treasure especially when you don't know the chest is right next to you. And there are a LOT of puzzles that are very fun.

As a parent and a gamer I found the graphics to be completely suitable for children (and adults) of all ages. The music is light-hearted and cheery. The controls are relatively easy to learn. Any child of moderate reading level can play this game on their own as they'll be able to follow their quest guide. If your child is not quite there yet, you'll just be called into the room periodically to help them determine what they've got left to solve.

Oh, and it's pretty fun for adults, too!