Zoombinis Logical Journey. The title alone brings back happy memories of a bright red box and cute little characters running across the screen. I first encountered this game as a young teacher trying hard to keep her 4th graders involved and interested in thinking mathematically. Some time has passed since that original title was released, and the game has only improved with age. Now it is my own kids that are finding the same “fun while learning” factor that my students did, and it is as a mom that I sit back and smile, knowing that they are developing higher thinking skills while they spend hour after hour “playing”.
The name, “Logical Journey,” really does say it all when it comes to describing the game. The point of each of the mini-games is to challenge and increase your logic skills. The Adobe PDF manual that comes on the CD describes the game as a “mathematical learning environment.” There are 12 puzzles in this game, each with 4 different challenge levels. That is one of the best parts of the game, in fact. You’ll start out at the lowest level, and as you master each level the game automatically increases the difficulty. This is actually one of the things I wish they had changed when they updated the game to run on new Macs and PCs. I wish you could choose your starting level and move up from there in challenge. But it doesn’t take long to advance the groups you need to through the mini-games, if you are a more advanced player, so I can live without this change.
All of the puzzles work on reinforcing reasoning abilities and mathematical thinking. Some mini-games focus more on organizing information. For example, in one game you have to pair Zoombinis based on a certain characteristic such as the same hair. Because you have 16 Zoombinis, though, and four different characteristics to each, you might get to the last pair and find that you need to match feet and your two Zoombinis have the same hair, but different feet. So you need to reorganize how you’ve sorted. Or in another mini-game you have to line up all the Zoombinis in a row, such that they always have some characteristic that matches. So you might put all the Zoombinis with the same hair in line, then match eyes to the last one in that line, and feet to the last one in that line, but find that one Zoombini at the end doesn’t have anything in common with the next-to-the-last Zoombini.
In another mini-game, you might be working on drawing a conclusion based on the evidence you collect. For example, in one mini-game you have to create the perfect pizza to get past the Arno. You’ll have only a few tries to figure out what toppings he likes and doesn’t like, and most likely have unsuccessful attempts before you make the perfect pizza, but these trials help you reason out what pizza Arno wants.
Sometimes you’ll have to think of a way to systematically test a theory to draw a correct conclusion as quickly as possible. In one mini-game you’ll come to a group of Fleens blocking the path. There is a Fleen to match each Zoombini in your group. Three of the Fleens are sitting on a branch with a beehive on it. The goal is to figure out which Zoombini matches each of those three Fleens, so that the Fleens come down off the branch to chase their Zoombini partner. When the Fleens are all off the branch, the bees are released from the hive and will chase off all the Fleens so your Zoombini can pass. The trick is that you only have a certain number of tries - four at the easy level - to figure out what Fleen characteristic goes with what Zoombini characteristic. It can be done, but this is definitely one of the more challenging puzzles to get past even at the easiest setting.
The game CD comes with a manual that includes information for adults on which skills each mini-game reinforces. I use this information to see where my own children might need some help and teaching from me. The mini-games that they pass through easily are just fun for them, but the ones that are the most challenging are then skills that I can work on with them outside the game. The CD also comes with printable games that you can play to involve small groups of kids. These games are playable by even my four year old, with a bit of adaptation by me, so they are a great way to involve all my kids in an activity.
In fact, I think that one of the things that appeals to me most about Zoombinis Logical Journey is how wide an age range can play it. I can play the game with my four year old and help him work on simple skills like matching, looking for characteristics, colors and shapes. Or I can leave my 10 year old alone for a while with a game that I know is not only non-violent, but educational as well. I’ve even seen the game being played by middle and high schoolers looking for a fun, relaxing way to spend a math class just before vacation. And I’m more than a few years out of high school myself, but still enjoy putting the CD in the computer on occasion, grabbing a group of Zoombinis and seeing if I can’t exercise my brain a bit.
I’ve played computer games since college, addicted first to story type games like Might and Magic. I have 3 children who also love computer games. My oldest son is a typical kid who loves the challenge of pressing the right combination of buttons and levers on a joystick in just the right way to make something happens, and frequently gets frustrated with mom’s slow fingers. ;) We use computers for both education and entertainment, and sometimes even bribery for good behavior.
The “glory days” of computer gaming for me were when games like Spectre Supreme, Pirate’s Gold, the Might and Magic series, the original Prince of Persia… those sorts of games were coming out on a regular basis. Back then I owned a Macintosh and was a die hard Mac fan. I was one of the first in my area to buy an iMac and on it learned the joy of playing games on the internet like daily crossword puzzle and “mind bender” type puzzles. My first online RPG was given to me for Christmas the year EQ was released, and I was hooked from day one. I played EQ for about a year. I started playing DaoC during late alpha testing, and was hooked on it.. well, to be honest I still am. I’ve tried pretty much every MMORPG I can get my hands on, from big names like EQ, to more obscure ones such as Underlight. I’ve been writing for IMGS since the first DaoC guide, and find I love the challenge of learning a game and presenting what I’ve learned (and sometimes my opinions), to other players.
I’m not a very strong player as far as learning PvE or quick reaction times, so I tend to stay away from games where I’m pitted against someone else in a way that requires physical (rather than mental) response. I still enjoy story and puzzle games, and in a way that’s how I still approach online games. I would much rather spend hours working through a quest than 5 minutes in combat against another player. I still get lost in simulation type games, obsessing over them until I’ve gotten them beaten. And I like being able to sit down at the computer when I’ve got less than half an hour and playing through a few levels of a puzzle game. I tend not to like first-person shooter type games, or anything with person to person violence, so I steer away from them unless they are fantasy based settings. All in all, I enjoy computer gaming so much that my life feels incomplete somehow when my computer is down.
