LOGICAL JOURNEY OF THE ZOOMBINIS

Learn the fun way with the Zoombinis

By JAMES ANTHONY

Aimed at children aged eight to 12, this program strives to develop maths and logic skills.

Its main strength is that it is fun, even for kids well over the targeted age group.

It is an animated game in which the player helps a band of oddball creatures called Zoombinis travel through a strange landscape populated with equally strange characters with names like Pizza Pass, Tattooed Toads and Mudball Wall.

It starts off with a narrator who explains the Zoombinis' story and pops back into the game to offer encouragement and explain each new juncture, in which the player must solve a problem to allow the Zoombinis to continue their journey.

Its main weakness is also that it's fun, and any learning that takes place would be entirely unconscious, if not for substantial one-on-one input from an adult.

Basic maths skills are reinforced, and logic abilities such as matching and comparing, sorting and sets and relationships are developed.

As with all Broderbund products, an excellent user's guide is provided.

Available in Macintosh and Windows CD-ROM formats.