I have been playing hidden object games for years, and Jake always wants to play too. Unfortunately, the majority of the ones that I play are either too hard or too scary for him (I tend to lean towards the darker games). Junior Mystery Quest for Nintendo DS by Maximum Family Games provides the perfect solution to the problem. It is the first hidden object game designed specifically for children and features hours of gameplay. Your child will have to help solve the mystery of the Tibutton family and their missing Uncle Albert by finding the objects hidden throughout different rooms and completing mini-puzzles throughout the game.
I thought it was kind of funny that I’m pretty good at hidden object games but had a little difficulty finding a few of the objects in Junior Mystery Quest, but Jacob picked it up and advanced through several levels without an issue. Maybe I was over-thinking it. Jacob loves playing detective, and this game definitely allows him to do that. It’s not at all scary, but the mystery element makes it perfect for Halloween. The only issue I had (and this was more my issue than Jake’s) was that there doesn’t seem to be a hint button, so when you get stuck trying to find an object, you’re really stuck. While the clues are spelled out and do require some reading, Jake is only a beginning reader and he was able to sound out the words just fine. The mini-games are pretty self-explanatory and easy to figure out what is required, so minimal reading is needed to get through those.
Maximum Family Games makes other great “Junior” series games for the Nintendo DS, including “Junior Classic Games” and “Junior Brain Trainer.” They also make a bunch of other awesome family games for the Wii and PC. The majority of their games are created to be both educational and fun.
Harvest Halloween Prize Contribution
Maximum Family Games is providing the winner of my Halloween Harvest giveaway with a copy of Junior Mystery Quest for Nintendo DS. The giveaway event starts on October 14th, but if you would like to get a head start on your entries, follow Maximum Family Games on Facebook and Twitter so you can keep up with their deals and news. They have more exciting Junior games in the works, so check back often. Don’t forget to come back on Friday to enter!