Games for Young Children Contents: -----Coloring -----Memory Games -----Number Games -----Other Games ================ -----Coloring [ABCPAINT] ABC Paint (Aboshanab, Belinda; $15) is an educational computer-aided coloring program for young children. The child is given a picture to color for a letter of the alphabet from A-L. Up to 50 different colors can be used. EGA/VGA and a mouse are required. Also on this disk is READ MY CHIPS (RMC), a number guessing game. [BDINO] Bert's Dinosaurs 3.2 (Wierenga, Theron; $22) is coloring program for children. It is also useful for introducing young children to the computer. The child places various dinosaurs on a variety of backgrounds and then colors the picture. Requires VGA and a mouse. Sound Blaster and the PC speaker are both supported. [BAFRICAN] Bert's African Animals 3.2 (Wierenga, Theron; $22) is a coloring program for children. The child places animals from Africa on a variety of backgrounds and colors the picture. A window is provided for children to write a short story about their picture. The image and story can be printed on a variety of printers, including the DeskJet 500C. Req. 512K, VGA, mouse. Sound Blaster and the PC speaker are supported. [BPA] Bert's Prehistoric Animals 3.2 [Wierenga, Theron; $20] is a coloring program for children. The child places prehistoric animals on a variety of backgrounds and colors the picture. A voice feature allows the animals to speak their names. A window is provided for children to write a short story about their picture. The image and story can be printed out. Requires 512K, VGA and a mouse. [BWD] Bert's Whales and Dolphins 3.2 [Wierenga, Theron; $22] is a coloring program featuring sea mammals. Its features are similar to Bert's Prehistoric Animals. [BXMAS] Bert's Christmas 3.2 [Wierenga, Theron; $20] is a coloring program featuring Christmas images. Its features are the same as Bert's Prehistoric Animals. [CBOOK1] Coloring Book 1.4a [Russell Holloway; $15] is a computerized coloring book that includes 10 pictures. You can change the colors in the picture, go to the next or previous pictures, erase the colors in the current picture or restore the original colors of the picture. [COLORBK] Dr. Motes' Colorbook 2.0 (Motes, Dr. Andrew ASP; $10) is a coloring program for children. Nine pictures are provided for coloring. The program forces the user to go through the color selection menu after every mouse click, but is otherwise easy to use. Requires EGA and a mouse. [CRYNBOX] Crayon Box (Kapusta, Philip P.; $10) is a coloring and sketch book, plus a math, counting and color quiz. Over 450 colors and patterns are included for painting nature scenes or drawings created by the child. The math option displays one inch numbers and prompts the child for answers. Ten skill levels are available. The counting and color identification option randomly shows numbered and colored marbles. The child must identify and count the number in each group. Req. EGA+, mouse. [DINOTIME] DinosaurTime 2.0 [Computer Creations; $20] is an animated coloring book. Children can design pictures from the drawings provided or create their own. There is a wide selection of coloring tools. Animation can be added to the picture. Pictures can also be saved to a file or printed. Requires a mouse and VGA. [EGACOLOR] EGA Coloring Book (Swope, David C.; $20) is a coloring book aimed at kids 3 and over. It allows children to use over 500 colors and patterns to color the pictures. Very young children will need adult assistance to use this program. Picture icons are provided for most of the command selections, and you can save the creations of up to five artists. Colored pictures can be saved as PCX files. Pictures can be printed on both black and white and color printers in two different formats. [KIDPAINT] Kid Paint (Compass Systems; $5-$18) is an animated, EGA coloring book for very young children with sound and animation. The "paint brush" can be moved with the keyboard, a mouse, or a joystick, but the author recommends the joystick because, he says, "it is more child-proof." The program is guaranteed to delight young children, especially when they see how easy it is to re-color a figure (even plaid colors!) just by repeatedly pressing a key or button. Only two pictures come with the program, but more are available from the author. [MGCRAYON] Magic Crayon (Alive Software; $18) contains three coloring games for children 3 to 12. Coloring Book lets you color in pre-drawn pictures. Color Shading contains hidden shapes to be colored. Color Memory is a memorizing game. Music cards are supported. Requires a mouse and EGA/VGA. [YP150] Young Picasso 1.5 (Blueview Software, reg. fee: $0) is a draw and paint program for children. It features bright colors with large icons, and it's fun and easy to use. Requires VGA and a mouse. -----Memory Games [BRAIN] Brain Child (Scoresby, Kevin; $10) is a memory card game along the lines of "Concentration." Instead of regular playing cards, the cards have various pictures on them. The program works easily with either the keyboard or a mouse. [IR_MJH] Instant Recall (Himowitz, Michael J.; $0) The object is to follow the order in which the computer lights up the four colored squares. The longer you match the pattern, the more selections the computer makes until you reach the limit or miss. A different tone is played on each square. There are four levels of difficulty. [MATCH2] Match2 is patterned after the old TV game, "Concentration". [MEMRYDS] Memory (Sapir, J. David; $5) is based on the old TV game Concentration. A deck of 54 cards is layed out face down. You try to match the cards by turning up two cards each turn. Kids love this game and are often better at it than adults. [MLOTRA] MicroLink Otra 1.2 (Lancaster, Bob; $5) is an excellent version of the memory game, Simon. In it, players take turns trying to repeat an ever-longer sequence of flashing squares, using the numeric keypad or mouse. We have some other Simon-type games, so normally we would not have added another one, but the quality of Lancaster's games is unsurpassed. They are fun, fast, colorful (while still being usable on mono systems), and well-designed. -----Number Games [GUESSA] GuessA# 1.03 (Khobey Software; $5) is a guessing game for young children. You guess a number between 1 and 500 and the computer tells you if your guess is high or low, accompanied by colors and sounds. If your three-year-old takes more than seven guesses to find the number, better give the little tyke a copy of Knuth's book on Searching and Sorting Algorithms. [KID_FUN] Kid Fun (Jarrett, Eric; $13) is a set of games for kids. It includes ESP, a number guessing game; KIDLIBS, a funny story generator; MATH FUN, a math tutor with sounds and special effects; 8-BALL, a "fortune teller" that answers yes/no questions; and more. [NUMGAME] NumGame (Stern, Steven D.; $0) is a counting game for 5 year olds. It asks the child to count up the faces on the screen and type the number. [NUMTIME] Numtime teaches young children to tell time. -----Other Games [ACTION21] Action Graphics 2.1 (Just FUN Software; $17) allows you to build things on your screen and animate them. You are given several shapes and colors to choose from to form your own drawings. You just point to the shape and drag it into the drawing area. You can easily move, resize, and color objects. You can set them in motion, either rotating, pulsing, or filled with moving patterns, and more. The program is designed more for amusement than actual CAD work, although simple CAD work is possible with it. Requires VGA, 512K RAM, and a mouse. [ARCHERY] Archery try to hit the moving target. You get three trys from five different positions. Play a friend or the computer. Good for hand-eye coordination training. [BATTLE] Battle (Peters, Scott; $5) Try to shoot as many battleships as you can before the shark gets to you. Arcade fun for the under-6 set. [BLOCKC] BlockC 1 (Gordon, Joby W.; $5) is a computerized version of the old game "dots". From 2 to 8 people may play, but the computer does not play. [BBABY] Bouncing Baby (Baskin, Dave; $5) Position the firemen to rescue the babies from the burning building. [CCARDS] Crazy Cards 2.2 (Khobey Software; $5) is based on the popular television show Card Sharks. The game uses a regular deck of cards and you are to guess if the next card turned over is going to be higher or lower than the one that is currently being viewed. The one with the most points wins. [CHAMELE] Chameleon 1.4 (Robert F. Litt; $5) is primarily for younger kids, but the program is clever enough to make all ages want to test their reflexes. If you, in your persona of a large Chameleon, catch a fly, your color gets brighter; when you miss, the Chameleon gets darker. Keep missing and it turns black and dies. [DOT2DOT] Dot2Dot 2.0 (Nelson, Ken; $10) is a colorful game of dot-to-dot for children. Letters or numbers may be used in the puzzles. After the drawing is complete, it can be colored in on screen. There is very little in the way of documentation with this, but it apparently requires a mouse, EGA/VGA, and a hard disk. [DOTSO10] DOTSO 1.0 (William Soleau, reg. fee: $12) is a puzzle game based on the classic connect-the-dots theme. Play against the computer to capture as many squares as you can by drawing lines to create four sided boxes. Requires EGA/VGA monitor. [FUNFACE] Funny Face II (Z-ware; $20) is a computerized version of Mr. Potato-Head, only better. It lets children create heads by selecting from a wide range of hair styles, eyes, ears, mouths, noses, eyebrows and beards. Faces can be colored in, saved in PCX format, recalled and printed out. Support is included for 180 different dot matrix, laser and color printers. The sound can be toggled on and off. It is easy to use and requires CGA or better. A hard disk or high density floppy is required. [GOOSE1] Mother Goose Game (Rick Sullivan; $8) is a game in which the child must complete missing words in a Mother Goose rhyme. [REFLEXE] Reflexes tests your reflexes by having you press the space bar when it says `go'. It saves all the times and shows average times for boys vs. girls. Good for leaving on a computer at grade school and letting everyone try. Written by nine-year-old John Thompson. BASIC required. [STOMPER] Tommy's Stompers (Tommy's Toys; $2) is a game for younger children. You try to keep away from various Martian beasties, such as spiders that come down the screen on webs. To make things interesting, as you flee, you must also keep from getting squashed by the Stompers. [TRAINMAN] Trainman (Baird, Chuck; $5) is a variation of the game Hangman. A train moves toward a ravine over which the track is out. With each correct letter guessed, the traintrack is built a little longer over the ravine. The object is to get the correct word before the train runs out of track and crashes into the ravine below. BASIC required. [TOYBOXS] CFP Toy Box 3.05 (Steve Schustack; $20) is a collection of toys for children. The toys enable one to create colorful drawings, play and replay music by making the PC's keys act like the keys of a piano, listen to computer generated music, see the time and date, and even take a trip to another universe. [WAR_RM] War (Metlen, Richard D.; $0) is similar to and played like the card game of the same name. It is intended mainly for young children. [WARI] Wari is a strategy (stone-capture) game.