SOFTWARE REVIEW : Games That Teach and Entertain : * Computer programs allow children to build a car, practice piano, play electronic Scrabble and make mess-less art. They make novel gifts for givers trying to avoid the same old thing.
Computer games are a canny solution to the gift-giving blahs. For the kids in your life who have PCs at home, they’re perfect. They have the cachet of books (“I give this to your mind”) and the zing of real games (they’re a lot of fun).
You look generous, if not extravagant--when in truth most of these games can be had for half their retail price by shopping the warehouse stores and catalogues.
While earning respect from your favorite child, you can feel virtuous, too. These games are serious brain-builders. They aren’t action-hero stuff with comic-book he-men hurtling across the packaging. (If you want to give those, consult a computer gaming magazine.) Every game on this list builds problem-solving or creative skills while showing kids a great time. All are guaranteed to keep kids glued to the computer until brain fatigue forces involuntary shutdown of the synapses.
Many of these games enhance the social standing of the recipient as well as the giver. Computer games are today’s baseball cards, comic books and Barbies. They are traded, discussed, compared and hoarded. I have heard it on the school yard:
“I’ll trade your ‘Castle of Dr. Brain’ for my ‘Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?’ ”
“I can’t. I haven’t finished the last maze.”
“OK. How about your ‘SimEarth’?”
Some are long-running classics. They’re so popular you don’t even need a PC to run them. They’ll run on Nintendo, SuperNintendo and Sega Genesis.
Other games are the best new offerings from top-tier educational software companies. Designed for optimum quality, they can make stern demands on hardware. Make sure the recipient’s computer can run them before you buy.
Computer games are played over and over again. At $30 to $60 a pop (depending on whether you bargain hunt), these will amortize the investment very quickly. When the Legos and the jet-fighter kits have palled, the games will still be there, available to anyone who wants to build a car on screen, practice piano with an instructor of saintly tolerance, play electronic Scrabble, or make mess-less art.
