Of Monsters and Mysteries

If you have children 5 to 8 years old, introduce them to a friendly green monster in “Huggly Saves the Turtles Thinking Adventures” and an adorable finned detective in “Freddi Fish 4: The Case of the Hogfish Rustlers of Briny Gulch.” Both new computer friends teach as they entertain.

‘Huggly Saves the Turtles Thinking Adventures’

As Huggly and his Monster Adventure Camp pals prepare to play a game called “Turtleworks” with their turtle friends, a powerful wind swoops into the camp and sends the turtles flying. The windstorm also wreaks havoc on the campgrounds and surrounding rivers.

So Huggly returns to his home under the bed and asks for help. So starts an adventure with the nicest group of monsters ever. To help Huggly rescue his turtle friends and set the camp right, players engage in a series of educational activities. In the process, they learn about common social issues such as sharing, helping and cooperation.

Players can wander around the campgrounds to find new characters and activities, or they can use Huggly’s map for a more direct route. By completing all 11 activities, players clean the camp and rescue the missing turtles to unlock a round of “Turtleworks”--an engaging version of pinball for youngsters.

“Huggly Saves the Turtles” excels because of its marvelous activities and the supportive environment created by the monsters and the turtles. For example, as children help Zibble and Quibble, the Rhyming Twins, sort through their tumbled possessions, they learn about the importance of sharing. The twins will share and not argue if they get objects that rhyme.

With Al Lee Gator, the scholarly alligator, children help restore missing letters to his book of stories. This clever activity motivates children to read as they figure out what beginning letter is missing from a series of sentences. As in all good early reading activities, the letter sounds are said out loud, the child gets to hear the blending of the word when the missing letter is added, and the completed sentence is then read aloud as the words are highlighted.

Other activities cover math and problem solving. Four of the 11 activities automatically increase in difficulty when played successfully. The adventure is easy, which makes it a great way to introduce children to computer adventures.

‘Freddi Fish 4: The Case of the Hogfish Rustlers of Briny Gulch’

Freddi, a bright yellow fish, is one of the best role models in children’s software. She is thoughtful, polite, continually curious and hard-working. She has never met a mystery or problem that she can’t solve--she just needs help sometimes.

In this adventure, Freddi and her best friend, Luther, arrive at Cousin Calico’s ranch to discover that a herd of hogfish has been rustled. To solve the mystery, children explore more than 20 underwater scenes that make up Briny Gulch.

As players direct Freddi’s swimming, they encounter a sunken ship, numerous caves, the Sodaloon and a blacksmith’s shop. At each location, players meet new characters--18 in all--and find objects to collect that will come in handy later.

For example, in the bowels of the sunken ship, players find some pepper. If they think to give it to the Blowfish blocking their way later in the game, he’ll sneeze, lose his air and become skinny enough to slip by.

Many of the characters whom players meet behave suspiciously. When players finally find and rescue the missing hogfish, they discover that the heist was the sinister plot of Mr. Big. They then need to figure out which character is really Mr. Big.

“Freddi Fish 4” is top-quality software for young children. The graphics look like Saturday morning television, the characters are fascinating and the mystery is more challenging than Huggly’s adventure. The game also has great replay value because the story has multiple paths. Play a second time, and it might be different.

Although it doesn’t focus on the three Rs, “Freddi Fish 4” shines in its ability to teach problem solving. It inspires children to observe details, think logically, sequence items and approach problems in different and unusual ways.

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Jinny Gudmundsen is editor of Choosing Children’s Software magazine.

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The Skinny

“Huggly Saves the Turtles Thinking Adventures”

* Price: $15

* Ages: 5 to 7

* Platform: PC/Mac

* System requirements: On the PC, a Pentium 90 with 16 MB of RAM and 20 MB of available hard disk space. On the Mac, a Power PC 90 running System 7.5.5 or higher with 16 MB of RAM and 20 MB of available hard disk space.

* Publisher: Scholastic

* The good: An easy thinking adventure

* The bad: No control over difficulty levels

* Bottom line: A charming first computer adventure

“Freddi Fish 4: The Case of the Hogfish Rustlers of Briny Gulch”

* Price: $20

* Ages: 5 to 8

* Platform: PC/Mac

* System requirements: On the PC, a Pentium 90 with 16 MB of RAM. On the Mac, a Power PC 80 running System 7.5.3 or higher with 16 MB of RAM.

* Publisher: Humongous Entertainment

* The good: A fabulous way to teach problem-solving

* The bad: Nothing

* Bottom line: An adventure in logical thinking