IWin.com Homepage

IWin.com is a website that offers hundreds of downloadable games for kids to play.  These games take only minutes to download and are available for FREE(most for a limited time).  The genres of games include hidden object, time management, action, board/card, game show/word, match 3, puzzles, and online party.  There is even a section specifically for free games.  What I found most appealing about this website is that you are able to play a 60 minute free trial for most of the games.  I like being able to try out a game before I commit to the purchase, nothing worse than buying a dud game.

Turtle Odyssey

In my lengthy time spent playing and exploring this website, one game I really enjoyed was Turtle Odyssey.  This game is an adventure type game featuring a little turtle named “Ozzy”.  As Ozzy you navigate your way through 8 episodes which include a number of sub-levels.  The objective is for you to collect coins and diamond jewels while doing your best to avoid obstacles like evil octopus.  You must collect all of the diamond jewels to open the door at the end to complete the level.  The heart on the bottom right corner of the screen shows your life and the blue circle in the left corner shows your oxygen level.  Both of these must be kept from being completely empty or your journey can’t proceed.  You can refill both by finding bottles filled with either air or hearts at different points throughout the game.  This game is a fun nonviolent adventure for your child.  I played this game on its free 60 minute trial, but if you really enjoy the game there is the additional option to buy.

Vacation Mogul

The second game that I thought was worth mentioning was called Vacation Mogul.  This was a time management based game.  The background story to this game is that your distant uncle has passed away and left you and your sister his millionaire  island home.  As the story unfolds you come to realize that something was fishy about your uncle’s passing and your sister also goes missing.  It’s your job to find out what happened! In addition to solving a mystery you are also a real estate mogul developing vacation spots.  Each level within the game has specific tasks and time limits to building hotels, motels, shops and other attractions.  This game definitely requires multi-tasking skills as many steps go into building and maintaining resort areas, such as hiring workers, getting building materials, constructing buildings, upgrading and repairing sites, and researching for new developments.  This game is great because it has no time limit for the free play.  Once you download this game you can play for as long as you like.  The only downfall it seems would be the amount of advertising.  After almost every level it seemed there was a break for a commercial advertisement.  Once again if you do purchase this game the advertising has been removed.

So, if during your exploration of IWin.com a game does catch your fancy a couple of options are available for permanent ownership.  An All Access Pass entitles you to unlimited play of a number of online downloadable games as well as 24 hours of offline play time for each for a monthly fee of $9.99.  The second payment option is Club Iwin which for a $6.99 montly fee gives you discounted game purchases.  The third payment option is a a direct buy with no membership needed for the games at retail prices generally $9.99 each.

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Homepage After Login

DinoSawUs.com works by bringing its players into a colorful world inhabited by even more colorful looking dinosaurs.  Just think how different the world would be if these interesting creatures were still around!  While we will never know what dinosaurs would really be like, it’s pretty fun to play around and imagine.  The game starts with the creation of your own dinosaur character and login name or as the game calls it your “secret-identity”.  You start off as a free non-member with 5 credits, which doesn’t really give you too many options initially if you’re looking to buy something for your dino.  There are a whole bunch of games that you can play for free as a non-member and areas for you to explore.  The locations in the game range from the town-hall to the diner to the museum to of course the volcano site.

DinoSawUs Museum

The museum section had a really great educational factor to it.  There is a part titled “General Knowledge” and this section included information on volcanoes, digging up dinos, fossil finding, and pronunciation.  Each location has its own games and activities within the game which keep any repetition to a minimum.  The main toolbar for the game contains links for your own personal aspects of the game.  These are located on the bottom right of the screen and include “Gunge, Friends, Party, My Stuff, Chat, Postcards, and Travel”.  Chat is a preloaded assortment of conversational words that can be used to communicate with other players through your character.  This is nice because it takes away any possible concern over inappropriate contact on this socially interactive site.  Another cool part on that toolbar specifically is the travel section which brings you to a larger map and allows you to jump right to any place in the DinoSawUs world.

Rocket-Bolt Game

There were quite a few mini-games offered throughout the game.  Just to name a select few of the games, there was a Rocket-Bolt game were you have to maneuver your dino character equipped with a jet-pack through a variety of maze type levels.  In each level you collect balloons for points as well as added bonuses of health and avoid other objects trying to stop you.  This game gets harder as you progress upward through the levels  and requires some definite thinking and logic skills to figure out how to fly to success.  Some additional games include a Rock-Band type game, a color memory game, a Burger Restaurant game, a hangman game, and a word search.  The color memory game was pretty fun and reminds me of the electronic handheld game “Simon” that I played as a child.

This site did have quite a bit more available to players who became members.  The membership does require a payment and they have three options available, a monthly payment of $5.95, a 6 month term payment of $24.95 or a yearly payment of $39.95.  The additional features after becoming a member include stuff like special cars and costumes for your dino, the ability to buy exclusive dinos, and the use of the “Party” option on the toolbar.  Your child will definitely want the paid version but the free version gives you enough experience to know whether or not the game is one your child will want to return and play.

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Have you ever wanted a safe site for your children to play on that has it all? No more constant web surfing needed after you visit TVOKids! This site is filled with an enormous range of activities for children ages 2-5 and 11 & under  to enjoy.  It has games targeted towards reading, math, science, art, spelling, music, and sports, just to name a few.  TVOKids really provides a way for children to improve a number of important skills while still having a great time.  The fun doesn’t stop there, in addition to having a range of games, they also have a variety of videos which range from cooking instructions to providing tips and help on homework.

Each age group has it’s own home page with links to the games, videos and more.   I played games and watched videos on both age group sites and found them both worthwhile.  One of my favorite games on the older children’s site was called Dino Dan.  In this game you are provided with tools to find the fossils just like a real life archaeologist would  such as a sonar, a shovel, a brush, and a shifter which all need to be used at specific times.  You advance through the game by finding fossils in the dig site to form a number of different extinct dinosaurs.    

In addition to the dig site, another cool feature of this game is the Dino Lab.  This section includes a Hatchery (where dino eggs are cared for), a Yearbook (which shows some of the game’s character Dan’s friends), and a Dinocyclopedia (where you can learn about all the dinosaurs whose fossils you’ve found).  There are also a couple of dinosaur themed mini-games within that are unlocked after finding a certain number of complete dinosaur skeletons. A cool option about this game is that you can but aren’t required to create a login account.  This is nice for continuous play action and does require a parent’s email.  If you child likes dinosaurs they will most certainly love this game, I know i did!

Not to leave out the 2-5 age group site, a game that I thought was particularly entertaining and educational in the category of reading and spelling was called The Adventures of Sir Readsalot.  This game reads a page of a story aloud in a very silly sounding voice, while simultaneously highlighting each specific word.   This really allows the child to connect the sound with the visual spelling of the word.  After the short part of the story is read one word disappears and you must click around the  castle background to find the letters that make up the word.  Almost every object is click-able and moves around a little when clicked.  Even if you don’t click on the correct one to find a letter, you can enjoy the reaction from the object you did click as it moves around.  The game also helps you out in finding the letter if you are having trouble by providing a red arrow which will point to the desired location.

In conclusion, TVOKids felt very safe in my opinion  and had a variety of fun activities for kids.  The site is free and I have yet to see any ads located anywhere really on the site, which is nice since ads seem to pop up everywhere.  I highly recommend this site. Enjoy!

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Disney’s toontown offers your child a safe interactive environment to play educational and entertaining games. This program is adored by both my younger siblings who have been playing it for years. They began when they were younger, and despite that it may be considered too young for them; they still continue to play it at the age of 13 and 14. Some reading is required for this game. Your child must be able to read the tutorial and the instructions, which they will receive from fellow toontown characters. This game is set in a fun-filled environment that allows your child to feel accomplished and learn while having fun.

In toontown your child has the ability to create a character from an animal. This animal will receive a personality and physical characteristics that will be chosen by your child. Their toon will be able to interact with other toons within the town. Fortunately, they can only use phrases from a drop-down list that has been previously chosen by Disney. For example your child may use the words howdy or hello to begin a conversation. As in many other games, your child’s character can become sad, but cannot endure any harm to it.

This is an example of the 'gags' that your child will use against the 'cogs' that are trying to take over the city of toontown

The innocence in this game is that it refers back to the original Disney characters. As your child plays they will be accompanied by the beloved Mickey and Minnie. Also your child will not be introduced to any ads or violence. In replace of violence, toontown uses pranks or gags. These may consist of spraying water from a flower onto the bad guy or ‘cog’.  Your child will be constantly accomplishing tasks by request of the mayor. These tasks can involve receiving coins or removing the evil cogs from the city.

There is a significant amount of games that your child can choose from within the arena of toontown. Your child can play for a significant amount of time before a membership must be purchased. The purchase rate runs from $9.95 a month, but is not necessary in the beginning. The membership will allow you to create more than one character and play more levels. The site does inform the parents about these procedures required. Also toontown, as an affiliate to Disney, can lead to many other interesting games and age appropriate adventures.

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When using Neopets, your child has to create an account, which is free to all users. Some basic information is required, including an email address, in case of a lost password. Also with the necessity of an email address, it will require your permission for your child to engage in this site. The use of the account is to collect points and keep track of your Neopet. This game requires a child to learn responsibility about having a pet. For example the pet if neglected, can become withered and ill. This game allows your child to feel accomplished. By playing games your child can earn Neocash which is used to decorate your neo-home and revitalize your Neopets. All of these lessons are taught through over 100 games. These games can range from puzzles, educational (for example the game, Imperial Exam, is helpful with spelling) to games that are based upon pure fun. All of the games are geared toward children, with no violence involved. The games involve the use of the Neopets characters, which are adorable and friendly. Your child can also interact with other neo-pets within town, but it is not an online network for meeting new people.

This picture is one of the towns your child and their neopet can visit. It includes different shops that they can use to purchase new items for their Neopet with their neo-cash. Many of the towns are similar to this one, but different in appearance. They all include different games that are relevant to it’s neighborhood.

Although there are no pop-ups, as a parent, you may want to be aware of the ads that are on the boarder of the website. Also an ad will present itself before each game your child chooses to play. Fortunately, these ads are not inappropriate to younger ages. Most ads consist of children’s movies and cell phone coverage.

I have played Neopets throughout my childhood, and at the age of 20, still have friends who indulge themselves in its experience. All of my friends and younger siblings have found this game extremely enjoyable. This game is fun because it has its own child-like innocence. The only problem with this site is that it can be confusing in some regards. Luckily, there is a tutorial that your child can use to learn how to play.

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The goal – to get the balls in their correct containers by cutting them.  Sounds easy, right?   As you can see by the second image – the puzzles get harder.  What’s nice is there is no time pressure and the problem solving allows you to use trial and error to come up with a working solution for each puzzle.  The graphics are cute and the music pleasant.

Shockwave offers MANY free online games for kids.  Shockwave is also now affiliated with Nickelodeon Arcade now so ensure a safe site experience.  There are links on the site but they are for other child friendly games.

My 6 year old daughter had fun with Civiballs 2: Empire Bounce and Roll and I find in appropriate for 6 and up.  Another perk is that you can explore different levels in different lands so if one level has got you stuck – you can choose a different Level to visit.  It is a fun game to play WITH your child so you can problem solve together to get the solution.I definitely recommend Civiballs 2 as a fun and educational kids computer game.

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Under $20

Preschool

Jump Start Pet Rescue for the Wii – For Under $20 this game is an INCREDIBLE bargain for 3-6 year olds.  See my complete review here.

A Subscription to Jump Start.com where your preschooler – early grade schooler can learn while having fun. Full review here.

Pajama Sam and Other Humungous Games – Putt Putt and Fredi Fish are WONDERFUL adventure Games for the PC (and some for the Wii) to help children think logically. I have the full review here and these games are perfect for ages 3-7. You can see my full review here.

Grade School

Tropix & Tropix 2 — Available for the PC, Nintendo DS or through Shockwave online. This is a wonderful educational and fun game for ages 6-12.  See my full review here.

Pajama Sam and Other Humungous Titles – Pajama Sam and Spy Fox are adventure games that make you feel immersed in the story and help teach logic and problem solving.  These are for ages 5-10 and you can see my full review here.

Try a month on one of the top social educational networking sites for kids.

Many of these sites are $5-$6/month and the one way to get to know if it is worth the money and if your child will get their money’s worth is to pay for one month as a trial run.  Here are my picks for this year:

Moshi Monsters (Age 6 and up) – See full review here. Awesome, safe, educational and fun site for kids.

Secret Builders – (Ages 6 and up) – See full review here. Safe, educational site combining gaming and adventure.

Super Secret – (Ages 10-16) – See full review here.  Fun, safe and keeps the kids interested and learning.

Zula World – (Ages 5 and up) – See full review here. Safe, educational and fun.

Teens & Whole Family

Machinarium – My review for the free version is here and the full version is only $20

Auditorium – My review is here.  For $10.99 you get the full version of this INCREDIBLY beautiful and musical game.

IPhone/ITouch Gift Card — If your child has an ITouch or an IPhone — a gift card for $20 can go a long way.  Many games are just $.99. Click here for a list of my Top 5 ITouch/IPhone  Educational Apps.

Under $50

MOST games for the PC and Nintendo Wii an Nintendo DS Fall into this category.  I stand by my recommendations for last year.  You can find the ones for the PC here and the ones for Nintendo DS here.

In addition I recommend 6 month or yearly subscriptions to the above social networking learning sites for kids re-listed here:

A Subscription to Jump Start.com – Ages (3-6) where your preschooler – early grade schooler can learn while having fun. Full review here.

Moshi Monsters (Age 6 and up) – See full review here. Awesome, safe, educational and fun site for kids.

Secret Builders – (Ages 6 and up) – See full review here. Safe, educational site combining gaming and adventure.

Super Secret – (Ages 10-16) – See full review here.  Fun, safe and keeps the kids interested and learning.

Zula World – (Ages 5 and up) – See full review here. Safe, educational and fun.

Teens & Whole Family

Super Mario Brothers Wii – My kids just got this “for my husband” for his birthday and it has become a new family favorite.  We are HUGE Mario Brothers Fans and this game does not disappoint.  There are many new features including the ability for 4 players to play simultaneously which is tons of fun. Check out the link in the picture or here to see all the amazing reviews on amazon.com.

Wii Sports Resort – This game continues to be fun for the whole family.  My whole review is here for this fantastic game.

Over $50

The Whole Family

ITouch — This is THE portable device for kids.  If you have a wireless connection at home or know some place in your area that does – your child has access to download games, music, movies, tv shows and more without even plugging in the ITouch.  Many apps (applications) are free.  You can use this as an IPOD, web browser, game player and even to text.  All the goodness of the IPhone without the cell phone monthly cost.  One of my favorite things is there is no more STUFF.  When my kids receive game; CD Roms, DS and Wii games can take up space…. With this you and people who want to give your children gifts can just keep adding money to the Apple Account with gift cards and everything fits right on that tiny ITouch.  This was my son’s request for his birthday so instead of clutter he got useful games, apps to help him with school and a few of his favorite TV shows and songs uploaded.There are many different versions of the ITouch and they are priced according to how much space is available on them but all of them have most the same wonderful capabilities.

Wii – The Nintendo Wii has JUST lowered it’s price to just under $200 which makes it an even more incredible deal. If you have followed my blog for a while you know I have enjoyed over 3 years of fun with the Wii and cannot say enough good things about it. It has us all playing together and up off the sofa doing so.  I reviewed my favorite Wii and DS Games last year here.

There have been SO many amazing non violent and educational sites and games released over the last few years.  It is my honor to review them and boy do my kids love that I do!  I wish you all a very happy holiday and if you ever have any games or sites you think I should look at — please email the link to me with a description.  Thanks so much for your support.

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Overview of Moshi Monsters

Moshi Monsters is similar to the other social networking sites for kids in that you adopt a pet (in this case a monster) and have to look after it and add things to its house. There is the map that you can wander around playing games, exploring and taking hints from your monster as to what to do next.  There are stores to buy stuff from and a few of the games I liked when I was exploring were:

Ice-Scream

Similar to a Diner Dash – type Game.  Clients come in and you need to give them the correct ice cream cone in a timely fashion.  The possible variations and toppings increase as you move forward levels.  This game is great for teaching children attention to detail and how to teach them logically the most efficient way to go about the task.  Fun for all ages although I would say ages 6 and up have less of a chance of getting frustrated!

The Underground Disco

A similar game to Tap Tap Revenge. Make your monster do some cool moves by pressing the correct arrow key as they come into the circled area.  This helps with musical timing as well as dexterity.  These games are very popular with kids.  This has 3 different levels and many different songs for each level -the more you play the more songs you can unlock.

Those are just two of the many games I found when I was wandering around. You can also play games from your room by clicking on the Puzzles button.  You can play the Daily Challenge which will give you more “Rox” for finishing or you can play many different puzzles ALL of which are educational.  You do need to read to play most of these so I would say ages 6 and up or earlier if you have an early reader or will help your child understand the rules.  Each puzzle games can only be played once that day and your high score is listed as shown here.

The puzzles are all unique but all are fast and require quick thinking.  Jig Saw Jam is a good example of what you will find in their puzzle section. Children can develop MANY different educational skills by playing the various puzzles Moshi Monsters has to offer.

Conclusion

Moshi Monsters is a step ahead of many of social networking sites for kids.  It is safe, it is fun AND it is educational. My kids (6 and 10) BOTH love this site and have fun exploring and do not think of the educational games as boring at ALL. In fact they gravitate toward them and THAT is a gift for parents who want their children to learn as they play instead of just kill time.

As you play Moshi Monsters your level goes up and you unlock more and more games and things to buy.  This keeps the children wanting to play more not even realizing they are learning simultaneously.  I love the structure, layout, graphics and safety of Moshi Monsters. I highly recommend this site to parents and kids for fun and educational computer games and the experience as a whole.

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Whizz Ball comes with many options and for the beginner and children under 10 — I highly recommend clicking on the “How To Play” and watching the tutorial.  My son who is 10 took quickly to this game and began with “Build Your Own Puzzle”.  This is also a good way (especially for older kids) to explore learning how the pieces interact with each other.

When you “Click to Play” you are brought to a page where many kids have submitted their own puzzles to be solved.  The goal of this game is to get the ball that begins by being dropped down the tube through the puzzle to the red bulls eye target. There are puzzles for all levels of skill play and kids also rate the puzzles.  You can search for the kind of puzzle you would like to do through difficulty, date, author, title, popularity or randomly.  My son loves the author way to search so he and his friends can keep up to date on their latest puzzle creations. I love that you can play this game by just entering a screen name and no additional sign up is necessary.  There are some ads but all that I saw were for shows and games on the Discovery Channel.

When you are in Puzzle Creator mode it is easy to save, load or share your puzzles with others.  There is no end to the types of puzzles you can create. The pieces are very fun and the innovative.  Here is a picture of a simple puzzle I made.  My son’s are much more complicated and he is having fun inventing them and seeing JUST how complicated he can make them.

Whizz Ball is just one example of the quality educational games you can find on Discovery Kids.  It is a wonderful site to explore for all ages.  Please take the time to check out Whizz Ball, Discovery Kids Games and all Discovery Kids has to offer.

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Genesis

Genesis is an awesome game much like Auditorium, which  I recently reviewed. A puzzle game with music and beautiful graphics that increases in difficulty. Point the beams of light towards the planets to light up the sky, get the music flowing and have the light flow to all to solve the level.

Twisty Text

A fun game where you make as many words as you can out of the 6 letters given to you in 2 1/2 minutes.  Guess the 6 letter word to advance to the next level.  Click the Twist button to rearrange the letters.  Challenge yourself and try and get all the words.  My FAVORITE part about this game is the controls. You can drag and drop the letters and you can underline the word with your finger. COOL use of the ITouch/IPhone technology.

Crack The Code

Crack the Code is a version of the old classic game Mastermind.  Guess the order the colors are in.  You get hints each step of the way.  A black peg means you have the right color in the right place.  A white peg means you have the right color but it is not in the correct spot.  How long will it take you to Crack the Code?

Tap Word

A boggle-like game.  Drag to form words or tap consecutive letters before the time runs out. This game comes with LOTS of options. You can  set the timer for 1-5 minutes, change the board size to either 4×4 or 5×5 or change the minimum word size allowed. At the end you get a complete list of the words that were possible.

Boxed In

Boxed in has received millions of downloads.  This is a logic based puzzle game where you guide the robot with your finger.  The robot needs to push boxes in the correct order to solve the puzzle.  The game play gets increasingly difficult, adding force-fields you need to deactivate by pushing floor switches down with the boxes.  I recommend if you get stuck either going to another level or stepping away and coming back to it. This game is tons of fun and requires lots of thinking and planning.

These are just a sample of the wonderful educational games available for the many Mac products like the IPod, ITouch and IPhone. Most of the full versions of these games are $.99 which makes them a huge bargain. For my son’s birthday it was nice to be able to get him an ITunes gift card so he could decide which games, movies, music and/or videos he wanted to spend his money on. Email me if you have any other games or apps you would like me to review.  Remember they have to be non violent and I LOVE educational games. Thank you! Have fun!

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