CompuServe Thread

I can't comment too much about Mixed Up Mother Goose, as it's still wrapped up under the Christmas Tree. This is one of the few games, however, about which I have heard nothing but rave reviews. It is available from Sierra on CD-ROM, and is (as I understand it) a game in which the player helps Mother Goose helps the various characters in her kingdom put nursery rhymes back together. For example, the player might help Little Bo Peep find her sheep (although I don't know if that's actually in there <g>). As for Katie's Farm, it is a *very* *very* simple game in which the player is allowed to explore a farm–riding a horse, milking a cow, etc. It was an excellent game to start my daughter (now three, then 18 months) to operate the computer, click the mouse, use the arrow keys, etc. She's outgrown it now, but I have another daughter just about ready to hit the keyboard and I'll pull it back out of the box then. To my knowledge, it is available only on disk, but it's a small program so no damage is done. I'm sure some others will be more than happy to jump in here with their own comments and opinions. Let me know if there's anything else I can answer. Bob

I have both Mixed-Up Mother Goose and Katie's Farm. I agree with the previous reply on the points made. Katie's Farm is really simple and short. There are maybe six places you can go and three things to do in each place. It is just multiple choice with the little kid banging away with the mouse or the keyboard. On the bright side, I think I got it for $9.95 in the surplus bin at Comp USA. My four-year old and six-year old played with it for awhile, but quickly saw its limitations. My 18-month old bangs at it for a few minutes at a time and seems to be enjoying herself. She likes animals, anyhow. Mixed-Up Mother Goose is one of the better of the CD-ROM kid's adventure products. You probably should be five or so to play this. My precocious six-year old asks to play this once in a while. It takes quite a while to find all eighteen "prizes". I tried the Putt-Putt Joins the Parade demo from one of the IBM forums, and it is also a multimedia type of adventure for kids, albeit not on CD-ROM. I ordered it and am looking forward to good things. My four-year old son just loved the demo. Electronic Arts is the distributor. About $35 at Egghead. -bc-