Dig-It Games ~ Mayan Mysteries Online Game {Schoolhouse Review}

We recently had the opportunity to review Mayan Mysteries, an online game by Dig-It Games.

Mayan Mysteries is a fun and extremely educational game that can either be played with an online subscription or on the iPad by purchasing the game app. The game has your child joining Team Q, that consists of Professor Alex Quinn and his niece and nephew, Fiona and Charlie, to try to figure out who has been digging up and looting Mayan sites.

During their quest, Team Q has the opportunity to explore the ancient Mayan culture and participate in various activities to learn more about this exciting civilization:

• Visit Maya sites
• Uncover and analyze artifacts
• Decode glyphs
• Explore the Maya calendar
• Learn the Maya math system
• Solve puzzles and gather clues

The game is recommended for children ages 11 and up, and specifically for grades 5 through 9. But, since my kids love their iPad and master about any app they use, I thought that they would be able to handle the game even though they are only 7 and 9. Unfortunately we were not chosen for the iPad app and received the online subscription instead. The draw of the iPad was not there and I had a hard time getting them to sit down with the computer and play the game. It's strange, I know, that they will readily pick up the iPad to play an app but feel like computer games are, somehow, work. They did play it several times a week during the review period, however, and these are our thoughts:

• The concept is awesome and the kids learned a lot about the Mayan civilization that they did not already know.
• The game has tons of reading. Even though Brynne and Eli are good readers, it was a lot so it did not have the gaming aspect they were hoping for. And they didn't complete the game during the review period because they moved through it pretty slowly.
• Some of the concepts, especially involving the Mayan calendar, math, and money system was way too hard for them. Once we got to these concepts they glazed over and I lost them.
• Their absolute favorite part of the game was excavating the sites.
• I do believe my children would have gotten much more out of the game if they would have been the appropriate ages. I do not know if the iPad app would have added to their interest as we did not review it. But, I believe they really were just too young for the game. That was my fault, not the fault of Dig-It Games.
• I would really love it if Dig-It Games would come up with a version of Mayan Mysteries for younger children with a little more action and adventure. I think that would have grabbed my kids whether they were doing it on the iPad or on the computer.

The online version of the game costs $21.99 for a one-year single user subscription and the iPad app costs $9.99. Both can be purchased by going to the Dig-It Games website.

You can go to the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog to read other reviews of the online game, as well as reviews on the iPad app.

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