Review–Dig It Games–Mayan Mysteries

 

Dig-It Games

• Mayan Mysteries
• Ages 11 + specifically designed for grades 6-9
• Single User License $21.99

Dig-It Games is a company that produces educational, yet very fun computer games. Their Roman Town games was a favorite of Ben about two years ago when we were able to review it for the Schoolhouse Review Crew. Their newest game Mayan Mysteries is proving to be just as fun and exciting for Ben as Roman Town.

Mayan Mysteries is an adventure game that is played online. Journey back in time to investigate the Mayan Culture. Decode glyphs, find artifacts, visiting Mayan cities, and exploring the Mayan Calendar are all designed to be challenging.

The premise of the game is that a looter has been digging up Mayan sites. In comes Team Q to help put a stop to this. You are trying to see if you are worthy of reaching the mythical city of Ich’aak. This city is only revealed to those with pure hearts and the knowledge to protect the artifacts, sites and culture.

The game begins with a cartoon strip that introduces the player to the problem that someone is looting and stealing ancient artifacts. The game uses a variety of activities to teach history, culture, and geography. Multiple choice, true false, map work are just a few of the activities that Mayan Mysteries deals with.

ClarkClan Thoughts

Ben (11) was our tester for this program. He had a great time playing the game. He told me he would recommend this game to others.   I think the wide  variety  of activities kept  him from being bored and held his attention quite well.

There was one part that Ben had a slight problem with. He was to decode a Mayan math problem. He became discouraged so I sat with him to help him figure out the math so he could “buy” what he needs to get past this level.

One of the neatest features of this game is the opportunity to “excavate” a Mayan historical site. There are four towns to excavate: Ceren, Copan, Tikal,and  Caracol. You are told to be careful and not break any of the artifacts that you find. 

. Another feature we liked was the choice to read what the characters on the screen were saying by yourself, or click on a speaker and it would read the words out loud. Ben said he would sometimes read the words and sometimes have the computer read it to him. By going to the settings on game launch page you can choose to have the words read automatically.

The only negative about the game was the music. It was a repeating tune that became annoying after a while. But then after some investigation, I found that you could turn the music up or down by using the settings on the launch page.

All in all, we found this game to be exciting, educational, and easy to use. We would recommend it to any one with kids in the late elementary/junior high school age range. The price is a one-user license for one year. If you have two or more kids, you can have one work through the game, then when they reach the end start over with the other student.

Visit the Crew Blog to read more about what people thought about the game for their children.