I Spy Mystery - E

Series' visual puzzles wow savvy sleuths.

Publisher: Scholastic Category/Genre: Computer Software - Puzzle Platform: Mac/Windows Price: $20 Online Enabled: No Graphics: High. Photorealistic and interesting to look at. Playability: Easy to play, but the puzzles can be visually challenging. Reading Level: None Release Date: 09/15/2006 ESRB Rating: E

Common Sense Note

Parents need to know that not all of the 56 included puzzles are new. Some are recyled from earlier I Spy software titles. So if your family has played any of the older titles, you'll recognize some of the pictures. But this software contains plenty of new content. and all of the mysteries are new, so kids will find lots to do.

Families can talk about which of the 56 puzzles they like best. Same goes for the mysteries -- which ones were the most exciting to solve? Parents might lead a discussion about magnification and how there are things that exist that we can't see with the naked eye.

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Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Jinny Gudmundsen

The ninth title in Scholastic's popular I Spy software series, I SPY MYSTERY introduces new elements while recycling some puzzles found in the earlier titles. In I Spy Mystery, kids solve visual puzzles to obtain clues to 13 different mysteries.

This software contains 56 I Spy puzzles that challenge kids to find objects hidden in a crowded photorealistic picture. Accompanying each picture is a riddle that, when solved, lists the objects to find. Kids will be told to find "a foot with no toes," for example -- and while they can look for a human foot without toes, they'll only solve the riddle when they click on a ruler. Likewise, "a face with no eyes" is a clock face. Kids know when they've found the correct object because it animates when clicked, and the words in the riddle change color.

The 56 puzzles are divided into 13 mystery file folders. Upon selecting a file, kids hear about the mystery and see three to six photographs. Clicking on a photo launches an I Spy puzzle; when all of the objects are found, a clue to the mystery is revealed. Each of the 13 mysteries is different, but to solve most the player must go back within the puzzles to find or collect additional objects. For example, in the folder called "Scientist Code," kids will find four photos, each containing a part of a decoder. When kids collect all four parts and then assemble the decoder, they can read a message in one of the photos and solve the mystery.

Families who are avid fans of this software series will want to know that a majority of the 56 puzzles found in I Spy Mystery are recycled from earlier CD-ROMs, including I Spy Treasure Hunt (2001), I Spy Spooky Mansion (2004), and others. This can be disappointing to children anticipating all-new content. But since the recycled puzzles are combined with new puzzles to form mysteries that have additional puzzle components, even kids who've played the previous I Spy titles will find something new to explore here.

Testers particularly liked the puzzle that revealed a scene shown under a microscope. To solve that riddle, kids need to switch between magnifications of 1x, 5x, and 10x. It was fun to discover that a beetle had soccer ball eyes when magnified to 10x.

Families who are new to this series will find lots to like. The mystery format provides great motivation to solve each I Spy puzzle within a mystery folder. The pictures used as puzzles are intricate and fascinating, and solving them requires thinking and problem-solving skills.

For younger children, the puzzles teach vocabulary by having them seek out items that are new to them. The software will also pronounce all the words in the riddles. Parents might want to play with children under age 6 because some of the riddles are very clever, and finding the objects can be challenging.

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