 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Emma in the Mountains
- Nintendo DS
- Price: $29.99
- Genre: Adventure
Common Sense Media says
Interactive nature story with pro-environment minigames.
Parents say
Kids say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this is more of an interactive story than it is a video game. It has a cute story with a strong pro-environmental message. Kids will play 15 minigames while solving a mystery of why groundhogs are missing in the mountain's ecosystem. Some of the minigames have environmental themes like cleaning up trash, and learning to track animals by their paw prints.
What's it about?
Families looking for
girl-centric video games that aren't about fashion and shopping might want to
give EMMA IN THE MOUNTAINS a try. Based on a French literary heroine, this new
Nintendo DS game features a brave, red-headed girl who is a nature lover. While
visiting her Grandpa Ted in the mountains, Emma helps to solve a mystery of why
the groundhogs aren't around, even though it's spring and well past the time
for them to have awakened from their winter hibernation.
Told in a story
format with 15 activities interspersed throughout, the game asks kids to solve
a nature mystery by visiting different locations, playing mini-games, and
talking to both humans and animals. To play this video game, kids need to be
old enough to read, since it unfolds through written dialog spoken by Emma, her
cousin Andy who accompanies her, Emma's talking dog Pickles, and others.
Is it any good?
This isn't a typical
arcade-type kids' game, but rather a cute nature story with a variety of
interactive elements and mini-games. For example, you use the DS stylus to wipe
away the snow so that you can find your dropped keys. The storyline explores
how groundhogs fit into the food chain of animals found in the mountains, and
some of the mini-games even have a pro-environmental theme.
However, the story
is rather short. Also, while the minigames are varied and fun within the
context of the story, they don't have much depth, so kids may not spend much
time replaying them outside of the story. And a few, like ones in which you
race toboggans, have mushy controls, which can make them frustrating. Choose
this game for kids who like nature and enjoy reading, but don't demand a
fast-pace in their video games. You might want to rent this one first before you
buy. If your kids like Emma in the Mountains, there is a second game in the
series called Emma at the Farm.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about whether there was enough "gaming" in this product to keep them interested. Do all video games need to be fast-paced or did you enjoy reading this story through the dialogue of the characters?
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| Platforms: | Nintendo DS |
| Available online? | Not available online |
| Genre: | Adventure |
| Developer: | Aspyr |
| Release date: | November 23, 2008 |
| Price: | $29.99 |
| ESRB rating: | E for (No Descriptors) |
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