This game is a favorite in our house, with adults and our 9-yr-old son. The realism is what makes it so appealing - the planes, cockpits, scenery, airports, "fasten seatbelt" sign switches, even engine sounds are completely lifelike. You can take "lessons" or just take off and fly. Our son especially likes customizing the planes, weather conditions, time of day, and departure airport. You can get the jetway to approach the plane at the gate, though we're still figuring out how to do this. Educationally, he's had to develop patience to learn how sensitive the joy stick is with different planes, and how to turn without losing altitude, and how to teach Mom. Admittedly, he also likes to crash planes into the ground - on high settings a small smokey fire errupts. Some of his friends find the game boring ("no action") but his closer friends think it's "cool." You need a powerful computer with TONS of RAM to run the program properly.