Common Sense Media Review
By Mark Raby
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Time-management game provides fun but limited experience.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 7+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Play
Videos and Photos
Funky Barn
What's It About?
FUNKY BARN throws players directly into the ownership of their own farm. Things start out modestly with a couple barn animals and small demands for things like milk and eggs. As players gain money and expand their farm, though, they will quickly learn that it isn't always quite so easy. As more exotic animals (llamas, buffalos, and the like) begin to arrive, it becomes more difficult to keep track of the different animals and the items they produce. Funky Barn challenges players to work their way up from easy mode to medium and then eventually hard, to prove that they are a master of time management and barn acumen.
Is It Any Good?
Funky Barn offers all that can be expected from a time management game. It introduces players with a level that provides enough variety to get them hooked right away. Funky Barn then ratchets up the difficulty one notch every level, making it an addicting experience where players don't quit if they lose a level, but instead, try again. That being said, it would have been nice to see a little more variety among the different levels. Once players are empowered enough to master the organization of the different barn animals, there is nowhere else for them to advance. Having a set of secondary tasks to make the game more challenging -- and more rewarding -- would have given this game a deeper level of "replayability." Once players complete every level there is little reason to play again, and because the difficulty level reaches its apex after only a few levels, completing every level is not as rewarding an experience as it is in other time management games.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the difficulty of effective time management. When did you reach the point where things became a bit too chaotic to handle?
In real life, what can you do if there is too much on your plate?
What are the best techniques for time management? Do you always follow these?
Game Details
- Platform : Nintendo Wii U
- Subjects : Hobbies : collecting
- Skills : Self-Direction : time management , work to achieve goals , working efficiently
- Pricing structure :
- Available online? : Not available online
- Publisher : 505 Games
- Release date : November 18, 2012
- Genre : Time Management
- ESRB rating :
- Last updated : November 11, 2020
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