JumpStart 3D Virtual World (Windows)

common sense media says

Online learning game set in a big open world is a cut above.

parents & educators say

67% say there are positive messages
50% say it's educational

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that JumpStart 3D Virtual World is an online, subscription-based learning game that takes place in a safe, controlled environment. It provides content for children aged 3 to 10 years, though younger kids in this targeted audience will require help navigating the world to find activities suitable for their age. Unique interactive educational challenges help kids learn their alphabet, solve mathematical equations, gain knowledge of grammatical concepts, and learn about the world. Note that there is a small amount of violence (players jump on creatures called punk-punks and flatten them). You should also be aware that Knowledge Adventure inserts plugs for its other Jumpstart products within the game.

Educational value: While some of the games are meant purely for amusement, many more help teach kids everything from the alphabet to equations to grammatical concepts. Games (sometimes called “lessons”) are separated by age and often offer varying levels of difficulty so that the experience can be tailored to a player’s educational level. Players also encounter stories and videos that can teach them general information about the world.

Positive messages: This game promotes exploration and learning in a safe online environment.

Positive role models: The characters players interact with are almost universally chipper, helpful, and kind. They set goals and provide instructions and guidance. The player's avatar doesn't really have a personality, but he or she works to solve problems and achieve objectives that often involve helping others or making the environment look better.

Ease of play: This game is played using either a mouse to point-and-click where you’d like to move in the virtual world, or the arrow keys to move and space bar to jump. The method used depends on your preference or your age (some activities targeted at younger kids force them to use the mouse control scheme). The controls aren’t always precise, and sometimes feel way too floaty, but they are easy to learn.

Violence & scariness: There are aggressive creatures called punk-punks that bump into players and can cause them to lose coins. To defend themselves, players can jump on the punk-punks to flatten them and get their coins back.

Language: Not an issue.

Consumerism: There are several in-game plugs for other JumpStart products, and instances in which characters tell the player to ask his or her parents to download more JumpStart games.

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What to talk about

Talk to your kids

Families can talk about learning via video games. Do you think it is as effective as more traditional methods? Do you feel as though you are learning at the same pace as you would otherwise? Do you believe you retain what you’ve learned?
Families can also discuss the concept of subscription-based gaming. It’s less expensive to start, but gets pricier the longer you subscribe. Publishers try to make it worth your while by regularly introducing new content, but do you think players get enough from it to warrant lengthy subscriptions?

What's the story?

By creating an online, interactive, educational experience, JUMPSTART 3D VIRTUAL WORLD tries to turn learning into a game. Players explore an expansive environment looking for games and activities, many of which have a strong pedagogical bent. There is far too much content to list here, but younger players will engage in such activities as leafing through voiced storybooks, playing with instruments and toys, and matching shapes and colors in fun, themed mini-games. Older kids, meanwhile, can use jetpacks to fly through answers to mathematical equations, color pictures and post their work on billboards around the world, and float through underwater worlds trying to find and identify sentences with proper grammatical structure. Even the games designed primarily for fun—such as the Robo-a-go-go rhythm game and a dragon pet simulator—teach kids something, such as the basics of music and animal care, respectively.

Is it any good?

As so-called edutainment goes, JumpStart 3D Virtual World is top-notch. Few games can make learning to identify prepositions and memorizing multiplication tables authentically fun, but that’s exactly what JumpStart does. It even turns learning into a friendly competition, allowing players to compare their performance (anonymously) with others and providing incentive to play more learning games to earn additional stars and coins that unlock other elements of the game.

Unfortunately, we did run into some technical problems. The game occasionally lagged and even crashed a few times while we were testing it. Plus, the controls, while manageable, aren’t perfect. Moving one’s character around using the arrow keys often feels more like driving a car than controlling what should be a nimble little game avatar. Still, these are issues that we hope will be ironed out as the game matures online. If you’re looking for a way to make learning entertaining for your three-to-ten-year-olds, JumpStart 3D Virtual World is a good place to start.

Online interaction: Players will occasionally run into other player-controlled characters in the hub world and in some mini-games, but they cannot communicate or interact with one another, which means there is no chance for children to experience inappropriate content generated by others.

Game themes & details

Game Details

Available on: Windows
Available online
Genre: Educational
Developer: Knowledge Adventure
Released on: March 10, 2009
Price: 7.99/mo or $74.99/year
ESRB Rating: E for No Descriptors

Screenshots

This review was written by Chad Sapieha

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What parents & educators say

Based on 6 parent & educator reviews:

67% say there are positive messages
50% say it's educational
33% say there are positive role models

Read the reviews

Most useful reviews by all members

brittu
parent of 6 and 8 year old

Fun but could be more education and could support dual play

My boys (5 and 7) are really enjoying Jumpstart World. They've been thrilled with the new dragon training feature. I don't mind them playing but there are two things I think could really be better. First, I don't think it's as educational as it could be. Training a dragon is fun but there's really nothing to it in terms of math or reading. It's not even close to the educational quality provided by a site like Dreambox Math. Second, they can't play together. While not at all educational, something I enjoy about the Lego series or Scooby Doo Wii is that they can play together. With Jumpstart they just take turns with my older son most often getting more time to play. I think it's good but for the money I think it could be more.

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JumpStart 3D Virtual World (Windows)

common sense media says

parents & educators say

What parents need to know

More on JumpStart 3D Virtual World

What to talk about

Talk to your kids

What's the story?

What's the story?

Is it any good?

Is it any good?

Game themes & details

Game Details

Screenshots

Review It

Review JumpStart 3D Virtual World

What parents & educators say

Most useful reviews by all members

Fun but could be more education and could support dual play

Nothing else quite matches the amount of content and quality.

The best ever game LOL

Fun, but not as educational as it claims

Great game for learning early computer skills

I have play this games

Great game for all 3 of our kids, 5, 7, 9

Awsome

Very educational but one issue...

amazing jumpstart

Perfect for little kids, immature for tweens

NOTICEABLE PRODUCT PLACEMENT (BUT IN A PARODY)

it stinks!

In love!!

for all ages

LOVE IT!

Educational, but completely membership oriented.

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