Parents' Guide to Archaeologist - Deep Blue for Kids

Underwater adventures are fun at first, but design missteps mean that enthusiasm may sink. Though the settings, artifacts, and stories change on each level, kids follow the same progression: guide ship through the water, dig and dig again to find six pieces of a broken artifact, clean the pieces in three steps, put the pieces together, clean again, and hear a real-life shipwreck story. Some kids may like this repetition and familiarity through the different levels while others will tire of it. And though the activities give kids a sense of what's involved in archaeological digs -- such as lots of digging, cleaning, and fitting broken pieces together -- the coverage is superficial. Kids don't have much freedom to take charge of their own play experience as they follow scripted steps over and over again. The real-life factoid stories are exciting and may inspire some kids who are fascinated by ocean travel, pirates, and historical shipwrecks. Unfortunately, the language used is aimed too high for the target age range, so the fact-based content doesn't match the activities. The good news is that the free content is enough to give a good sense of whether Archaeologist - Deep Blue for Kids is right for your kid.