Parents' Guide to Monkey Quest

Monkey Quest is a graphically pleasing and well-designed MMO with a theme that appeals to kids, with platforming action that also makes use of foreground and background space to create more "platforms" onto which to jump. Most kids who have played console games will be familiar with this game action, which makes use of arrow keys to move, the spacebar to jump, and combinations thereof for special powers. Besides questing, players will find there's also simple crafting in the game and as players advance, they will unlock better weapons and abilities. Kids will also find that playing together with friends (it's simple to make friends in this world) provides a "banana" multiplier, increasing the number of bananas -- the in-game currency -- that they earn. There are also special quests where kids need to join up as a "team" so that they can take on quests that can only be done with two to four kids playing together. 

The game is fun and appealing to kids, but only for kids playing on high-end computers. Unfortunately its rather high computing requirements mean that kids with older computers and slower internet connections will find the game less fun with long load times between scenarios and graphic glitches. For kids with fast enough computers, this a delightful romp -- on par with the fun found in Toontown Online.

Online interaction: The chat function is white list chat where a dictionary is employed. Which is to say, kids can only use words that are in that dictionary. Any attempt at bad words are blocked. There is 24/7 monitoring and a function available for reporting abuse.