TheBlu
By Jenny Bristol,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Ocean explorer looks great but bores quickly.
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TheBlu
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What’s It About?
THEBLU was created to educate kids about ocean ecosystems and their inhabitants. Kids explore different ocean zones and click on fish and plants they find there to learn more about them. While kids explore the wider ocean, they also curate their own personal habitat and can add fish to this special zone; these other fish are owned by players and display players' usernames and geographic locations. When the screensaver mode is enabled, kids can watch fish move around their habitats.
Is It Any Good?
This game isn't so much a game as a screensaver, and it's very basic. There's very little to do beyond observe and read a bit about fish, and many options rely on a Facebook connection. Although the art is high-quality, it's still tough to justify the cost of purchasing more fish. Players can get away without purchasing anything, but the invasive, repeated Facebook requests and reminders about buying new fish are off-putting.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can discuss how to spend digital currency wisely.
Families also can discuss the problems facing the ocean and how TheBlu tries to help tackle these problems.
Families can explore a local aquarium and try to identify fish and creatures from TheBlu.
Game Details
- Platforms: Mac, Windows
- Subjects: Language & Reading: reading, Science: animals, biology, ecosystems and the environment, plants, Hobbies: collecting
- Skills: Thinking & Reasoning: investigation
- Pricing structure: Free
- Available online?: Not available online
- Publisher: Wemo Media
- Release date: February 10, 2012
- Genre: Edutainment
- Topics: Ocean Creatures, Science and Nature
- ESRB rating: NR
- Last updated: April 14, 2020
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