The Great Reading Adventure
Software Review by Tina Flores

A fun way to enhance reading skills, the Great Reading Adventure from Kids’ World and 7th Level uses a gaming format to teach loads of stuff about the alphabet, word families, phonics and comprehension.

The program is geared to ages 6-9 in grades K through 3. As the short users guide explains, there are up to 10 playing levels to accommodate differences in age and word skills.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

To play you need at least a 486-33 MHz [66 MHz recommended] IBM-compatible computer, 8 MB of RAM, a 256-color display, mouse, double-speed CD-ROM drive, sound card and amplified speakers, and Windows 3.1 or higher. I tried the software on my 486-66, running under Windows 95, with a four-speed CD-ROM drive and 16 MB of RAM.

INSTALLATION

The program offers two options: full hard-disk [436,000 K] or CD installation [5,879 K]. I chose the space- saving installation, which means that I must have the CD disk in its drive each time I play the game. The full hard-disk installation is certainly more convenient if you have the space to spare.

I had no problems with the installation; the InstallShield Wizard guided me through and then asked me if I wanted to play. I tried the games myself first and some neighborhood children in the targeted age group played later. They all liked the program very well, but an eight-year-old was hoping for monsters!

PLAY

Cute animal characters talk directly to the user, which is a big help for younger users with limited reading skills. Players are told they can either explore each screen on their own or let “Lil’ Howie” guide them through games such as The Maze, The Mushroom Underworld, The Pipe Organ, Alphabet Soup and The Fishing Game.

The graphics and audio work well together to make the games more exciting and understandable to inexperienced players. The users guide does a good job of explaining the games so they can help their children play without getting too frustrated.

PROBLEMS

I got a “systems error…check disk” message about half-way through my first play of the game. I just exited the game and shut down my computer. I checked the Troubleshooting section of the users guide but did not find any reference to this particular problem. I did find in the users guide the several ways to access Technical Support, including a web site, but I didn’t have time to try it then. A couple of days later I opened The Great Reading Adventure again and had no problems at all – and I haven’t had any problems since then.

SUMMARY

The Great Reading Adventure seems well worth the price of about $20, especially for children who have not yet learned much about reading. Older children may feel the games are too “tame,” but I think parents will appreciate them for just that reason.