Learning while Playing ~ Mayan Mysteries Online Game {Review}

A few years ago we had the opportunity to review Mayan Mysteries, an online from Dig-It! Games and the girls had a blast. There was just one problem.  The girls completed the game but at that time there was no resolution. The mystery was not solved. When I told them that Mayan Mysteries had been updated and that it is now complete, they were eager to play it again.

Because it had been a long time since she played it, Turtlegirl decided to start over from the beginning to “refresh [her] memory.”  She had the option of picking up with the updated point or starting over. Because Turtlegirl played the game I’m going to hand this over to her so she can describe the game and tell you what she thinks!

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I really enjoyed playing the game. I loved the "mini-games" that helped you learn about household Mayan objects or the Mayan math system. I really wish they had included more of the story during the sites you work with, instead of having it all in end-of-level and beginning-of-level comics. The story is fun, but it would be more engaging if it were sprinkled in throughout the level.

While I'm terrible at collecting artifacts (whenever I click on a person with that "mini-game" they give a spiel about the importance of carefully collecting artifacts, and then ask "will you help me excavate this site?", and I always wonder why they're asking me, and why my reputation as 'breaker of artifacts' hasn't reached them :D ) I love that mini-game the most. I think it's my love of archaeology, combined with the fact that in this case, you don't have to read all of the text about the artifacts if you don't want to. If there is something that I truly dislike about the game, it's all of the reading I have to do to move forward in the game. If you click on a person, and it's not a "mini-game", it's a "read this carefully, click on the challenge, and then answer 4 questions about what you just read". While I love reading and learning, this is just a little too much for me. At one point, when TailorBear and I were playing together, she actually walked off because she got bored with all of the reading. I think, if this information were sprinkled into conversations between characters (again, sprinkle in more of the story!), it would be more likely to stick in the mind. And it would be more entertaining.

I did like that we had two ways of doing the sites, the one in the present, and one where we traveled back in time. (On a humorous note, I really wonder why -in the past part- no one questions two kids in modern clothes walking around in an ancient Maya city and offering to help people. I mean, really stone-inscriber-guy? You need MY help? Somebody who just basically fell out of the sky??? :D )

Overall, this was a fun game! I just wish they didn't drag out the story so much.

(P.S: I actually had tons of fun helping inscribe dates on stones with the stone-inscriber-guy. That’s another of my favorite “mini-games”.)

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Dig-It! Games also produces Roman Town. This game is now only available as an app but during my first on the crew it was a downloadable game. I do not have a device to play the game on the app but many of my crew members had the chance to play and review Roman Town.  If you are looking for a fun, educational game that explores ancient Rome as an archeological site, do check out the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog to read the reviews.

The Details:

• The Vendor:  Dig-It! Games
• The Product: Mayan Mysteries
• Format: Online Subscription 
• Also Available:  Roman Town

All information is correct and accurate as of the date of this review.

You can read my other Schoolhouse Review Crew Reviews to find more great products.