With An Oink-Oink Here And A Bow-Wow There.....
A Review of AlphaBonk Farm
Rich Cunningham
During World War II ( or maybe after, this was all before my time), there was a popular song called "How They Gonna Keep Them Down On The Farm (After They've Seen Paree?"). Well, it this game had existed then, it may have helped solve that problem. And it would definitely have helped their children learn their ABC's.
AlphaBonk Farm, at first glance, seems to be just another game, one that teaches children the alphabet, and tosses in a few games and hokey graphics to entertain the young ones. But, after installing and playing this game, uh, testing this game, it has a lot of subtle nooks and crannies that make it an enjoyable and educational program for young ones to learn on.
From the greeting by Friendly Farmer Alphred A. Bonk, you meet a cast of characters that act as guides and mentors to the young player. These include Bunji the Frog, Velma the Swine, and Clyde the Parrot. There are 6 major areas to be explored in the game and these are: Poke 'n' Prod, Down Home Picture Tour, Rhyme Time, Seek 'n' Find, Farmer Bonk Stories, and Fun Farm Facts. There are 26 letters in the alphabet (see, I did play the game) and each letter has 5 activities associated with it. This leads to an almost infinite variety of games and challenges as well as continuous discovery opportunities for even the most advanced player.
An example of one of the activities can describe best how the game flows. In Poke 'n' Prod, children click on Bunji the Frog and he gives them things to work with. The player then moves these items around and makes them interact with each other. For example, the letter "E", for egg, the children can put them in an incubator, fry them in a pan, or put them in some dye. Like Newton's Law of Gravity, each action has a reaction, and the variety of the interactions is almost infinite (and sometimes very funny; try dying an egg and putting it in the incubator).
One aspect I saw in this game that I liked was the use of graphics to present the images that the letters represent. Drawings are used, high-res photographs are used and a variety of animations and sounds are included to enhance the learning experience. Some of the screens remind me of abstract Andy Warhol art, but also there is a faint influence of art deco with the color selection of the photographs. It is a very interesting use of graphics to say the least.
Installation of the game was very easy. It can be installed from Windows 95 and ran with no problems (at least on my system). The music was very entertaining and age appropriate, since this game is aimed at the 4 to 8 year old users. This game is a one or two steps ahead of the usual alphabet game, and should be part of any home or school library.
School House Scorecard
| Product: |
AlphaBonk Farm |
| Company: |
Headbone Interactive
|
| Cost: |
$49.95 |
System Requirements:
WINDOWS: 386-33 or greater, Windows 3.1 or greater (works with Windows 95), 8mb ram, SVGA 640x480x256color display, MPC 2 Compliant CD ROM, Windows compatible sound card and speaker, mouse;
MACINTOSH: 25mhz 68040 or better, System 6.0.7 or greater, 4mb ram w/ 2500k available (8mb recommended), 640x480, 256 color display, MPC 2 compliant CD ROM
Breakdown:
Ease of Use 4
Learning Value 4
Entertainment Value 3
Graphics 4
Sound 3
Overall Score:
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