And Now From The Land Of FOO....
A Review of 123 FOO
Rich Cunningham
The relationship between a grandparent and a grandchild is a very special
one. I have memories of my grandfather teaching me how to play baseball, and
my grandmother of making the best fried chicken dinners I have ever tasted.
All of us have similar memories I am sure. I mention this because the
program I am going to review today was the result of a grandfather's desire
to give his grandchildren a fun, but educational game to play.
The program I am talking about is called 123 FOO, and is written by J.J.
O'Connor, an award winning artist. He has set aside the world of oils, inks
and brushes for the world of keyboards, graphics and paint programs. It was
in response to his (then) six grandchildren that he put together a
computer-based game that would be fun, educational, non-violent, and hold
the attention of the gameplayer for more than a few hours. In this, he has
succeeded quite well. His first game was called Foo Castle, a
point-and-click exploration game. His second effort (this time for eight
grandchildren) is called Alfoobet, which is a program that concentrates on
letters, words, and "foonetics". The most recent program, called 123 Foo is
for his 11 grandchildren, and is the program we will explore today.
Foo is a mythical land, where education and learning are the major themes,
and having fun doing it is very important. In 123 Foo, the emphasis is on
numbers, and learning to recognize them, and then to do something with them.
Most of us take for granted being able to distinguish the number 2 from the
number 3, and the number 3 from the number 4 and so on. But place yourself
in the position of a 3 or 4 year old child. This can be a challenging and
sometimes frightening experience. But 123 Foo helps overcome those kind of
feelings, and does so in a non-violent and fun way.
The game begins with the user on Foo Street, in front of the Foo Store.
Since the user interface is point-and-click, all exploring is done with the
mouse. There are several animated sequences on the street, but the main
action takes place in the store. After entering the store, the user can
explore and find games both entertaining and educational. These include
"Dot-to-dot" drawing (emphasizes counting), "Eraser-pic" ( a drag-and-drop
exercise for the very young just learning the use of the mouse), "How Many?"
( a counting game), and "Construction Kit" (puzzle-type building blocks).
There are more games in the store as well, along with several surprises for
the user to find. There also are other house to visit from Foo Street as
well. These include David's Diner (mostly animations, but fun to explore,
try clicking on the hot dog item on the menu and you'll see what I mean),
Jonathan's Gym (more animations), and Michael's Spooky House ( a haunted
house, but very non-threatening).
All the areas, taken as a whole, are intended to provide many hours of fun
and enjoyment. It is aimed at the 3 to 8 year old age group, but many 7 and
8 year olds may find it boring and a little childish. It would be an
excellent tool for use with the learning challenged, or for someone whom
traditional educational methods have failed. It is provided on 3.5 inch
disks, and does not demand a power system to use, like many programs that
are released today. It only requires a 386/25 mhz and Windows 3.1 in the IBM
world, and an LCII in the Macintosh area. Needless to say, it ran flawlessly
in Windows 95. For what this program is, and what it tries to accomplish, it
well worth looking at for addition to a home library.
School House Scorecard
| Product: |
123 FOO |
| Company: |
O'Connor House Software
|
| Cost: |
Not Available |
System Requirements:
IBM: 386/25mhz or greater; Windows 3.1 or later; 4mb ram; 5.5mb hard drive
space; Soundblaster or 100% compatible sound card; SVGA 640x480x256 color
display; mouse
Macintosh: LCII or better; color monitor; System 6.0.5 or higher, 2mb ram,
4mb hard drive space
Breakdown:
Ease of Use 4
Learning Value 3
Entertainment Value 3
Graphics 4
Sound 3
Overall Score:
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