From time to time authors are invited to review various items. Our family received an invitation to review an online game called Wizard 101.
This game israted E10.
Wizard 101isdescribed as:
An online, Wizard school adventure with collectible card magic, wizard duels, and far off worlds! The game allows players to create a student Wizard in an attempt to save Wizard City and explore many different worlds.
Wizard101 offers a Free Trial that never ends! Remember though, subscribers are allowed to complete Wizard City and explore all the far off worlds. Sign Up and start playing right away! For more information about subscription benefits, click here.
Our household reviewed the game from various age ranges. Age six to adult.
My husband truly enjoyed the game and I might even say - he is now addicted to it. From his standpoint:
*The game is very easy to start and instructions are easy to understand as well. They have recently updated the program and have made it more user friendly.
*Players do not actually need to be able to read well in order to comprehend how to play, as thepictures are easy to follow. This helps with younger children who do not yet read exceptionally well.
*You can ask other players for help when you are first learning how to play the game and this is very useful.
*You will need to assess your system requirementsbefore downloading the game. Also be sure to read the quick start guide. You can find descriptions on the various "magic schools" here, he recommends that you look this over before you play. Be sure to visit the parent sectiontolearn more.
*This is a great game forthe entire family and he looks forward to being able toget online with our children and play this game together when he is awayfrom home on military duty.
Things hewould recommend in order to make the game better:
*Almost all of the game cards have explanation, but there are a couple that are not fully explained. After using the program for several weeks some things have become more clear, but he would still like to see a platform with fullexplanation as to what each of the cards within the game actually do.
*He admits that he may not have gone to the correct location to identify this issue, but suggests that there needs to be an overall"friend blocker" within the game so that you do not have to deny each person as they ask you to become a friend. This would be ideal for families that only wish to befriend each other within the game.
From the wife/mom standpoint:
Our household loves wizards, magic and strategy. We are very much into Harry Potter and Yugioh. That being said, Wizard 101 has become a fast and furious hit within our household.
The game is rated E10 so I researched the parent portion of the site and had my husband play the game before we allowed access to our children. We didthis so that we could make a gooddecision as to whether or notwe felt that the gamewould be appropriate for our children under age 10. The decision was made that we deemed it fine. That decision will surely vary by household and is why you should take the time to look through the parents sectionand evenplay the gameyourself first.You can set up your childrens accountswith parental controls and withsafeguardsand I would recommend that you do so. All of this is explained in the parents section of the website.
My entire household is a gaming household and it is rare that we can find computer games that we all enjoy equally and canplay together. While we do limit the amount of game time that are children are allowed each week, Wizard 101 has quickly became the game of choice when game time is allowed. I found the game reasonably priced.There are various subscription levels, a family plan anda free trial version that never ends.
The downside to loving the game so much in our houseis that you must have an online connection for each player.Now each of my children wish to have their own computers so that they can play against daddy even when we are all at at home. Ahem. Can't you just envision us all at the dining room table, each of us with a computer and gaming against each other? It would be just like board-game night at our house, with added technology. While that picture in my mind is humorous, I actually doubt that everyone in my house will end up with a computer of their very own anytime soon. But, the children are saving their allowances with the long term goal of purchasing their own computers. Goals are good.
Theage ranges for playing this game within our house were 6-12. All of the children truly enjoyed the game. Even our youngest (who is still perfecting his reading skills) thoroughly enjoyed it. He did have help now and again from the older children, but the majority of the time he was able to play on his own with his limited reading skills and also by relying on the pictures within the game. The older children had no problem jumping right in and figuring out the game on their own without parental help.
Our household gives the game a big thumbs up.
