LeapFrog Leapster Learning Game Scholastic Animal Genius
Discover fascinating facts about many exciting animals in the wild. Your little learner will love building basic science skills while playing unique thinking games and challenges in Animal Genius. Requires Leapster Multimedia Learning System (sold separately).
User Ratings and Reviews
2 Stars Blank Screens
My 4 year old loves it,(Would be 4 or 5 stars) until 2 out of the 4 games stop working (Matchomatic & Feature Finder) I actually thought the game had to be defective so I returned it for another. It turns out this isn’t a defect! When you first start, you get to choose between 4 games (Maze Munch, Scratch & See, Feature Finder & Matchomatic) After a few levels, if you choose Matchomatic or Feature Finder, all you get is a blank screen. It appears that it’s “frozen” but you can go back by pressing the B button. My son get’s frustrated when he can no longer play those games so we have to start all over.
4 Stars Lots to learn about animals
My kids (4 and 7) did learn a little about animals from this cartridge, but it did not hold their attention like some other cartridges. I played it myself and it is quite educational. It’s too bad they don’t play it as much as I’d like them to.
There are five habitats that the children get to explore. They can choose from grasslands, woodlands, ocean, rainforest or arctic. Within each habitat, there are four activities:
* Maze Munch — the child learns about what an animal likes to eat and what its predators are. He must navigate his animal through the maze to eat his food and avoid the predator.
* Scratch and See — the child learns what an animal looks like. He scratches the screen to reveal an animal which he must identify.
* Feature Finder — the child must match the animal with its feature. For instance, if the feature is predators, the child must find two predators from the ones shown.
*Matchomatic — the child must match some feature, like a baby animal to a grown up animal or a predator to a prey.
Occasionally, there is an “animal alert,” where the child must go to the different habitats to find an animal that doesn’t belong.
The child plays the games in each habitat for points. Once a child earns enough points, he gets to earn an animal for his habitat. He can earn 5 animals for each habitat at which point, he no longer can explore that habitat except to find an animal in the animal alert.
There is a lot to be learned from this cartridge. Little tidbits about the habitats and animals are given all along the way. I actually found the game play to be quite enjoyable. If only it held my children’s interest for longer, I’d give it the full five stars. As it did not, I will give it four stars.
4 Stars Almost perfect…but…
OK–I’ll admit my son is the sensitive type. He *thinks* about things, and they bother him. He loved this game until two parts of it made him avoid it entirely.
#1- There are maze sections where you are an animal and you have to eat other animals while avoiding being eaten yourself. I think a lot of young kids who are the type that love animals may not take to being reminded that they eat each other and that they were trying to get “him”.
He just avoided doing the maze section before I realized why. I discovered it when he was at an advanced level which reqired him to earn more points and he had to do that task to earn them.
#2- To earn your animal you must answer yes/no questions about the animal and this section is timed. It caused him some anxiety to feel he was capable of answering the questions in time and that he was doing it correctly without my reassurance. My reassurance would delay his answering and he was then even more worried about the timing aspect.
He just turned 5 and is not generally neurotic, but just a heads up that the game can bring up some issues you might not have thought of.
Some of the y/n questions require past knowledge (i.e. does it lay eggs?)and some, luck (scribbling off the right parts of the picture to guess what animal is covered up)but it is fun, engaging and very educational.
5 Stars 5-year-old girl loves Animal Genius
My daughter really enjoys this cartridge. It is clearly her favorite right now — in part because it is new, but also because it is different from most of the other Leapster cartridges — more oriented to learning facts, as opposed to learning reading and math.
The only downside is that, once the child as ‘earned’ enough points to get credit for the animal in question, the child must answer 10 questions in a limited amount of time. My daughter gets nervous and does not want to play with the cartridge unless an adult can be there to help her with the 10 questions. The questions are yes/no questions and are spoken, so the problem is not with the reading. I think that it is just performance anxiety!
4 Stars Animal Genius — Solid game
I’ve bought many a game for my son. Of all of them “Get Puzzled” was by far the best, the longest lasting, the most fun, diverse and educational game. I would recommend it first before any other games.
That being said…I just bought Animal Genius for him for his 5th birthday. He really likes it. Not as much as Get Puzzled…but I think it’s officially his second favorite.
Your child will learn a lot about animals. It’s very good at teaching them the difference between reptiles, amphibians and such. When you start the game, a menu will appear with 5 or 6 “locations” (Jungle, arctic, desert, etc.). In each of those locations there are 5 animals you can “earn.” Once you earn all 5 animals in each location the game is finished.
Once you choose one of the locations, you will have 4 mini games to choose from in which to “earn” enough points to “win” the animal. One of the mini games is using the stylus (pen) to erase the black screen, revealing an animal underneath. Your child will then have to identify the animal via multiple choice options at the bottom of the screen. The second mini game is played in a “top down” view (as if you were in a tree watching the ground)…you will play a racoon trying to gather all the acorns on the screen, but there is a wolf walking around trying to catch you. It teaches strategy…I actually like this game a lot, but my son does get a little scared of the wolf, even though it’s not scary looking. Luckily though, you don’t “have” to play that mini game. You can play any of the four mini games to earn the points…even if you play the same one over and over again. Once you earn enough points with the mini games…you will go to a 30 second multiple choice questionnaire:
Eagle
“I have feathers…true or false?”
“I lay eggs…true or false?”
“I am a predator…true or false?”
I believe it asks 10 questions. My son never got bored of them…which I thought he might. Once you answer the True False Questionnaire, you win your animal. So now when you click on the main menu location (Say ..the forest)the eagle will now be in the background. At this point you’d play again and try to win the next forest animal.
So basically:
1) Choose your location (Desert, Arctic, Jungle, grasslands, underwater)
2) Mini-game menu (You can choose 1 of 4 mini-games)
3) Earn 20 points by playing any or all of the mini games
4) Play “True/False” multiple choice game
5) Win your animal
Overall….this is a good game. But I think once the child beats the game…there’s not much reason to play it again. Get Puzzled, you could go back to over and over. None the less…I would buy ANY book that would teach my kid as much as he’s learned about animals in this game.
I would highly recommend it for a child of about 4-5 years old. I think 6 year olds will blow through the game in a day.
Buy/More Info
Kid Toys Music Basic Science, Blank Screen, Blank Screens, Challenges, Fascinating Facts, Feature Finder, Games Maze, Genius, Grasslands, Habitats, Leapfrog Leapster, Leapster Multimedia Learning System, Little Learner, Multimedia Learning System, Predator, Predators, Rainforest, Science Skills, Scratches, Thinking Games
