Wimzie's House: A Surprise for Horace

Copyright: KBkids.com 1999

Wimzie's House is an extremely popular PBS show for preschoolers. A Surprise for Horace is the first of several Wimzie's House CD-ROM's. Kids who like Wimzie will enjoy interacting with their favorite characters. The quality of the program is quite high. Because there is not a lot of 'meat' in the program, however, it is best purchased for those who are big Wimzie fans, or very young preschoolers.

Graphically, this program is a lot of fun. Real video clips are overlayed on actual photgraphs of the Wimzie's House set. The resulting effects are very realistic and make your children feel as though they are really visiting Wimzie's House.

The plot is pretty simple. Horace is feeling sad and neglected. His friends decide to have a surprise party for him to cheer him up. As the plans progress, they realize that they have lost all of Horace's gifts. Grandma Yaya tells your child what gifts must be found. Each of the charachters has given something meaningful to Horace.

From this point on it is a simple hide-and-seek game. Your child moves from room to room looking under couches, behind pictures, inside flower vases, and anywhere the cursor turns into a question mark. Each of the gifts must be found in order for Horace's party to happen. If the cursor turns into a smiley face, clicking produces one of the Wimzie's House characteres who talks with your child briefly.

Although there are three skill levels included, testers found little difference between the three. This is a program that most 2 and 3 year-olds will thoroughly enjoy. Kids who are getting ready for kindergarten may become bored, as there is little else to do but look for lost gifts. This program is best saved for the very youngest Wimzie fans and those becoming familiar with the computer.

Bottom Line: A fun program for big Wimzie fans, or very young preschoolers. Great graphics, but not enough 'meat' to the program.

Ratings: (based on KBkids.com's 4 star rating system)

Overall: 3

BrainGain: 2 1/2

FunFactor: 3

EasePlease: 4

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