Miss Spider Scavenger Hunt - PC - Review

In Miss Spider’s Scavenger Hunt, children are directed to take part in a scavenger hunt game devised by Miss Spider for her children. Miss Spider presents the game while everyone is sitting at the kitchen table. Each of the four children has their own scavenger hunt, which can be completed in any order. These scavenger hunts are similar to the I Spy books in an interactive mode, except that the items are partially hidden behind things sometimes. There are also activities and games included with each scavenger hunt.

The scavenger hunts are vividly illustrated and feature colorful forest backgrounds, with equally colorful objects to find. These items are seeds, flowers and other woodsy things. Miss Spider’s kids look for the items in a side-scrolling view, where users will need to click the edge of the screen to get them to move forward into the next screen. The items on the list are plentiful and are just the right number of things to look for, without being too many or too few. These hunts are fun and kids will get a real sense of accomplishment when they find all of the items. However, we were vastly disappointed to discover that these hunts aren’t randomized, as they are the same items hidden in the same locations each time, with the only difference being for the different levels.

Children can play either in the story mode, where they have to complete all the scavenger hunts, or they can choose to play just the activities, of which there are eight (there is a ninth activity with Miss Spider, but it’s only available in story mode). There are three difficulty levels for both the scavenger hunts and the activities. The different difficulty levels for the scavenger hunt lists appear to be the same for the first two levels, but then ramps up considerably in difficulty for the third level.  The first two are the same and feature a picture list of the needed items with a short descriptive sentence underneath the items.  The third level dispenses with pictures and has just a written list.  However, the written list doesn’t just say “acorns”, it says “fruit of an oak tree”, or words to that effect.

The games are a mix of arcade and educational activities. They are all fun to play, especially a “Guess Who” type game that features ants; a spelling game which requires kids to not only recognize the letters, but plan on just when to grab them in order; and an arcade game that features Squirt the little spider web-surfing in the wind. These games feature much of the same type found in most games for young children, but they are presented exceptionally well and demonstrate a certain individuality. However, the difficulty levels for these activities are widely different as to the ability levels. The second and third levels are substantially harder than the first levels.

For instance, in a memory matching game involving numbers, the first level requires that three numbers be turned over to make a match.  The third level requires that the first two matching numbers be matched with their sums, with equations like 14 + 14 = 28.  This is a big leap from number recognition in the first level. In the spelling game, the first level doesn’t have letters, it features a picture that has a shape, color and picture which must be matched by choosing the three characteristics from a moving assembly line of three rows of possible matches. The second level has the first two letters of a word that must be spelled out from the three lines, and the third level has the first letter of a word to match. There is a big difference between matching shapes and colors, to spelling words like “truck”.

My first impression of Miss Spider Scavenger Hunt was of pleasure, due to the wonderful illustrations, the fun scavenger hunts, the well-designed activities and the gentle charm of the entire game. This is a neat little game that young children will definitely enjoy, whether they are familiar with Miss Spider or not.  However, while good, it is not a great game, mainly because of the inexcusable lack of randomization in the scavenger hunts. There is no reason why the items couldn’t have been randomized. After a few times playing, kids will know where everything is, which takes away from the fun. Another drawback is the extreme range of ability required for the activities on the different levels.  The hardest levels are geared toward older kids, who will probably find the Miss Scavenger hunts too easy and the story not very engaging.

Despite these flaws, though, parents and kids will still find much to like in this game.  Best for families with several children, to get the most out of the program.

Gameplay: 7.5
This is a cute and fun game, but the lack of randomization detracts from the replayability. The difficulty levels are two widely ranging, too.

Graphics: 9
The graphics are beautiful.

Sound: 7
The sound and music are average.

Difficulty: Medium
While the game as a whole isn’t difficult, the upper difficulty levels are very hard.

Concept: 7.5
While the games are pretty much the same types we’ve all seen before, the implementation and design is very good.

Overall: 7.5
This is a good preschool age game, but it could have been better. The scavenger hunts are fun the first several times through, but will soon be memorized. There should have been an easier mid-range difficulty level available, too, for the activities.