Published by Educational Activities, Inc. Mystery Mazes was created by Stuart and Donna Paltrowitz. Together, they've written over 40 books such as the "I hate to Read" series and "Work World." The Paltrowitzes also write computer books and software, such as Computer Crossroads and Mystery Mazes.
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Content
Mystery Mazes is a "thinking game" that challenges students to make
connections between relevant facts, observe details and draw
conclusions. There are three games to choose from once the CD has
been installed. There is the Carnival Caper, Houseboat Hideaway,
and Castle Clues. I delved into Carnival Caper.
The first screen is black and white, with some color added. The graphics are very simple and not at all sophisticated. The presentation appears to have been created within Hypercard, with all the buttons and card stacks reminiscent of that design software.
A large map opens next and several sites are pointed out and labeled. From this screen, the user must decide how to go about solving a mystery. You must go first to the police report to figure out just what happened. This report is on-line and a master copy in the booklet that accompanies the CD. The police report gives you all the specifics of the case: what was taken, where, when, and sometimes how. The user must decide who did it. There's a rap sheet that lists five suspects (including yourself).
The mystery cannot be solved simply by reading the police report
and rap sheets. The user must travel to the scene of the crime and
answer several questions. If you answer the questions correctly,
you receive bonus dollars. If you miss repeatedly, you are ejected
from the game. [Top of Page]
Ease of Use & Audience
The mystery is not that difficult to solve, though sometimes
confusing. The recommended age level is 4th grade through middle
school possibly. The CD comes with a notebook that includes:
installation requirements, rationale, performance objectives,
program description, how the program works, management system and
support services. Six activity masters are included as well that
correspond to the three mysteries.
Mystery Mazes can run on Apples and Macintoshes. Hypercard is a
required software to run this program. Special features for the Mac
include: a glossary that defines words used within the mysteries,
an on-line police report and a clue sheet for the user to type
clues on. Mystery Mazes also comes on floppy disks.
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Recommendation
I would not recommend buying Mystery Mazes on CD. There's not
enough information or graphics to justify the money or the time
taken on a CD-ROM tower on workstation. I would recommend
purchasing the diskettes instead. The program is simple and easy to
run. The students would enjoy the challenge and it does promote
some good thinking skills. It has greater entertainment value than
educational value, however. [Top of Page]