Pieces of Music Games

Type of Program: Educational Game
Supported Platforms: Windows 95/98/Me/XP
Company Name: G&R Cybermedia Group
Version: 1.3
Price: $15.00
Installed Size: 2 MB

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This is a collection of three children's games to help learn musical note symbols. The games are designed to be played in order, increasing in difficulty and there are beginner and advanced modes to keep the games challenging. The interface consists of a menu on the left and a game board with sixteen colored squares. The first is Music Matching, the object of which is to match pairs of note symbols within the allowed number of tries. Clicking on a blank square displays a note symbol image, it's name is displayed on the menu and a voice announces your choice. Mismatched pairs are cleared with the "New Selection" button. Successfully matching all of the pairs gets a round of applause.

The next game is Music Bingo which reinforces what was learned in the previous game. Note symbols are arranged in different colored rows and selections are "called" by color and name with voice and shown on the menu. Gameplay continues until you get four in a row or you run out of allowed selections.

Last but not least is the most challenging of all, Music Missing. In this game you start with three symbols. After memorizing them you then remove one randomly with the "Remove Symbol" button. The remaining symbols are scattered and you must try to guess which one was removed by choosing from a checkbox list of symbol names on the menu. If the correct choice is made you move on to the next round with four symbols and so on up to eight symbols. The game ends when you correctly choose the missing symbol from the group of eight or you run out of selections, whichever comes first.

The only difference between the beginner and advanced modes is the number of allowed selections. There are only thirteen symbols and not all of them were used in all the games. Obviously, this limits the usefulness of the games beyond a few plays. My son had mastered all three games in little over an hour and said it was the most boring game he ever played and begged me not to make him play it any longer. He also commented on the low quality of the symbol graphics which were quite jagged. In all fairness, it does teach a handful of symbols and the concept is a good one but it's an old program in serious need of an update. If this program was freeware I would recommend it but at $15 your money would be better spent on a good music book.

Please send your questions or comments on this review to Lain O'Siodhachain.

Performance
Sound:
Graphics:
User Friendly
Cost
Ease of Installation
Support
Reviewed by Lain O'Siodhachain

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