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A Fun Change of Pace for the DS

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: January 14, 2008
Author: Amazon User

My daughter is the one in the family who has a DS. She liked this game because it was a change of pace from all her other ones. We did run into the letter recognition problem a little. I had more trouble with it than she did. It was almost like another puzzle figuring out how to make your letters just right for the game to recognize them

Unlocking some of the games did take a little longer than we would have liked. I heard a few sighs from the back seat of the car because of this. I also agree that having the game pronounce the words would have been really cool.

Overall this is a good game to add to your library. It's a great learning tool and a very good change of pace from normal video games. It had a few bugs, but not enough to ruin the game play.

For daily players

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: January 14, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I've only just received this game but i'm not all that excited by it. While it serves its purpose to increase your vocabulary, I don't particularly care for their "play once a day" set up. You have a daily goal of correct answers to reach while playing the various training games. Once you reach the daily goal, it doesn't count towards your "expression potential" anymore which is a bit of a downer to me. If you are looking for a fun word game that you can pick up and play any time, I wouldn't really recommend this game. If you are looking merely to learn some new words and only have a couple minutes a day to play I think it does its job. Doesn't inspire me to play.

I wish I could say more...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 6
Date: January 15, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Ok - this is just a preview review since I have actually not yet played it. It is my fault because I wrongly assumed it could be played on the computer as well - not just on a nintendo ds. I love scrabble and I am practically addicted to Scrabulous, the on-line scrabble game.
The concept seems great, and I am eager to play, but I must first find a nintendo ds... I will return with an update to this review...

An okay edutainment game, but not as fun as Brain Age

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 7
Date: January 16, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I tried playing this game as an adult and found that it was fairly pointless. I would recommend it for kids age 9-15. I think anyone older than that would get too easily bored with it. It's definitely more fun than studying a dictionary or textbook, but not fun enough to hold onto your attention for very long, especially not the way Brain Age does. There are six games you can play to increase your vocabulary:

1. Missing Letter - Screen displays an incomplete word and you must write in the missing letter. I found this incredibly easy, especially since anyone with a decent vocabulary will have at least a good guess as to what letter is missing. I could see this being a decent game for younger kids, but it still seemed pretty easy and dull.

2. Word Shuffle - You are given 4 words and 4 definitions and must match the correct one with each. This is a much better game since it seems more useful, and some of the definitions can be tricky since they are similar. My only complaint is that the interface on the DS is a little hard to get used to, and I think they could have done better on this one. Maybe drawing a line to the correct definition?

3. Pasta Letters - There is a bowl of soup filled with letters and a definition in the top screen. You use letters in the bowl of soup to spell out a word that matches that definition. This seemed pointless to me. It would have been more efficient to have you just write out the word, but I guess the "fun" part is to wade around in the soup and find the letters. I guess you have to have a balance of fun and education, and maybe this would appeal to kids, but it was just an extra step I didn't need.

4. Safecracker - Almost the same as Pasta Letters, except you have a safe and have to move the dial around to spell out the word that matches the definition.

5. Split Decision - Another variant of matching the word to the definition. You can also match a definition to the word, but doing it this way is almost too easy.

6. Block Letters - A chalkboard is presented with words on it and in the next screen, you must select the correct letters from a group to form those words. The good part of this game is that the letter pool you use to spell out the words doesn't immediately contain all of the letters you will need, so you have to know in advance how to spell the word, and where to put the order of the letters. Although this seems like a simple game, it is probably one

Finally, the game gives you a score when you're done to indicate how good your vocabulary is, just like Brain Age. Ultimately, I think this is a decent game for kids, but I'm not sure how many will really stick with it. It could be good for adults who have a weak vocabulary. Where I think the game will really excel though, are with the foreign language editions such as My Spanish Coach and My French Coach

A Video Game that's good for something ...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: January 16, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Can video games make you smarter? Well, at least with this game you know you're learning something, whereas Brain Age and similar games are mind-exercisers rather than educational games.

You are given a few different word games, in a daily allotment scheme (supposedly to help you retain what you've learned). For example, in Missing Letter, you draw in the missing letter of the word. In Shuffle, you match words to definitions; in Safecracker, you turn a dial to spell out the correct word. The games are of differing fun value, and of course there are little hitches - for example, you have to write the letters in the "correct" way. Sometimes there seems to be more emphasis on speed than is warranted. Does that really help the learning process? I don't know.

Also, your points stop adding up after a certain limit per day. That slows down your unlocking of the other games. The progress reports are a little long for my taste. And you don't learn how to pronounce the words. And you don't get the definition before being tested on them by playing the game.

But, in the end, you're learning new words in an "active" way - manipulating objects on screen with the stylus. For that, it gets four stars.

Fun, Educational Game is Great for Adults or Older Children!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 4
Date: January 17, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Introduction:

We all want a better vocabulary. We just don't want to work hard to do it. That's where this game comes in. It makes learning new words so fun and easy that you don't even notice you're learning until later on, when you are surprised and pleased at your expanded vocabulary.

Gameplay:

While the concept of My Word Coach doesn't sound especially fun, once you've tried it you'll be hooked. The games are fun and intuitive. The learning curve is very small. There are a wide variety to choose from, and the more you play, the more you unlock. The percentage system also does an excellent job at inspiring players to improve.

Interface:

The interface is great. It's easy to use, incorporates the full functionality of the DS, and blissfully transparent. It works fine for lefties as well, contrary to what previous reviewers have stated.

Who should buy this game:

The game offers enough of a challenge that adult gamers will like it. Kids around junior high age or higher should enjoy the game. Those buying the game for younger kids should carefully assess whether it will hold the attention of and be easy enough to master for the individual child. Just be careful, you may find more people wanting to play than just the one you bought it for :)

Fun for wordies

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: January 17, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I suppose you could use this game for education, to help you remember what words mean, but it's easy to ignore the part where it gives you definitions. Mostly I enjoy playing the various kinds of word scrambles, find-the-missing-letter games, etc. It's a good time-passer for the word-inclined.

Fun, but not necessarily the most practical vocab.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: January 17, 2008
Author: Amazon User

First I must say that both my 10 year-old daughter AND I have enjoyed this game. (However, her interest waned after a few uses because she prefers her Nintendogs and such.)

The game "remembers" different players, and adjusts the level accordingly. As you increase your use, you "earn" the right to play different games, all of which test and increase your vocabulary. Some of the games within MyWord coach are a little aggravating, but you can effectively skip those.

In addition, I wouldn't rely on this to learn SAT-type vocabulary. I have noted that many of the words are only marginally useful, while others are what I would call modern "tech-speak." For a puzzle/word geek like me, though, it is definitely entertaining and a little addicting.

No Results (Yet?)

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: January 17, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Word Coach is one of those "brain" titles for the Nintendo DS. The recent trend with interactive gaming systems seems to be overwhelmingly "how to improve your brain."

The purpose of Word Coach is to build one's vocabulary. They do this by playing simple games like fill-in-the-missing-letter and spelling a word quickly. The program charts your progress, and you are required to do a minimum amount each day and reach a certain goal before unlocking the next level.

The recommendation is to do small amounts of this on a daily basis, rather than sitting down and unlocking a whole group of levels all at one time.

The interface is simple and clean, though I did have a hard time getting the program to recognize whenever I was drawing a G or a Q.

After playing this for a while, unfortunately I haven't detected any improvement in my vocabulary usage.

It's a nice game, but it's not very fun and exciting, but it's a nice, "brainy" way to pass time.

GREAT for All Ages

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: January 18, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Here's one of the few learning games out on the market. It also has a built in dictionary (a good one at that) where you can look up words (and naturally spelling) if you don't have a dictionary around the house.

The game allows you to save tabs of scores for the players.

This is great if you have kids in middle school up to high school or even college. Give a challenge "hey let see how good your spelling is" and sit back and play. Much better than verbally reading out loud words to spell. We all know video games are the "in thing" these days, and what better a way to use it as a tool for learning and improving vocabulary and spelling?

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