Zoombinis

I played this game as kid in the 90's and I loved it so much. I bought it for my daughter now as it hold so many happy memories for me. My daughter loves it just as much as I did and I've even set my save file on it to play it again myself. I am SO happy its available all these years later. Its a fantastic little game and now I know its available again, I will certainly be recommending it it to my other friends with kids.

MAKE ME A PIZZA

This is the best game ever, trust me. I loved it 20 years ago (this might be an exaggeration, I don't know how old I was when I first found this game) and I love it even more now.

A very mid remaster of a surprisingly well made game. For folks who didn't grow up with the game (how did you get here?): The game is a sequence of logic puzzles targeting elementary age children built around deductions based on different zoombini features (eyes, nose, feet, and hair). At the "Not So Easy" beginner level, the puzzles are simple and accomplishable by children of nearly any age, but they become surprisingly hard as the challenge ramps up to "Very, Very Hard." I actually recommend looking up the official "Zoombinis Detailed Guide" provided on TERC's website, for you or your child, since they provide details about the rules of the puzzles that make them more about solving challenging problems and less about guessing at the rules (seriously, see if you can figure out the rules to Allergic Cliffs on Very Very Hard on your own--it's not impossible, but it's complex enough that to the untrained eye it can really look random!) One of the things that stuck out to me revisiting the game was just how much love was put into it, particularly compared with modern edutainment. Zoombinis does things that it really did not have to to move units: It keeps track of every Zoombini you complete the journey with, showing them in the destination of Zoombiniville, including their name (tracking up to 400 unique little characters!). The code accounts for the number of Zoombinis you bring to each puzzle, providing additional challenges to keep things interesting if you bring only a few. The logic puzzles are tightly designed and responsive to your Zoombini party composition. These are all subtle little things that make the game much more enjoyable and that I simply can not imagine being done for an edutainment game today, as they are largely mass produced, cheaply made, and built around lazily maximizing addictiveness and engagement and marketed as virtual babysitters for families and schools. Seeing the care that was put into this, including a frame tale about Zoombinis escaping scheming capitalists who exploit their labor (yes, really!) and high quality campy voice acting, really warmed my heart. Now the remaster... is functional. The visuals are fine and have genuine effort put into them, although they are not as lovable, to my eye, as the originals from 1996. The game runs without crashing, no bugs have been introduced, and the new UI is clean and works great. Most of all, the game which was meant for Windows 95 systems runs excellently on modern hardware (and isn't that the whole point!). But there are some baffling omissions, the most obvious being an ability to select a resolution. The game will run at your PC resolution, meaning (for most people) the graphics will be stretched, displaying 16:9 rather than the original 4:3. This stretching isn't so distracting given the cartoony graphics, but it's still odd. It similarly lacks an option to use the old graphics, which I imagine would have been popular for people who grew up with the game. Still, this is very nice game, fun to revisit as an adult, great for kids, quality and mentally stimulating in a way most modern educational games really aren't. Buy it for yourself, buy it for your kid, it holds up really well. $12 is very steep for a game from '96, but honestly I can't say there's anything better that's modern, this is a rare case where the older games really were just better, so it's a justifiable price tag.

I can't wait to join my own Zoombini polycule

One of the greatest children's learning games of all time back from the golden age of child learning.

I loved this game as a kid. Now my daughter loves it. Its basic problem solving, very cute, and you get to be a hero that leads the little blueberries to freedom.

A great remaster of an educational classic! Guide the zoombinis through a series of 12 different puzzles to their ultimate goal of building the grand city of Zoombiniville! Or play in practice mod to experience any of the puzzles in any of the four difficulty levels. A simple logic game at the easiest level... and a real brain-twister at the highest!