System requirements

OS: Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000 CPU: 166mhz AMD/Intel processor RAM: 64 MB HDD: 50 MB VIDEO: SVGA graphics card SOUND: 16 bit compatible sound card Ages: 2-6

Lifeline Studios\' motto is to produce media with positive values, Charlie Church Mouse Bible Adventures is no exception. In this game you and your little ones go through six biblical stories and parables. Your children will learn to use their reasoning skills and will also learn about God. With two different difficulty settings your kids will learn even more, and prevent the game from getting old too quickly. You can purchase this game for $19.95 from Lifeline Studios here.

There are six adventures to choose from, each having two levels of difficulty. For the creation level you have to put together a puzzle of one of the days God created the earth. In the beginner level you have to put the missing shapes into the puzzle to complete it. The more difficult level is a scene broken up into a jigsaw puzzle. This enhances your child\'s mouse skills and helps them with shapes and reasoning. The second adventure is about Noah\'s Ark. This level teaches your child about the different types of animals. In the beginners level you have to drag and drop the specified animal onto the Ark. For the advanced mode you have to match up the animals behind wooden doors. (Like the game Memory.) After they complete that, they have to do the drag and drop portion from the beginners level.

The third module is about Jonah and the whale. You have to help Jonah pass the time in the whale\'s belly by selecting the colors, shapes and numbers Charlie asks for. The advanced mode had all of that, but also includes the alphabet. You children will learn about shapes, colors, letters and numbers. There is more than just the typical shapes and colors in this game. Some of the shapes learned will be hexagons, crescents, diamonds etc. Another story included in the game is that of the Three Wise Men. This level is a maze and requires the use of the keyboard. There are a couple of question mark mysteries. Behind some are the gifts you have to bring to baby Jesus. Some of the other questions marks might be activities like eating, resting, getting water etc. In level two you will encounter bandits who steal your gifts and you have to start all over again. Be careful! The beginner level only requires one gift whereas the advanced requires three. This level teaches your child about navigation.

The parable of the lost coin is a fun quest. This teaches your child about reasoning. You must help the woman find her lost coin by clicking on the different objects in her house. You will find more than just her coin. Some items will be trash, but others will be needed to interact with different objects. The beginners level doesn\'t require prerequisite items. However, the second level requires you to find the key before opening the chest, get the pot holder before looking in the pot, and finding the sandals before going outside. Finally there is the fishes and loaves story. In this level you have to catch twelve of the falling fishes and loaves of the specified color. In the first level you are not penalized for catching the wrong color, but the second level takes a basket away for every wrong catch. Both levels offer a bonus basket for each loaf of bread caught. Try not to catch the garbage!

From a Christian standpoint, I love this game for teaching children about shapes, colors, numbers, letters, and most importantly Christian values and stories. I also like how at the end of each section, Charlie summarizes the lessons learned and challenges the kids to follow the examples given. The game was easy to install, you can choose to put the minimum files (25MB) or full install (246MB). After the intro movie, you are taken to your selection screen where you can choose your story to play. There is also a coloring section where you can print out pages for your children to color. This is the screen where you can also set the difficulty level (1 or 2). The interface is pretty easy to use, you just mouse over the area you want to go. Through out the game you will use mostly the mouse but one module requires the keyboard arrow keys. I am not sure how good 2-4yr olds are with the mouse, but this game might also help them learn how to control it better. The graphics are nice, I like the 3D modeling. Good enough for a kids game. The sound effects and voice acting were good as well. There was pleasant background music during game play. Overall this game is very well done. I would highly recommend this game to any Christian parent with a computer savvy toddler. You can get it at CovenantGames.com.

Final Ratings

Graphics B+ Game play A Sound A Interface A- Stability A+ Offensive Content A+

Overall A+