I Spy Treasure Hunt for Leapster

I Spy Treasure Hunt for Leapfrog’s handheld Leapster video game sends you on a quest to find missing pieces of a pirate’s treasure map. Solve I Spy riddles and other tasks to earn map pieces and complete the game.

Pros

• No reading required
• Mixture of “I Spy” hidden object tasks and other activities

Cons

• Some of the objects are very small and hard to find
• There is no way to get help or skip tasks if you’re stuck

I Spy

The I Spy book series challenges kids to find everyday objects hidden in fun and colorful pictures. Leapster’s I Spy Treasure hunt makes the search interactive and even more fun.

Additional games help mix things up. The first is a memory game where kids recreate a burger, pizza or ice cream cone based on customer orders. The second is a matching game where kids must find pairs of objects that have something in common, such as a key and a lock, or an “H” and a hat. The last is a cross between tangrams and Tetris. You must build a boat with certain shapes that drop from the sky. Each of these challenge games has three levels to match different ages and skill sets.

A Real Challenge

Much like the I Spy books and other video games, there are occasional clues that are challenging to find. Since this game is played on the small Leapster screen and the picture is only viewable by scrolling around, it’s possible to hit an object that stumps you. Unfortunately, you can’t complete the game without finding all of the clues in each area. You can’t replay an area once you’ve completed it without starting a new game entirely, so you could end up with one missing object and no way to finish your quest. It would be nice to have a “hint” option, or a way to restart an area with different clues.

The game uses the stylus predominantly, as well as the “A” and “B” buttons. The arrow keys can be used instead of the stylus for moving around on pictures that are larger than the screen. The use of the stylus is great for kids who are just developing their fine motor skills.

Each set of I Spy clues is read out loud and can be repeated by pressing the “A” button. This is perfect for pre- and early readers. When an object is found, the game says the name of the object out loud and visibly crosses it off the list.

The Bottom Line

I Spy Treasure Hunt is a fun game that will appeal to a variety of ages and interest levels. The timed games may prove especially challenging for those new to the stylus, but they are otherwise age-appropriate. This is a great choice for a mix of entertainment and education, especially since the educational value will be transparent for your kids!

I Spy Treasure Hunt will work on both Leapster and Leapster 2 gaming systems. It has an MSRP of $24.99.