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Chess
Mates The most fun and innovative way to learn the complex strategies of chess! Wigby the Wizard guides and teaches young minds to play step by step. Wild sound effects & crazy animations bring chess pieces to life and over 100 fun and entertaining puzzles lead beginners through the basic strategies. "Greetings and incantations. Prepare yourself for an intriguing journey into one of the world's oldest games. Welcome to Chess Mates." Chess was part of the curriculum when my daughter Erin was in third grade. Me? About the only thing I knew was you move your strange looking pieces in strange ways around the checker board and if you yell "checkmate", you win. But no longer. Thanks to Wigby the Wizard, Wanda the Magic Wand, and Rugby, the Flying Carpet, those strange moves now make sense. Strategy and critical thinking skills are very important for today's kids. And chess is a great way to learn them. In chess a piece can capture another from clear across the board, so you have to be conscious of the whole board, not just the few spaces around you. And you always have to be thinking one or two moves ahead. I can't count the number of times I set up what I thought was the perfect move, only to be immediately captured on the next move. The graphics and sound effects in Chess Mates are sure to delight the child in all of us. Each piece has its own personality. The knight neighs and whinnies, the very regal king bows down in defeat when checkmated, and the queen? Well, the queen, knowing she is the most powerful piece on the board, has an attitude! The cursor in Chess Mates turns into a hand as it moves the pieces around the board. And when you succeed in capturing one of your opponents pieces, its square opens and it falls through as if it were sitting on a trap door. Chess Mates is designed for ages 6 -101 and is extremely user friendly. Wigby's instructions are so simple to follow that Leah, my six year old, can play independently. And even moms will have no trouble learning the game.Wigby will patiently teach you every thing you need to know, including some just for fun facts. (Did you know that in ancient chess the piece now called the king was called the shah?) Wigby explains each piece and how it can move and capture. He shows you the moves, then give you an opportunity to practice them. When playing a game, the cursor/hand changes color to tell you whose move it is; white for you, red for your opponent. Any time you forget which way a piece can move, just click on it while holding down the shift key. Not sure about your next move? Click Wigby and he'll give you helpful hints and suggestions. If you need to stop, he'll remember where you were and pick it up there the next time. Completed all 20 lessons? Now comes the fun part. Its time to learn a little strategy. Click "Puzzle" and Wigby, Wanda, and Rugby will teach you forks, pins, and other sneaky moves that are sure to help you outsmart your opponent the next time you play. These brainteasers are really challenging. It wouldn't be very puzzling if Wigby helped you on this one, so you're on your own. If you click on him, he will only give you a little hint. And I do mean little. I've spent up to ten minutes trying to figure out one move. It was frustrating, but when I finally figured it out it felt great. The best part is I know these moves will come in handy when I get up enough nerve to challenge Erin, the chess wiz. There are about 65 puzzles in all and you could spend days reviewing them. But who has time for that. Let's play a game! First you've got some decisions to make. You need to decide where you want to play. You can play in a castle, a tree, on board a ship, or pick from several other fun places. You can even change location in the middle of the game. Next, you need to decide if you want to play against Wigby, or another person. Either is fun because if you play against Wigby he'll adjust his skill level to match yours. If you're a beginner, Wigby knows you'll make some dumb moves so he'll make some too, and you will have a good chance of beating him. Even Leah, who is still learning how to play a simple game of checkers, has beaten him. Remember the trick of holding down the shift key to see how a piece moves? Or asking Wigby for help? She quickly learned that even if you're playing against him, Wigby will help if you ask. But after you've played a while watch out! The better you are, the less help he gives, and Wigby can be a tough opponent. I couldn't even beat him when the only piece he had on the board was his king. They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks. But thanks to Wigby and his sidekicks this is no longer true. Just let this old dog do a few more puzzles, then watch out, here I come! Chess Mates is a winner at this house. Systems Requirements: PC:
486/33 computer or better Mac:
Any PowerMac or 68030 Macintosh or better |