I recently set my daughter Lil (almost four) up on a Dell Studio 17 multi-touch laptop to test out Wild Tangent’s Where’s Waldo The Fantastic Journey game. Lil has been playing online kids games for about 4 months, though this was her first time playing Where’s Waldo. The game was challenging though extremely entertaining for her and certainly a great game for developing problem solving skills. Additionally, the great thing about playing a game like this on a touch PC is that it’s completely interactive and intuitive. I should also note that this was Lil’s first time testing out a multi-touch PC, which she took to faster than the game. You can view a two-minute video below on Lil’s first interaction with Where’s Waldo, in which you can see her reaction to the game and the Dell Studio 17 touch notebook.

Lil’s review of Where’s Waldo:

• “It’s cool!”
• "I like finding the scrolls.”
• “Touching the screen (of the PC) is neat and one of the best parts.”
• “It’s funny, especially the guys jumping up and down and the one who makes funny faces.”

Mom’s perspective:

• This is a great puzzle game, where players need to find hidden characters and items in Waldo’s adventure.
• Very interactive, especially using multi-touch, and kept her thinking – I like the problem solving aspect.
• Parts of the game were very easy for Lil, whereas there were a few advanced areas in which I had to encourage her not to get frustrated and to keep with it.

The game takes players into 12 different worlds, with the ultimate objective of finding the 12 scrolls. We didn’t get far enough through the game to experience it in its entirety, but we went to the first four worlds. The Wizard Whitebeard is the host and narrator through the game and the dog Woof helps players to find clues. Lil is a little too young to understand how and when to use points earned to get clues from Woof, so I had to step in to help guide her on how to use this tool.

Overall, both of us liked Where’s Waldo The Fantastic Journey. Lil is probably on the younger end of the spectrum for this game as some of the characters were well-hidden and she hasn’t quite developed the ability to look at minute details in puzzles. And as mentioned, collecting points and deciding how and when to use clues earned was also difficult. With that said, she still enjoyed the game and I felt like it was a great use of time to help her build detail and problem solving skills. My recommendation is this game is most appropriate for ages 4+ but is a great experience for parents and toddlers to play together. I’m amazed at how quickly this age group is able to problem solve and adapt to new games and activities. Given this was Lil’s first time playing Where’s Waldo, I expect her to be even more excited to play in the future and to more easily work through the sections which she found most challenging. Great game and very entertaining!