Product Description

The maths and logic odyssey continues. Scale the heights in a cliffhanging alpine adventure and expand critical logic and mathematical thinking skills in Zoombinis Mountain Rescue.

Join a daring rescue party as it searches for Zoombinis inside a mysterious, menacing mountain. Build important foundational reasoning skills and journey into advanced concepts like binary computing and networks--all during a bold mission that has kids searching perilous, puzzle-packed passages.

This second adventure in the Zoombinis series is a journey into the maths of the information age--the mathematical thinking skills used in writing computer programs and organising spreadsheet data.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #875 in Software
• Brand: Avanquest Software
• Released on: 2004-03-12
• Platforms: Windows NT, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows XP

Amazon.co.uk Review
Zoombinis are little blue guys and gals that inhabit a kingdom reminiscent of JRR Tolkien's Middle Earth, and ingeniously teach maths principals using puzzles instead of numbers. In the Zoombinis Mountain Rescue CD-ROM a group Zoombinis gets trapped in a cave, and it's up to players to organise a search party that can withstand the logical travails of a journey through this perilous and quirky terrain. There are nine "obstacles" along the rescue route. Players cross a bridge of turtles by sorting Zoombini search-party members by nose colour, hairstyle or other characteristics. Deducing (again based on features) which Zoombini can snowboard down which path furthers the mission as well. The search party is held up briefly in a cafeteria where it must use logic to wait on Norfs who drop oblique hints about what they want, or don't want to order. Each game will stretch your child's ability to use forethought and analysis to assess a situation. Even the easiest of the three levels is designed to be challenging, so be prepared to help out along this creative and strenuous path.

The genius of this Windows-only program is that it turns sophisticated mathematical concepts into engrossing activities. We played a game called "Boolie Boggle" endlessly--Boolies either smile or frown, and in this game, the object is to change frowns into smiles by bumping Boolies with pinballs. Pretty easy until you start getting chains of Boolies and chains of pinballs. Soon your mind is throbbing as you try to figure out what a sequence of three pinballs will do to two frowning Boolies. "Binary addition" sounds pretty intimidating, but that's exactly what "Boolie Boggle" is teaching. "Algebraic thinking" and "information-age maths" are among the other things this program teaches--mercifully, it manages it with little creatures and 3-D mazes instead of formulas and numbers.

As this journey unfolds, members of the search party drop off due to mismatched noses, wrong path choices and other errors. Fortunately, there is a practice mode where kids can play the games without sacrificing their Zoombini friends. Puzzles change elements, so there's no way to "learn" a level then repeat it by rote. There is also a very thorough parents' guide, which is helpful for parents who have, err, forgotten about binary numbers. Zoombinis Mountain Rescue is a gentle, yet challenging program that will probably even work its subtle magic on maths-phobes. --Anne Erickson

Manufacturer's Description
Zoombinis to the Rescue!

Settled in their new homeland, Zoombinis are again enjoying peaceful, productive prosperity. Attacked by a severe storm, a small band of Zoombinis seeks refuge in a mountain cave. Instead of finding safety, the Zoombinis are trapped in a hazardous tunnel where mysterious creatures lurk! Each perilous puzzle you solve leads to another, more difficult challenge.

Thinking Skills

Customer Reviews

Zoombinis Mountain Rescue
I bought this software to use with children with special needs having already purchased the Zoombinis Maths Journey. I was very impressed with the simple to use interface and presentation of the programme. The tasks are set as an adventure and the children enjoy using the programme without realising that they are exercising their maths skills. I have found that it can even be used by a child with severe learning difficulties. It is a programme that can challenge the childs skills in a way that would be hard to achieve with "pen and paper".