Petz Fantasy - Moonlight Magic Review

This post is part of a sponsored series from Ubisoft, celebrating "12 Days of Giveaways." See below for how you can enter up to 12 times to win fun and family-friendly video games.

I have a love hate relationship with the Nintendo DS. I love playing with it and hate it when the kids play. It's not that I'm loath to share my toy, it's more that neither child can read so I constantly have to stop what I'm doing to read what it says on the screen.

Since we opened Petz Fantasy, I'm changing my tune. 

First of all, this game is cute. Seriously adorable. The little magic pet makes cute little noises and has a sweet little face. 

Second, this game is manageable for my 5yo. She still needs me to  read some of the messages, but she can sit and play without needing my help every three seconds. Even better, she's actually having fun! She loves taking care of her little beast and is even tackling the more challenging magical realm games with glee. 

As a mom I'm quite impressed with the different skills she's mastering. Even though her hand/eye coordination is quite good, since she's learning to write, extra practice is never a bad thing. To feed her little pet she has to color in his food being sure to stay within the lines (Harder than it sounds!), to console him she has to burst his tears before they explode. And that's just the start. Each level offers up a new challenge and I, like my daughter, can't wait to see what's next!

To Purchase Petz Fantasy:
Visit Toys R Us where you can find it for $29.99.
Visit Amazon.com where you can also find it for $29.99

Want to win your own copy of this game? 
Easy enough!

Leave a comment below telling my why this game sounds perfect for your child.
Get an extra entry by tweeting or promoting this giveaway on Facebook. Please make sure to come back and leave a comment with a link to your tweet or FB post. 


Winner will be drawn at 10:00pm Friday, December 3rd and will be announced Saturday, December 4th. 

This giveaway is now closed! Thank you to everyone who entered and tweeted it out! 
Congratulations to Rhoneygtn, #35, winner of the Petz Fantasy Moonlight Magic game! 

Want more ways to win great games for the whole family? Visit each of these blogs during our 12 Days of Giveaways from now through December 3!

I was selected to participate in this sponsored series by Ubisoft and Clever Girls Collective. I received a video game and compensation for my participation in this program. We believe in Blog With Integrity.

Please visit these participating bloggers for more chances to win games, including Just Dance 2 (Wii), Battle of Giants: Dinosaur Strike (Wii), Petz Fantasy (DS) and Petz Nursery (DS)!
Rookie Moms
motherbumper
DaDa Rocks
Crash Test Mommy
Scraps of My Geek Life
Mommies With Style
The Fairly Odd Mother
All Things Fadra
Mom to the Screaming Masses
Beccarama
Romy Raves

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Scooby-Doo First Frights - The perfect game for this spooky season

Remember Scooby and the gang? If you're anything like me you watched them solve mysteries for hours on end as a kid. Well, today you can put all those hours of cartoon watching to work as you help them gather clues and catch the villains!

Scooby-Doo First Frights is a great game available on the Wii, DS, and Playstation 2. While I was at first a bit skeptical, the game looked a bit simple and young, both M and I were quickly drawn into the neat graphics and the fun the game had to offer.

Four different story lines are divided into multiple levels. Each character from the original cartoon is present and over the course of the game the player gets to be everyone - each character has his own skill set and all are essential to crack the cases. They tackle the levels two by two, working in tandem whether in one player or two player mode. In fact, one of my favorite parts of this game was that it was easy to pop in and out of two player mode without interrupting the game. Have a moment or want to help fight off some bad guys? Click into play. Need to run off to tend to something? Click back out and the first player resumes being in control of both characters.

It was an imaginative game, made up of most of the usual gaming elements - combat, points gathering, puzzle solving - but with a couple fun new twists. I loved being able to think through the collected clues to unmask the villain at the end of each story line.

Scooby-Doo First Frights Pros:
- Fun graphics and engaging story and game.
- Nice variety of play - a bit of problem solving, puzzling, fighting, and quest solving.
- Loved the ability to switch from character to character and being able to drop in and out of play.
- Incredible voices, just like the cartoon - it felt like the cartoon had become interactive.
- It might be a kid's game, but it kept these two adults entertained for a few hours on end!

Scooby-Doo First Frights Cons:
- We assumed that all the episodes would be the same length and we learned the hard way that they get longer and longer. This is great for the game, not so great when you're trying to finish up an episode before bed!
- We stumbled on one bug along the way, but luckily the auto save function worked so we didn't have to start from scratch when we reset the game.
- This isn't a novice game. There are some tricky parts along the way.

In conclusion, this is a fun game that is coming out just in time for Halloween. The spooky tone will entertain all your trick-or-treaters nicely after they gather all their treats! Even better, this might be the perfect gift to trade for all that loot! The fun will last way longer than the sugar high would have.

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with the companies that make, distribute, or sell this game. I was given a copy of the Wii game for testing and reviewing purposes.

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Didi & Ditto Preschool - Mother Nature's Visit - Computer Game Review

In a house where laptops and computers abound, it wasn't shocking that C would one day beg to play computer games. It started as a plea to play online Disney and Sesame Street games and it escalated to the games she saw advertised in the Christmas catalogs.

Luckily for me, just as I was about to lose the fight, the wonderful people at Kutoka Interactive emailed me and asked me if we'd be willing to test their new preschool game. I jumped at the chance.

Of course then we got bronchitis, and the flu, and every other ailment under the sun, so it was a while before we broke out the box and popped in the CD. Then I kicked myself that we hadn't done it sooner because it would have a been a great distraction while we were all so sick. But you know, hindsight 20/20 and all that.

Didi & Ditto Preschool - Mother Nature's Visit is a hit as far as computer games go. The graphics are awesome, the characters are endearing, and the learning is top notch. C is obsessed and M, the designated grown-up player, swears that the game isn't annoying for adults. In fact, this afternoon C was playing nicely by herself and he couldn't stay away.

Didi & Ditto Preschool Pros:
- The game has amazing graphics and animation as well as adorable cartoon characters.
- The games and puzzles start out easy and gradually get harder as the child learns and progresses. Each activity builds on the previous ones, creating learning in a way that mimics preschool classroom learning.
- Cute music and catchy victory tune. C loves reaching the victory tune stage, she sings along every time!
- Great learning! Provides a place to work on problem solving skills, letter recognition, and puzzle solving.
- Boys and girls can choose to play as either Didi, the girl, or Ditto, the boy, great for preschoolers who are all about gender differences!

Didi & Ditto Preschool Cons:
- M has found that after a while the memory games become a bit repetitive and predictable. C doesn't agree.
- Like many games, the CD has to be in the computer to play the game. There's no way to download the entire game to the computer.

In conclusion, Didi & Ditto Preschool is an amazing game and at $19.99 on the Kutoka site or $25.99 on Amazon it's a great deal!

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