If you remember I recently talked about a game called “Kodomo no Tame no Yomi Kikase: Ehon de Asobo 1”. However there are 5 other games in the series. Here is an overview of all of them.

All of the games are similar in structure, so what you see in game 1 (which I did have a review of), you’ll pretty much have in games 2-6. The stories change, and some of the extra activities change too. Here’s a full list:

Game 1: (See full review – Link)

• Story: Momotarou
• Story: Peter Pan
• Story: Country Mouse and City Mouse
• Activity: Drawing
• Activity: Music (composition and recording)
• Activity: Picture Character Puzzle (put character in its corresponding shadow)

Game 2:

• Story: Cinderella
• Story: A dog of Flanders
• Story: The Golden Axe and the Silver Axe
• Activity: Picture Puzzle (Picture is put into 9 equal squares, and are put in random order, it is up to you to move them into the right order)screenshot
• Activity: Music (composition and recording) – Xylophone
• Activity: Picture Character Puzzle

Game 3:

• Story: Three Little Pigs
• Story: The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats
• Story: The Ant and the Grasshopper
• Activity: Coloring book.screenshot
• Activity: Music (composition and recording) – Pig snort sounds
• Activity: Drawing

Games 4 to 6 Change writing type!

 

Here is a comparison of how the english(with japanese) version is presented. Games 1-3 use the style on the left. Games 1-4 use the style on the right.

 

 

 

Game 4:

• Story: Kaguyahime
• Story: The Snow Queen
• Story: The Bat
• Activity: Find the mistakes (two pictures, find the differences). screenshot
• Activity: Play music (composition and recording) but with a Japanese harp instead of a piano
• Activity: Coloring Book

Game 5:

• Story: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
• Story: Ikkyu
• Story: The Dragon’s Riddle
• Activity: Hiragana Writing Practice (with animated strokes if you get it wrong).screenshot
• Activity: Music composition and recording – Percussion instruments (like cowbells)
• Activity: Coloring Book

Game 6:

• Story: The Old Man Cherry Blossom
• Story: Bremen Town Musicians
• Story: The Frog Prince
• Activity: Musical Simon Says – the game plays a set of multiple sounds, and you have to repeat them exactly in the right order. screenshot
• Activity: Music Composition and Recording – Drums (current)
• Activity: Coloring Book

Conclusion:

I don’t really think any of these games are buy-worthy (especially not for 50$ like I’ve seen on ebay). They only have 3 stories. It IS nice that they’re hiragana (and some katakana) only, and that they provide an English version (even if it’s not a straight translation). However you could probably buy a children’s book at Kinokuniya (or other store with Japanese books) for cheaper. They do have a children’s section, so you can probably find kanji-less books.

I would say that out of all the 6 games, GAME 5 would be the most educationally valuable because – not only does it come with 3 stories – it also has the hiragana writing practice.

All the games are classified as beginner.