Martha Madison: Forces Reviews

We live in a time where anything that says STEM on it is automatically spectacular and forward thinking. Unfortunately, much of the STEM games for kids are backwards instead of forwards. This game is clunky at best. Controls are ridiculous for a child, its not made for iPad, and not compatible with Mac. The graphics are subpar and the characters aren't voiced. Much of this would be fine if the controls weren't so uncomfortable. Even as an adult gamer used to using the wasd keys, having the 'jump' or 'confirm' button as 'v' is awkward. Any gamer would use shift, space, even the 'q' or 'e' keys, who's idea was 'v'? My child is in 8th grade and has been playing games like World of Warcraft for years, so she has a ton of experience in the layout of computer games and it was still frustrating to her. How would a child with little computer game experience be able to move quickly from wasd to 'v' or even 'b' which is the 'grab' or 'decline' button. We homeschool and are always looking for new ways to incorporate STEAMM into our lessons, so I thought this would be a great option. We were handed a flyer about the game at a local engineering fair event. I am glad I only chose one of the games instead of buying the whole set. I'm sure I can find something on the app store with less frustration.