{Crew Review} Dig-It! Games: Mayan Mysteries

I first learned of Dig-It! Games about 2 1/2 years ago when the Schoolhouse Review Crew had the opportunity to review the Roman Town game.  Because we loved that game so much my girls were super excited to get try out the new game Mayan Mysteries.  This game is available in two formats: Online Subscription or iPad app. We reviewed the online subscription.

 

What is Mayan Mysteries: 

(Description provided by Turtlegirl age 15): Mayan Mysteries is an educational game that is also incredibly fun. The basic storyline is that someone is raiding the Mayan sites. The police chief calls his friend, “Q”, to come and help him solve the mystery. Q brings his niece, nephew, and their friend (you!) along. You are introduced to the story of Ichaak, a hidden Maya city. As you try to solve the mystery of the Raider and Ichaak, you are introduced to the geography, culture, and history of the Maya. (End Turtlegirl Description)

When you first log in to the game, you are greeted with a comic book style introduction to the problem, someone is looting archeological sites and stealing Mayan artifacts.  This is followed by a section with interactive activities teaching history, culture and geography. When you’ve completed all of the activities, you will get another comic strip style bit to read to move the story along.

afterloginMaya

What I especially liked:

  • The variety of activities.  These included: reading followed by multiple choice and true/false questions map work including labeling and shading, virtual archeology digs to uncover artifacts, helping people, decoding stuff and more
  • These are for older students, my teens found it challenging (as in they were learning something!) but fun
  • Because this is for older students, it means they could be independent and not need mom
  • Though only one person can play, my girls enjoyed working through it together as a team
  • This is only licensed for a single user but when you finish the game you can start another so more than one child could play the game.  My girls played as team and when they were finished, I started a new game to play myself.  When I am done, they can start another game and so on until our subscription ends.

lifthrhimscoreMaya

Thoughts from Turtlegirl (age 15):

I really enjoyed this game. Part of that would be because I’m a huge fan of ancient cultures and history in general. I loved how you could choose which person (who has either some information about the Maya or an activity for you to do) to talk to first. There’s also a part of the game where you go back in time and can speak with the Ancient Mayans. I really liked that because I love science fiction like that. However, I was disappointed because at the end of the game, we did not solve who the raider was or get to Ichaak. We have to wait until the next one comes out. Tailorbear and I felt rather cheated. Other than that, we had a whole lot of fun!

Mayastartinggamescreen

Thoughts from Tailorbear (age 14):

I loved it! I liked how you were doing a whole lot of the “work”. I was really disappointed when I finished the game and we hadn’t really done much. By that I mean we hadn’t gotten as far in the story as I thought we would have gotten. I had SO much fun with it though and I’m looking forward to playing the game again and trying to get more achievements and artifacts than we did before. 

I think this game makes an excellent supplemental study when studying the Mayans. 

The Details: 

  • The Product: Mayan Mysteries Online Subscription Game
  • The Vendor: Dig-It Games!
  • Formats available:  Online subscription or iPad app
  • Price: $21.99 for a one year subscription for a single user (Online version)
  • Age Recommendation:  “Specifically Designed for grades 5-9”  My just finished 10th grade daughter loved it as much as my just finished 8th grade daughter. I enjoyed it as well.
  • A Note: This program took a long time load, we do not have the best internet speed. It is worth the loading but I think would be even more enjoyable if my download speed was a little better.  This was NOT a problem or an issue that my daughters even mentioned but just something I noticed when I played.

If you scroll to the bottom of this page, you’ll find a link to try a DEMO version of Mayan Mysteries.

Visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog to read what others have to say about Mayan Mysteries.

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All information is correct and accurate as of the date of this review.

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