The Moon Modules

High Jump:

This game is trying to teach children about gravity, and how it changes according to the planet, or place in space.

The ideas is interesting: it is good to see that there is a variation depending on where you are, and that different planets are going to produce different effect.

The game would be better if:

We could see that each planet has a different size.

Maurice jumps from the planet that we select, instead of always going back to Venus, which is confusing.

Not having to use the ‘reset’ and ‘jump’ buttons. Better if we can click and drag Maurice.

Adding some sound could make it more interesting and engaging.

Lacks a clear win condition. There is no way within the game of tracking how many planets Maurice have jumped from. Adding a check mark could be a solution for this.

Moon Phases:

Little kids will hardly stop to read the text. Once they start moving the slide they will focus more in movement than in text. In general anything that moves is more engaging that motionless text.

Text is very small. There is no real difference between this interactive image and reading this from a book in which each moon phase has an image. Actually this might be better and easier to understand if we read in a traditional book, or a regular blog style website.

The ‘very distant’ text referring to the sun might be unnecessary. We might as well say ‘very big’ or  “huge,’ there is no point for that description.

Survival Hike:

The concept of the ‘survival kit’ is interesting, it can become a challenge in somehow it is connected to reality, i.e., we all have to pack things eventually to travel. The graphics are fine, not great but acceptable.

It would be good to get a better definition, or explanation, of Mare Humorum: that way you can make an educated guess of what to take with you. Mindlessly you can go through several items and by trial and error figure out what to take. In other words, you don’t have to think to be able to accomplish the activity. I would probably create a way of having only 3 opportunities; that way you think more before checking if you would make it. Make it more dramatic in both cases, packing the wrong things or packing the right things. The gratification could be even more climactic and exciting.