Pet Pals: New Leash on Life
© 2008 Legacy Games
Available as a download from www.LegacyGames.com, this Mac or Windows vet-simulation lets children take on the role of a veterinarian by taking care of 30 reality-inspired cases dealing with 15 common pets. An additional part of the game allows players to prepare the animals to be adopted into families. You start as a young veterinarian, where you meet a sick rabbit, or a dog that has been hit by a car. While the content is authentic and there's a lot you can learn from this game, the controls are clunky and testers noted that the dialog seemed "canned." Additional content includes a trivia game, a glossary of terms, a listing of animal related careers and two puzzles (crossword and jigsaw). Update May 2009: This game is now available at retails as a hybrid for PC and Mac and there's also a Nintendo DS verison. The game ran well on Windows 7.
$20, Windows, Mac OSX
Teaches: science, problem solving
CTR Rating: 76%