LEGO Creator Harry Potter
© 2001 LEGO Media International
When two powerhouse brands like LEGO and Harry Potter come together on one CD, it's hard not to reach for your wallet. Before you do, you'll be wise to read the following. First, the program won't run on many PCs. We tried a total of six mainstream computers running Windows 98 or better, all exceeding the system requirements recommended on the box. On only two would the program install properly. If you don't have an 8MB graphics card and 64 MB of RAM, forget it. Second, if your child is itching to build Hogwarts out of virtual LEGOs, as the title implies, they're in for a sad disappointment. Due to the complex viewing and navigation tools (only slightly improved from the last LEGO Creator), building something as simple as a house is, well, darn tedious. Ten-year-old Sarah (a LEGO/Harry Potter enthusiast) likened it to "building with LEGOs while wearing mittens." Even so, the game has enough depth and creative possibilities that Luke, age 7, still wants it for Christmas. After signing in, the first step to using this program is to master the helicopter-like navigation system that enables you to zoom around a generous, virtual 3D space. Along the edge of the screen are a variety of menus that let you do things like toggle between night and day, and add pre-made buildings, trees or Harry Potter characters. The best part is when you discover that some of the objects interact with others. If you lay some train tracks and place the Hogwarts Express on a track, it starts chugging toward the mountains. Click and drag a camera onto your train, and you see the world from the train's perspective -- an outstanding spatial thinking experience. You can even put a stick of dynamite on the track to cause a LEGO-scattering explosion. While we parents might question the moral value of blowing up trains nowadays, kids love it. To be sure, giving children virtual 3D space to build with blocks is no easy programming task. LEGO Creator Harry Potter was made by the UK-based Superscape (known for designing corporate 3D web sites) and uses Microsoft's DirectX 8, which is included on the CD. But the very genius of LEGOs in the first place is their ease of use, and this very important attribute is missing from the program. That's strike 1. And it may or may not run on your computer (strike 2). The game is not a complete strikeout, however. A persistent child who gets past the initial learning curve can experiment for hours with different virtual worlds. Just keep in mind that $30 buys plenty of real LEGOs.
$29.95, Win 98/2000/ME
Teaches: creativity, spatial relations, programming, moving around in virtual space