What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that this complex ecosystem game is
nothing like the animated cartoon series on Fox. This is an
excellent simulation game that both adults and kids will enjoy
exploring, and one that can be played together in Family Mode.
Parents also need to know that the game creates some
uncomfortable moments for young children. The shovel can be
used to whack piñatas and other characters who inhabit
this world. You can even cause a piñata to burst by
whacking it repeatedly; but if you do, there are consequences.
Also, like animals that aren't made of papier-mâché,
some piñatas eat other characters, and if you want certain
piñatas to stay in your garden, you may have to feed them
those characters. Kids may also find it emotionally difficult
to sell off piñatas they had raised, named, and nurtured.
But it's necessary to make physical room for new, more evolved
species; and selling them is a method of raising much-needed
operating cash. While piñatas don't die in a recognizable
way, they do burst open and are transported outside of the
garden, leaving their inner candies on the ground for other
piñatas to eat -- this is a little strange to watch. The
game does have an online aspect to it for trading and
exchanging piñatas over the Internet using Microsoft's
Xbox Live service. Parents of young children should supervise
or inactivate this online aspect of the game.
Parents can talk about how ecosystems work. They might want to encourage kids to try planting a variety of seeds to see what happens. Why do you think that some piñatas don't live together well? Is it because there is competition for food, even with other species? How is food supply important in an ecosystem? What do you think about the piñatas who leave sour candy around to make other piñatas sick? What did you do about them? How did you feel when you had to sell a piñata that you had raised? What did you gain by doing that? Was it worth it? Which piñatas were the most interesting to watch, and why?
Common Sense Media Review
In September 2006, the cartoon show
Viva Piñata
debuted on Fox's Saturday morning television lineup.
Interestingly, the new cartoon series was based on piñata
characters developed for a new Xbox 360 console game that
hadn't yet released. Two months later, Microsoft released the
console game, and while the characters look the same as those
found in the cartoon, the video game barely resembles the show.
The piñatas in the game don't talk, nor do they go on
adventures. Here's a closer look at the video game.
VIVA PIÑATA is a rich, compelling ecosystem simulation game in which you become a gardener of an evolving plot of land. What you do with your garden will determine which of more than 60 vibrant piñatas visit or even take up residence in your garden.
Viva Piñata is a "sandbox"-type game, meaning that it's an open-ended game of exploration, with no specific way to win. You play to see what will happen when you do things within your garden. What you plant and where you plant it will greatly impact which piñatas eventually live in your garden.
