Game Review: Tonka Town
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What Parents Should Know
While
Tonka Town isn't heavy on academic learning, it is a
real charmer--especially for children who love trucks.
Common Sense Media Review
If you have a preschooler who is mesmerized by trucks,
Tonka Town will be a big software hit. Kids
get to drive four big trucks on rescue missions and, while
they're doing so, they learn spatial map skills and hone their
mouse-using ability.
Tonka Town is a special place for youngsters to explore because all the trucks and inanimate objects talk to you--including the buildings, mailboxes, parking meters, and trees! The buildings send kids on missions to help the town, including cleaning up the garbage in the river, putting out fires, and collecting and delivering the mail.
The game starts with a simple tutorial that demonstrates how to "drive." Kids simply move their cursor, and the truck they are driving follows. They are given a map to use. Drivers will quickly discover that they can drive anywhere--even off road--and that the town is made for bumping. If you bump into a mailbox, it vibrates and may remind you that "You can't mail a truck!"
With over 15 missions and four different vehicles, young drivers will find lots to do. There is also a racetrack in Tonka Town, where kids can take on the motley V8 crew--a group of sneaky truck thugs.
While TONKA TOWN is not heavy on academic learning, it is a real charmer. The trucks are perfect playmates; the missions are exciting and challenging; and the Town inhabitants are so much fun to interact with. If you have a truck-loving tyke, don't miss this one!
Common Sense Media is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing information to help parents make media and entertainment choices for their families.
