The Two Dads

Rik Myslewski and Jim Shatz-Akin

JIM: I don't get it. They're equally big, bulbous, and baby-faced, and yet while one can be charming, the other's alarming.

RIK: Bill and Newt?

JIM: No. Big Bird and Barney.

RIK: You've been  a dad for just two months, and you're already contemplating Saturday-morning aesthetics.

JIM: Seriously, though, why do your daughters love Living Books' Ruff's Bone, while the same company's The Berenstain Bears Get in a Fight bores them?

RIK: Subtle distinctions: Sweet versus saccharine. Childlike versus childish. Smart versus smarmy.

JIM: Arc of Doom versus Carmen Sandiego.

RIK: You got it -- but to be fair, although Arc scores higher on the "hip" scale, Carmen matches it for educational content and boasts one of the strongest female characters in kids' software.

JIM: Some have voices so sticky-sweet that I can't imagine how you can stay in the same room while your kids are using your Mac.

RIK: Get used to it, bud. Very young children -- that's your Bailey in a few years -- find warm-'n'-fuzzy characters comforting. And they can sit through programs over and over and over . . . .

JIM: So I should just take a shot of insulin and wait until Bailey's ready for Quentin Tarantino?

RIK: No. There's hope: Kids like humor, and some software has gags that we grown-ups can enjoy too.

JIM: Elroy Goes Bugzerk is a good example: It's clear that the developers were amusing themselves as well as the little ones.

RIK: But even great shtick can get old real fast: the dreaded Saturday Night Live syndrome.

JIM: Randomness can help -- many Living Books have characters that do different things each time you click on them.

RIK: Even better are variable-plot games or exploratory stories like Cosmic Osmo and the Worlds Beyond the Mackerel.

JIM: Add a dash of wit, and plots can thicken without congealing into nauseating goo.

Arc of Doom

Rating: (3.5 out of 5 mice) Average/Very Good

Ages: 10 - adult.

Price: CD-ROM, $49.95 (list).

It's Carmen Sandiego with attitude. Kids learn about geography and ecology as they try to halt natural disasters in this sci-fi game.

Company: SunStar Publishing, New Haven, CT, 800-660-4480 or 203-785-8111.

Reader Service: Circle #421.

Cosmic Osmo and the Worlds Beyond the Mackerel

Rating: (4.5 out of 5 mice) Very Good/Outstanding

Ages: 5 - adult.

Price: CD-ROM, $49.95 (list).

Kids guide Osmo, a pudgy space alien, through puzzles and surprises in a wide-open exploratory story.

Company: Cyan, Spokane, WA; 800-718-8887 or 509-468-0807.

Reader Service: Circle #422.

Elroy Goes Bugzerk

Rating: (4 out of 5 mice) Very Good

Ages: 7 - adult.

Price: CD-ROM, $49.95 (list).

Kids learn insect facts while helping smart-alecky Elroy and his pleasantly sarcastic dog, Blue, win the Insectathon.

Company: Headbone Interactive, Seattle, WA, 800-267-4709 or 206-323-0073.

Reader Service: Circle #423.

Ruff's Bone

Rating: (4 out of 5 mice) Very Good

Ages: 3 - 8.

Price: CD-ROM, $40 (estimated street).

Lovable, luckless Ruff the dog looks high (outer space) and low (underground) for a misthrown bone that's always one step ahead of him.

Company: Living Books, Novato, CA, 800-521-6263 or 415-382-4400.

Reader Service: Circle #424.