Sorry it's been a while since I posted - life happens, as you know. Anyways I'm 26 and grew up with video games. Sharing a survival interest I found a neat game called "Lost in Blue 2". Apparently the second in the series, I decided to give it a whack. Enclosed is a mini-review for you, the equipped forum, so that maybe you can make sure your kids are learning something while they're playing all those games.

System: Nintendo DS handheld
Title: Lost in Blue 2
Approx cost: 30 dollars
Premise: The main premise is that you are on a ship, which goes down. You wash up on an island alone but discover another. You are part of a two person team and select either a male or female character. Your counterpart is the opposite sex. They serve several functions but this game is not about romance so they are more functional than anything.


The good: This game is pretty neat. You start out on a ship that goes down and start with almost no tools, working your way up to hand forged instruments such as bone-tipped spears, a bow and drill, bow and arrow, fishing rod, baskets, beds, smoker, even a fully loaded treehouse later on. The priorities are not the best but still pretty accurate. The most important thing is almost invariably keeping hydrated and keeping your stamina up. However you quickly find that you can get away with alot more with only water and no food/stamina. Priorities revolve around those items. Interesting aspects include the effects of morale on your partner's attitude and their performance. For instance, if they are in a bad mood because you are being a jerk they will cook poorly and not gather as much.

The bad: This game is tough to get a handle on at first. You kind of have to spend the first few days doing things exactly right. For instance; if you don't drink water right away you will likely die because it forces you to the cave almost immediately right off the bat.

The ugly: The game has several annoying glitches but overall is pretty good. However being a programmer myself I hate seeing unnecessary mistakes which detract from game experiences.

The friggin awesome: You use your hand drill, blow on your tinder, cut your meat, flip your food on the grill, make crafts, go diving, spear your own food, etc. The DS has a touch screen and microphone and makes good use of them. So literally you are BLOWING on your nintendo to start the fire, slicing on the screen to cut meat, etc. It's pretty innovative and also very involved. You even have spear fights with the occasional predator as well (such as alligators, wolves, and tigers). There are a billion tools and variables. Things can and do happen with great frequency to shake things up (like weather, tsunamis and earthquakes).

I also enjoy the little touches such as the randomization of mushroom effects. For instance, there is always one mushroom that gives you a caffeine style boost, another one that knocks you out for a few minutes, and a few that make you ill. Some have no ill effects at all. This is randomized every game so that players learn to not just eat a handful of mushrooms but instead eat a small one and gauge the effects. Granted, this is not ideal behavior for determining the safety of a mushroom, but it's a step in the right direction. I would have preferred them actually using real mushrooms along with identification tests.

How it ends:
Ending one: Death by lack of water/food/rest/etc.
Ending two: rescue by helicoptor
Ending three: rescue by boat.
Ending four: rescue by lifeboat (you need a map)
Ending five: death by lifeboat (if you don't have the map, you
get lost at sea and perish)
other endings: If I recall, there are others but I haven't discovered them yet.

Summary: It's not the best game, but it plays fairly well and is reasonably fun. The minigames of cooking and making furniture are fun and teach you to prioritize what you're doing. Keeping a good mental attitude is reinforced by providing support for your companion. This is not the end all be-all of survival knowledge but it sets some good reinforcement, it's fun, and it's probably alot more educational about survival than say "super bubble blast 82" or whatever is currently on the market.