Cheap Creatures Playground (Software) (Windows 95, Windows Me, Windows 98) Price

Throughout the game, your Norn must be kept well fed, warm, and happy. Food can be found along your journey, either on the ground or in the trees, or you can prepare it in the kitchen area--even grow it in the garden. Dressing your Norn will keep him or her nice and warm; clothes should be taken either from just outside the Nestery or acquired along your journey.

As your Norn makes its way through the playground, various tasks must be completed to enter different stages. Use the candy-floss machine to feed your Norn, or make jelly or toffee apples. Once your Norn is fed, you can move on to the action games--take the water hose and shoot down the targets in the pirate water game, enter the caves and dig for hidden treasure, or travel to space and transport your Norn to the winter playland. Here he or she can ride on a chairlift to the top of a hill, choose a run, and then race down while avoiding the obstacles along the way. There are plenty of different stages, tasks, and surprises, resulting in an endless number of potential adventures for your Norn.

Players at the younger end of the suggested age range may require parental assistance to begin with, to help them understand all the ways to play with the Norn. However, the scope for development and the endless game scenarios will keep most players enthralled. Parental control over the game can be set with the use of time and sound restrictions, and the game can be personalized with players' birthdays. (Ages 5 to 9) --Mandy Wood