 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Pushmo
- Nintendo 3DS
- Price: $6.99
- Genre: Puzzle
Common Sense Media says
Engaging and affordable puzzler, with great replay.
Parents say
Kids say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that Pushmo is an inexpensive downloadable puzzle game available for the Nintendo 3DS through the Nintendo eShop. Players are presented with three-dimensional puzzles that involve pushing and pulling blocks in order to create stairs up to the top of a tower. The content is completely innocuous, and the puzzles force kids to use their heads to noodle out solutions. However, they aren’t easy. Kids without patience could lose interest or become frustrated. Pushmo comes with a simple stage editor that lets you design your own puzzles to be shared with others. Parents should remember that Nintendo suggests children under the age of 7 not play 3DS games with 3D functionality switched on, as stereoscopic effects may damage developing vision. Parents can turn off the 3D functionality by using the device's parental controls.
What's it about?
Each stage in PUSHMO, an innovative collection of blocky conundrums, is a tower composed of several sliding parts. Players control a pudgy, blushing sumo wrestler with a cute, cat/rabbit-like face, who pushes and pulls pieces forward and back to create steps up to each tower’s summit and rescue kids stranded there. The catch is that you have limited room to move about -- the field is just three spaces deep -- and you can’t pull pieces onto the blocks on which you stand (though you can sometimes tug blocks forward by gripping their sides). Pushmo comes with about 200 spatial stumpers gathered into themed groups. You can also design your own puzzles in a simple stage editor and then create a QR code that can be shared with other players.
Is it any good?
Pushmo is one of the best original downloadable games yet for Nintendo’s fledgling stereoscopic handheld. Its puzzles are satisfyingly easy to understand yet often quite challenging. No small amount of lateral thinking is required in order to solve all of the included conundrums, which only become trickier as new elements such as warp holes and switches come into play. Add in a dash of simple platformer-style jumping action as you move from one block to another and you have a truly and unexpectedly compelling little experience.
Gamers can expect to spend at least a few weeks working through all 200 brainteasers if they move at a casual pace; a great value for a game that costs just seven bucks.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about the ways we solve puzzles in the real world, from figuring out the best route to a distant location to stacking dishes in limited space in a cupboard. Do you think puzzle games like this improve your reasoning skills?
Families can also discuss the notion of authoring puzzles. How do you go about figuring out what might be a challenging but fair test of someone else’s abilities? Do you work backwards from a solution, or start from the perspective of the person who will solve it?
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AGE
nice game.................................
please play
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Kid, 11 years old
March 17, 2012
AGE
Fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A must have for anyone who has a 3DS. Great hard puzzler that never gets old. Keep it up Nintendo!
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| Platforms: | Nintendo 3DS |
| Available online? | Not available online |
| Genre: | Puzzle |
| Developer: | Nintendo |
| Release date: | December 16, 2011 |
| Price: | $6.99 |
| ESRB rating: | E for (No Descriptors) |
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