Review of The Little Raven and Friends

This week I'd like to tell you about a brand new title from Tivola, called "The Little Raven & Friends -The Tricycle Story." This interactive CD-Rom, for children ages 3 and up is based on the children's books by Nele Moost and Annett Rudolph. It is formatted for both Mac and Windows, and can be played in English, French, or German. System requirements are listed at the end of this review.

My six and three year old sons have played this numerous times over the weekend. I finally had to send them out on a errand with their dad so I could get a look at it.

The story begins when the Little Raven, also known as Stripy because of the lone striped sock he wears, takes Eddie Bear's tricycle for a spin. It's a very short spin as Stripy crashes it into a tree. All he can find is the front wheel, so he's off to find the other seven parts.

At each turning point in the story, the child has to help Stripy make a decision. For example should Little Raven confess that he rode Eddie's trike, or should he fib and blame the accident on the tree in the road? Too many bad decisions and Stripy ends up in the Time Out Cave. Deciding to do the right thing will quickly get Stripy and your young player back into the game. The child will also notice how the other characters become sad or angry when Stripy decides to be naughty and uncooperative.

Stripy has to visit seven friends and successfully play seven games to collect all the tricycle parts. The child is able to choose who to visit first, but the choices are limited enough that he can't get lost and forget where he needs to go. There is also a fair amount of randomization in most games, which makes this game fun to play again and again. And there are two levels of difficulty in each game.

Mouse has the taillights, and your child will need to help him push the cheese through the maze into the pantry to get them. Younger players may need help, or they will get frustrated when the cheese gets stuck in a corner.

Sheep has the fox tail which waves high from the back of the trike. In order to get this treasure back, children must listen to directions carefully and hunt for a flag.

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