Wimzie's House: A Surprise for Horace is based on the top ten PBS children's program Wimzie's House, the first and only public television show set in a home child care environment. Wimzie's House emphasizes pro-social themes surrounding issues such as friendship, generosity, loneliness, jealousy, diversity and sibling rivalry. Like the series, the CD-ROM features the puppet/characters that children have come to know, including Wimzie, Loulou, Bo, Horace, Jonas, Yaya, Graziella and Rousso.
Wimzie's House: A Surprise for Horace is a fully interactive CD-ROM episode that allows kids to participate in the fun, learning and play that has made the Wimzie's House TV show so popular with preschoolers nationwide. The game begins as Wimzie and her pals are having a surprise party for Horace. He's been feeling down lately, so the gang thought they'd cheer him up with decorations, a cake and gifts.
Uh-oh! Where are those gifts? That's where the surprise comes in! Help Wimzie search the house for the misplaced packages before Horace's party is ruined. Each time you play the game, the gifts are randomly placed throughout the house in different places, creating a new adventure. As you search the rooms, you can click on any area to discover if a gift may be hidden there. If a present is found, it goes in a "magical bag" and, if not, a fun animation will play.
The publisher notes that the game calls on a child's sense of search and exploration and promotes the development of memory, strategic and logical thinking and spatial orientation.
~ Tara Hernandez, All Game Guide
Roots & Influences
Wimzie's House: A Surprise for Horace is based on the top ten PBS children's program Wimzie's House, the first and only public television show set in a home child care environment. While influenced strongly by previously successful children's television programming such as Sesame Street, this series focuses primarily on social interaction and not instructional lessons or curriculum.
