Dig-It! Games- Roman Town

Product: Roman Town: The Premiere Archeology Interactive Computer Game for Kids
Vendor Contact Information:
Dig-It! Games
e-mail- info@dig-itgames.com
phone- 1-877-213-4448
Connect with them on Twitter and Facebook
Age Appeal: targets 5th to 8th graders, but is played by kids 8 to 88
Format: CD ROM
System Requirements
• Windows Vista/XP/2000
• CPU 800 Mhz; RAM 412MB; Hard Drive 350MB
Not available for Mac at this time
Price: Good news there is a SALE! Usually $39.95, you can use the coupon code TOS2011 to get Roman Town for $19.96! This coupon expires on February 21, 2011. What a deal!

Do you have a budding archeologist in your family? Then they may want to try Roman Town by Dig-It! Games. In this computer game, the archeologist will excavate the Roman town of Fossura, which was destroyed in 79 A.D. by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

In 3D rendered graphics you are able to explore each room of the building where Lucia and Marcus grew up. You will also L.E.A.R.N. (Locate Engrossing and Remarkable Knowledge) about the artifacts that were excavated with the in-game encyclopedia. As the archeologist, you will reconstruct mosaics, pots, classify artifacts, and fill out a report.

Our Experience:
We had a lot of fun with this game. B and C love history and games, so it was a wonderful mix. We took a while to finish each level, because there was a lot of reading for me to do. B and C enjoyed learning what amphorae, impluvium, the Fauces and many other items were that we excavated. We were in control of our diggers and what tools they used. There were different sized tools, from trowels to pickaxes. When we finished each level we would sort our artifacts then play three games, such as Matching, Does not belong, 2D or 3D reconstruction. After we played the games we would do the L.E.A.R.N. Quiz which consisted of true or false, word search, and term match. Some of the questions were tricky, but we were able to figure them out! After the Quiz we would play Calculi, which is a board game where you try to get five in a row. It is played on a board similar to a checker board without the colored squares. We would also go on a tour of the room we had finished excavating. The final thing we did was to complete our report, so we could move on to the next level/room. The video below is a wonderful example of the game.


What I Liked:

• That I had to read it to my kids, so I was able to learn along with them!

• The joy in the kids eyes when they solve the mini games.

• The amount of fun mixed in with great learning.

• The addition of Lucia and Marcus helped B and C learn what life was like for children in 79 A.D.

What I Disliked:

• It was hard to click on the tools, we needed to dig with. It took me multiple tries to get my tool selected.
  

• Since there was a lot to read and some words were hard for B to read it would be nice if it was voiced over.

What B (boy, recently seven, officially first grade) Liked and Disliked: I liked Dig It! It was fun! You can give your diggers trowels. I discovered that if you give your diggers trowels they can dig up small artifacts-and a pick ax digs up big artifacts. They were 6 levels. My favorite mini-game was Calculi. I think Roman Town is good for kids my age. There wasn't anything I disliked. I can't wait for the next volume!



What C (girl, recently five, working on Kindergarten) Liked and Disliked: It was fun. Daddy helped by reading the instructions to me. I learned how to separate artifacts and play Calculi. It was fun to keep the workers digging at the excavation site. It's good for kids my age. I liked all of it.

What Dad Liked and Disliked: This is a very creative activity for kids to learn about Roman Times through interactive archeology. The dig site was interesting but at times was slow. I liked how you could get information about artifacts as you dug them up. There were many activities for the kids to keep them interested and occupied. Having been to Italy I shared my Pompei pictures with the kids and that got them extra excited about Roman Town. All in all this is a wonderful program for kids.

Other Products Available: Roman Town Teachers Edition (CD ROM) and Roman Town Educator's Manual (Download)


I would recommend Dig-It! Games: Roman Town. For more reviews on Dig-It! Games: Roman Town go to The Homeschool Crew review page.

Disclaimer: I received this product for free for review purposes through The Homeschool Crew. All links were current when posted.