Mixed Up Fairy Tales

A very enjoyable adventure for young kids that is unfortunately neglected, Sierra's Mixed-Up Fairy Tales follows in the footsteps of its more famous predecessor, Mixed-Up Mother Goose. Instead of assembling nursery rhymes, your job this time is to help the kind dragon Bookwyrm find characters from five popular fairy tales and put them in the book they belong to.

Designed by Lori Cole of Quest for Glory fame, Mixed-Up Fairy Tales contains much of the same wit and charm QfG fans are familiar with. Designed for kids ages 4 to 6, gameplay is very simple and easy to grasp: there are only 2 actions you can perform: via the "Do" and "See" icons (similar to Sierra's earlier Black Cauldron). Many helper tools, such as an overhead map and automatic save when you quit a game, also help kids enjoy the game, although the option to "warp" to any previously visited location would have been nice, since there are many "filler" screens that exist just to make the gameworld bigger.

While gameplay is intuitive, it is not easy: you first have to find the main character in each story, correctly identify what story he/she is from, then lead him/her to other parts of the story (e.g. the dwarves' mine) to complete it. The stories can be completed in any order, although you cannot switch to a different story when you are in the middle of one.

Overall, Mixed-Up Fairy Tales is a fun game that kids will enjoy. They will love meeting and helping characters from their favorite bedtime tales (Snow White, Jack and The Beanstalk, Cinderella, Beauty and The Beast, and Bremen Town Musicians), and appreciate cool features that most adults will overlook (such as the ability to choose how their alter-ego looks, and use their own name). In true Lori Cole fashion, the ending is very rewarding and makes the effort worthwhile. Highly recommended for young readers!

Review By HOTUD