Mayan Mysteries (Online Game) Review

We use a lot of online resources for our homeschool.  We’ve had the opportunity to review the Mayan Mysteries (Online Game) by Dig-It! Games over the past few weeks and have enjoyed it as a history resource.  We’re actually studying ancient civilizations this year in our homeschool, so the review for this came at a perfect time.

Mayan Mysteries is an online game that runs in your browser, so it is suitable for a PC or a Mac.  Internet access is required to play.

Mayan Mysteries is designed for students in grades 5-9 to learn about the ancient Mayan people through a puzzle-style game.  It is very interactive, and provides over 9 full hours of educational fun.  Throughout the game, there are 7 different Maya sites to discover and more than 25 puzzles to challenge your student.

There is also an iOs app you can download for your ipad to play the game, but we do not own one, so I don’t have any experience with that.

My daughter simply played on our computer, and I loved how easy it was to get started.  When she logged in, she was immediately able to see where she was in the game and pick up where she left off.

I liked that she was playing a single-player game.  My kids have played some games before that are multi-player and involve strangers, which makes me uncomfortable.  Thankfully, this one is just my daughter playing by herself with no interaction with people we don’t know.

My daughter is in 5th grade, so her work load this year is heavier than it has been in years past.  For this game, I offered it to her as a fun supplement when she wanted screen time but was only allowed to do things that were educational.

She definitely found this game entertaining and loved the story that reminded her of comic books.  She liked learning new facts and tidbits while playing the game, like that the men of the Mayan civilization hunted and that they referred to corn as maize.

Not only does this game touch on history and social studies, but it also sharpens your student’s reading and reading comprehension skills, and teaches them geography in a fun way.  There are also puzzles to solve that involve math and challenges them with critical thinking exercises.

My daughter thought it was fun being able to decode mysterious hieroglyphics while she was playing.  I loved that she considered it playing and not work!  It was a good way to mix the two.  Making learning fun can be difficult in the middle grades, so I’m very impressed with the way Dig-It! Games has done this.

While going through the game, my daughter was able to reference the in-game encyclopedia to go more in-depth to learn.  She was a bit grossed out by the facts related to the brutal sacrifices and war practices, but she knew about it prior to playing the game from our history studies earlier this year.

The information was presented in the game in a fresh way, so she actually came to me and told me what she had learned as if she had never heard it before.  Ha!  It’s funny when that happens, but at least it means the information was retained one way or another, right?

There is a free demo available to see if you and your student will enjoy Mayan Mysteries.  As you will easily be able to see,the graphics are rich and in full color.  When we’ve used it, I’ve been pleased with the smooth transitions from one activity to the next with no lag times or frozen screens like I’m used to with some other browser-based games.

My daughter found the site very easy to navigate and got the hang of where she needed to click and what she needed to do within just a few minutes.

I love that the Dig-It! Games company was founded by a professional archaeologist (Suzi Wilczynski) and that they have used the expert Robert J. Sharer (also an archaeologist and professor of anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania) to verify that the content is authentic and accurate.

If you’re looking for an interactive and interesting educational supplement for your upper elementary or middle school student, this is it!  Mayan Mysteries is a unique way for kids to learn and have fun at the same time.  The best part?  It is very inexpensive.  Purchase a single-user license for use on the computer for just $3.99.

See what others had to say about this game, and another game by Dig-It! Games called Roman Town by clicking on the banner below.