I Spy Universe is a combination edutainment/puzzle title meant for kids, but one that can be enjoyed by all ages, at least for a short time. The graphics are bright and cheery and use actual photographs for gameplay backgrounds. When I first read that, I was dismayed, but it actually worked really well for the game and I enjoyed the look and feel of it.

They may use a background scenery like sand to hide a bunch of object like seashells, insects or jewelry. Maybe it's a constellation made from gems and different tidbits. Perhaps a toy room strewn with toys and objects of all different shapes, colors and prints. Sometimes, they'll even use shadowed objects against a soft background and you'll have to locate the objects simply based on shadow alone. It works quite well.

As for the sound effects, appropriate background music will play for the various areas you'll visit, and you'll get a chirpy sound effect each time you locate an item. Sometimes, they can get annoying, especially if you find items back to back, but I would think kids would enjoy them. A pleasant female voice reads the riddles and provides hints along your journey.

The story behind I Spy Universe is that the sun is fading and there's a generator on your ship that can re-fire the sun. But its pieces are missing and you must collect the pieces to restart the generator and save the Universe! You'll get these pieces by visiting the various areas in the 6 colored zones, but you'll end up revisiting each area several times. You'll begin with only 2 zones you can visit, but as you complete areas and then mini-games, you'll gather more fuel to allow you to visit even more zones/areas.

When you arrive at a zone, you'll see a picture in the top screen and you can select to visit the right or the left side, each being a different scene. Once you choose your scene, you'll hear the riddle read aloud and you'll see it written in the top screen, and you'll see a part of the full playing field in the bottom screen. Using your stylus, you'll move around the playing field and tap to locate the objects listed in the riddle. Find all of the objects that are cleverly hidden in the picture and you complete the area.

You are then given a mini-game to complete to earn more fuel. These mini-games are learning games like pattern matching or spacial puzzles. Once you have completed the mini-game, it then becomes available for you to play outside of the main Story Mode. When you play the mini-games, they successively become more difficult and more involved, so it's a great way to keep kids thinking and to extend the gameplay outside of the initial puzzles in Story Mode. Once you have collected 12 items for each of your generator's 3 parts that need repair, you must put the items into the generator to get it working. The items are dumped into a chute a few at a time and you must drag them to the appropriate slot based on shape and shadow. If you get them all in their correct spots, that part of the generator fires up and you've repaired it.

There are 6 mini-games altogether and they are as follows: Pattern Quest, where you complete the pattern made from a series of objects with the appropriate object; Space Sliders, which are just like those plastic slide puzzles from years past where you move the tiles to match the patterns shown in the top screen; Cosmic Pathways is where 6 blocks (2 in each color), will drop into a grid on the bottom screen and you must find a way to connect the matching colors, while not crossing the paths of a different color; Shadow Explorer has you selecting the object that matches the shadow pictured in the top screen; Picture Perfect tasks the player with creating a picture to match the one in the top screen using the provided shapes and rotating them to fit (it's harder than it sounds!); and finally, Marble Mazes has you manipulate and rotate areas to create a pathway for a marble to drop and roll through. Every puzzle here really has kids thinking out of the box and is a really great learning tool.

Well, I grew up on Highlights Magazine and my favorite puzzles were always the hidden object ones, so for me, I Spy Universe was pretty easy. However, even for kids, there is healthy challenge, but nothing overly taxing. With patience and the Hint system, kids should be able to work through the entire game with only a little help from Mom and Dad. If you or your child find yourself stuck on locating an object, you can select to receive a Hint, but be watching because the area that the object is in will be circled briefly on the playing field in the top screen and you'll have to zoom over to it quickly or you may miss it. After a short period of time, the Hint bar will refill once again and another Hint will be available to you. It is always best to try to find everything you can before asking for a Hint so that your Hint won't be used on something you may have easily found.

As for the mini-games, a few of these can be challenging and some are on timers, but this is a game meant for kids and the timers are generous. If you get really stuck, you can always back out of the puzzle and reset it. There was one point where I got a little aggravated with one of the puzzles in Picture Perfect, but when I came back to it with fresh eyes later on, the solution was more obvious. These puzzles will make your kids use their noggin though and that's a good thing.

The controls for I Spy Universe are pretty simple and they make sense. When you are looking at the playing field, you will use your stylus to scoot around the field and to move to different areas. When you find your object, you tap it to select it and a sound lets you know you've found the object, then the object is colored differently in the riddle above so you know what you have left to locate. If you want to view your playing field, press the (A) button, and pressing (X) will grant you a Hint. (B) will take you back to the previous area, and (Y) will read the riddle aloud to you once again. There were times that I wished I didn't have to wait while the sound and visual effect of finding an object completed since I may spot two items at the same time, but that is probably just my impatience.

When playing the mini-games, you'll basically only use the (A) button to advance the puzzle or you'll use the stylus to tap the appropriate places, selecting objects, etc. If you get frustrated, you can use (X) to reset the puzzle to a new one, and (B) to back out of the puzzle and go back to the mini-game Menu.

Overall, I Spy Universe is a fun teaching tool that will get kids to use their head, without being boring or patronizing. While I can't guarantee that this one will keep your older kids coming back again and again, there is replay value in the mini-games, some of which are actually really fun, and at around $20, you'll get your money's worth and your kids will be exercising their brains while playing. It's a win-win situation.