Full of Stars helps kids practice and improve the following skills:

Focus

Getting started and then maintaining attention and effort to tasks.

Compared to an 80+ hour video game, Full of Stars may not seem like a long-term source of entertainment. However, each level stretches on for long enough, with difficult enough challenges, that the focus required to navigate obstacles requires the player to practice sustaining attention on long-term tasks. If they do not maintain focus on the screen, they will miss out on materials that could help them stay alive longer, as well as crash into an obstacle and face a decision that could kill them or their refugees.

Self-Control

Managing our actions, feelings, and behaviors.

Full of Stars also provides the perfect opportunity to practice the cognitive skill of self-control, particularly with regards to managing anger and frustration. The obstacles come fast and furiously, the levels are relatively long for this style game, and some of the time the player will have to choose from a set of choices where none of them is a good choice. While all of this adds up to a fun challenge the player is highly motivated to beat, it is also the perfect conditions to get frustrated and angry if progress isn't being made. The more frustrated the player, however, the harder it will be to avoid obstacles or identify the best choice to make for the story. The more often the player crashes, and the quicker the player uses their resources by making poor choices, the quicker they will die and have to start the entire game over. If they do not stay in control of their emotions, this will happen very quickly indeed.