Mini-Guide: Down the Mountain

LQ: 8.4

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Brain grade: 8.0
Fun score: 8.8

Down the Mountain
Game Type: ESRB Rating: Everyone Platform/Console: , , LWK Recommended Age: Any Thinking Skills Used: ,

Android  |  iTunes

Down the Mountain is an arcade game in which the player makes their way down an infinite mountain. The mountain, however, has a variety of blocks with different obstacles. Each block requires the player to execute a different move in order to avoid or escape the obstacle. For example, there are “sticky” blocks with bread and jam that will require the player to jump twice, quickly, before being able to move off of them. There are also blocks with lava, TNT, and spikes. It is up to the player to navigate the different blocks safely and go as far down the mountain as they can. There are different characters to collect and missions to achieve. The app contains ads and in-app purchases. Down the Mountain was rated E for Everyone by the ESRB. We recommend the game to kids 8 and up.


Down the Mountain helps kids practice and improve the following skills:

Down the MountainFocus

Getting started and then maintaining attention and effort to tasks.

Because of all the obstacles present in Down the Mountain, it is important that the player stay focused. Focus subskills include ignoring internal as well as external distractions, which are vital to being successful in this game. If the player's mind wanders, they could end up staying on a block too long and triggering a trap. Or they could jump to the wrong block and hit a spike (or be hit by a car). Whatever obstacle is in front of them, the only way to avoid it and continue down the mountain is to stay focused.

Planning

Developing a systematic approach for setting and achieving goals.

This game also provides the chance to practice short-term planning skills. It is important for the player to be looking ahead and evaluating the path that is easiest for them to navigate. They have to have a plan, in other words. However, there is only a limited amount of the mountain seen on the screen at one time, making it a short-term plan: they can only decide which way to go on the next several blocks. Beyond that, they have no idea what is coming. Without making a plan, the player will run into "corners" that have unavoidable obstacles on all sides. If this happens, their trip down the mountain will end and they will have to start back over at the beginning.

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