In the far future, computers and nanobots help heal humans with diseases and sicknesses, and doctors can even shrink themselves and go inside their patients’ bodies to help out.  When some viruses kidnap one of the computers, it’s up to you to dive into the human body and save them and rescue the patient!  BodyQuest is an educational action game where you’ll learn about the different parts of the body and the organ systems.  It’s available on Switch and mobile devices, but reviewed on Switch here.

The first thing you’ll do is pick your age.  I’d say at its most challenging, the game is geared toward older elementary school students.  But that doesn’t mean adults can’t learn a thing or two.  I sure did.  After that you’ll pick your kid doctor character, with choices of various genders and ethnicities.  Then you’ll choose a stage to tackle.  These stages are viewed in an isometric perspective and represent various organ systems in the body, like the skeletal, muscular, digestive, nerve systems, etc.  The game really reminded me of a math educational game I reviewed around this time last year called Math Land.  I bet they were made by the same folks even!

In each area you’ll surf around mazes in the body with a hoverboard.  Your job is to find a robot guardian.  When you talk to it, you’ll have to answer some questions about the human body.  These may take the form of multiple choice, true or false, matching labels, or flash cards.  The more questions you get right, the more ‘diplomas’ you’ll earn.  After talking to the robot, you’ll get a disk that you can take to a computer to solve a problem in the level, like clogged arteries or cramped muscles.  Once you do that, you’ll complete the level.  I don’t know what these robots and computers are doing all over the human body, though!  I don’t know if I like this future!

Aside from diplomas, in the levels you can collect little blue blob things.  Both items are used to unlock new hoverboards and accessories (like glasses) for your character. Sometimes you may have to press a button to zap a hostile germ, or use a tool to bypass an obstacle.  You’ll even have to avoid enemies like the Coronavirus!  Yikes!  Talk about topical!  If you get hit three times and lose all your hearts, you’ll start back at the last save spot with minimal loss of items, so the game’s not too frustrating.  The only problem I had with this game is that sometimes the instructions aren’t very clear on what you need to do, but it’s still pretty easy to figure out.  And the game is a little on the short side, but I still think it’s a pretty good educational game for kids.

Kid Factor:

BodyQuest is rated E for Everyone with an ESRB descriptor of Mild Fantasy Violence.  You zap cartoony germs with a laser until they disappear, but that’s about as violent as it gets.  There is blood in this game, rivers of it in fact.  But it’s just background graphics.  In the digestive system, you may have to avoid rolling balls of feces that look like meatballs, but that’s about as much crude humor as you’ll get.  And for those of you wondering, no you don’t explore the reproductive system, so you won’t have to worry about those ‘where do babies come from?’ questions with this game.  Reading skill is a must, and I’d say the game would be best enjoyed by older elementary school students in the 3^rd to 5^th grade range.  Any game that would spark a kid’s interest in the medical field is OK in my book.  Lord knows we’ll need more people in that expertise in the future!

Tags: Game Reviews