Mayan Mysteries iPad App Review

Thank you to Dig-It Games for sponsoring this post. The honest opinions are my own.

I remember growing up digging around the backyard hoping to dig up dinosaur bones long before I knew what an archaeologist was. Just thinking about it brings back some great memories, Dig-It! Games has come up with a game to help bring out the archaeologist in your child, Mayan Mysteries.

Mayan Mysteries creator and Dig-It! Games founder, Suzi Wliczynski, is a former archaeologist and middle school teacher who wanted to teach the basic fundamentals and importance of archaeology. Mayan Mysteries does that perfectly in a fun and entertaining environment.
Mayan Mysteries is designed for mini-archaeologists 11 and older, and this interactive game will have your child(ren) wanting more from the very beginning. The game features over 300 challenges and questions in about 12 hours worth of play.

Your mini-archaeologists will embark on a thrilling expedition as a member of “Team Q” whose goal is to catch a looting thief all while taking an exciting journey through history and learning about the ancient Maya civilization. You and your child(ren) will visit excavation sites, decode glyphs, identify and carve dates into the Maya calendar, use real archaeological tools to uncover authentic artifacts, and use the Maya number system to barter.

There are countless educational aspects involved in this game, and the best part of them all is that you are educated on your journey and it feels like you are solving a mystery. Mayan Mysteries does a great job of bridging the gap between fun and learning, while seamlessly integrating reading, geography, science and math, puzzle solving and many others educational traits into a mystery solving adventure.

As a parent, I could see children of the proper age really getting deeply involved in this adventure game. There is a lot of text and reading in the app, most of it is set up like a cartoon strip, with some terminology that may not be known by your little ones.

I am happy the app includes an option to do voice overs where the story, or portions of your adventure can be read to you.

There are some opportunities in Mayan Mysteries where it will be preferred to be involved, or prepared to answer some questions, keep in mind, ancient culture is not the same as current day, so along with many learning opportunities there may be some questions that arise based off of ancient culture. As you advance in the game, an index is made available to give continual access to terminology you have encountered, but you may still want to be accessible to your mini-archaeologists as they take their journey!

Mayan Mysteries is available on Mac, PC and tablet devices with an internet connection, and also it is now available on the iPad, even without an internet connection – this is the version we are reviewing. This game is also available in a classroom edition where this game could be used as a teaching aid for 5th thru 9th graders, all while providing teachers with a proper method to track both individual and class progress.

This is a great game and I love it’s educational value. That’s why I’m excited to offer the discount & giveaway below!