A few months ago, we had the chance to go forth and review Imagine: Rock Star for the Nintendo DS. The series continues with Imagine: Teacher, a game that allows individuals to have their first attempt at seeing what a teaching career may be like. Ubisoft has created this game in order to give the female 6-14 subset something substantive to do on their DSes, ensuring that there is a similar amount of customization that will confront them if they do ultimately take up teaching as a career path. That means that individuals can choose to pick what topic they teach (writing, history, music, art math), how they choose to interact with different students, and making school the most fun activity that their virtual classroom can conceivably have (through planning out events like kids’ birthday parties).
However, there are some problems that teachers have to deal with: for those students that continually disrupt class, will prospective teachers go and change the seating charts, or just figure out what additional distractions need to be made to get the minds and hearts of children on their side. Up to four individuals can play together, making that extra step towards reality – cliques of teachers exist and unite to go forth and give their students the best possible time. Imagine: Teacher is another step forward for Ubisoft, providing their target audience (as well as boys that wish to go into the teaching profession) with fun for weeks and even months. With each subsequent addition to the Imagine line (Ubisoft is at seven games), players have the ability to take on roles as a Fashion Designer, Rock Star, Babyz, Master Chef, Figure Skater, and Animal Doctor.
There are a number of roles for Ubisoft still to craft a game around, and solid sales of Imagine: Teacher will undoubtedly show that further iterations of the Imagine line will be created. At a price point that is approachable for practically any family (under $30), Imagine: Teacher will give children something to do that isn’t violent, isn’t full of adult themes, and may actually implant some ideas about what they want to do in their (still distant) futures. I cannot think of a better game for parents to buy their child, in terms of pure educational and fun value – get them this game now and chances are good that you may be a parent of a child in ten or fifteen years.
Rating: 8.4/10
Imagine: Teacher (DS) / 2008 Ubisoft / http://www.imagine.us.ubi.com / http://www.ubi.com /