MSB Earth: How to Play the Games (151554)

SUMMARY

This article discusses how to play the games included with Magic School Bus Explores Inside the Earth.

GAME DESCRIPTIONS

Pan for Gold - Canyon

Maneuver Carlos and his gold sifting pan across the face of a waterfall, where various objects fall from dizzying heights. Gold nuggets are worth 10 points each, and several objects labeled "junk" (a sack lunch, a bottle, an orange tube, and a penguin) are worth 5 points. Watch out for large objects coming over the edge - the bowling ball and the brick will both break your sifting pan.

Drill for Oil - Dig For Coal - Fault

Help Phoebe and Ralphie be the first to locate 5 pockets of coal and 16 pockets of oil before Liz can do the same. At the cost of one turn, you can use one of three probes allotted to you at the beginning of the game. Click the probe and then select a section of ground you want to send your probe through. It shows you everything running vertically from where you click, but only for a moment.

Cave Painting - Cavern

A sort of Earth "Paintbrush," Cave Painting allow you to draw using six different colors and three different thumb sizes upon a rock wall by firelight. It also gives a scrollable list of cave art to paste onto your canvas. If your rocky canvas gets too full or you simply want to start over, click the fire in the lower-right corner to wipe your slate clean. To hear about cave art, click the open book next to the Help button. Your cave art prints in color on a color printer.

Stop the Lava - Volcano

Armed with a mouse pointer shaped like cross-hairs (your weapon is actually a water gun), your job is to click on the moving heads of lava as they cascade down the volcano side, stopping them from moving downwards as quickly as you can. Each time you miss a lava head with a click, it drains some water from your ready supply on the right side. If you run out, the faucet opens up and you have to wait for it to fill up again - your ability to click is gone while it fills. Through three screens, you must prevent the lava from sliding down the volcano and reaching the beach. Each level you complete extends the time in which you must do it, complicates the pattern of the lava, and speeds up the lava flow.

Crystal Creation - Geode

Using five different water types (these vary by the type of geode crystal they will eventually form), create a geode by clicking on the water types and selecting "cook." You can also hear more information on geodes and geode creation by selecting the book next to the Help button.

Jump the Fault - Fault

Phoebe needs to get across the fault, and it's up to you to get her there. By holding down the mouse button and letting go, you can help her jump onto moving fault platforms. The longer you hold down the mouse button, the further she jumps when you let go, so you need to time your jumps carefully. If you miss the platform, a gust of air blows her back to the platform she is jumping from, and you lose one of your counters (Phoebe silhouettes in the upper-left corner). For each two platforms you successfully land on, you get another counter.

The Pangaea Puzzle - Undersea

Given a view of Pangaea, your job is to put the puzzle back together again when it all comes apart. Once you complete the puzzle, it is replaced with a view of the world 150 million years later, and the map must once again be reconstructed. You will eventually come to a contemporary map of the world, and once you complete that one, it plays a complete animation of Pangaea transforming to a contemporary map. Click the book next to the Help button to hear facts about the current map. You can also select whether you want to play the easy or hard level.

The Batty Cave Race - Cavern

Here is your opportunity to race blindly through darkened caves and eat a bunch of bugs. The Batty Cave Race is a race in a cave between bats. You control one of the bats, dodging stalagmites and stalactites, eating bugs, and avoiding dripping water which slows you down. Occasionally, if you are way ahead of your winged rodent opponent, your opponent catches up to you, just to keep it sporting.

Volcano Formation - Volcano

Here you can make different kinds of volcanoes by changing the conditions under which they are made with the gas and heat controls. After you make your volcano, you can destroy it and make a new one with new settings. You can also get information about volcano formation by clicking the book button next to the Help button.

The Fossil Animator - Canyon

With the Fossil Animator, you can catch glimpses of prehistoric plant and animal life by completing the fossil puzzle that precedes each of them. There are three different puzzles. Each gives you a cool picture when completed, and there are two different levels of puzzle solving: easy and hard.