Others say...

"Love our "Mr. Pencil!""
This is a great learning tool. My daughter loves "Mr. Pencil" and it keeps her attention for a good while. Unlike other educational games, the Leapster has been one that my daughter actually plays with. It is easy to use as well.

"great teaching tool that is fun"
my 6 year has had an aversion to learning how to draw or write. we have tried so many methods to get him interested; so for his birthday we bought a leapster with this write/draw cart and some math carts. he actually likes it and seems to be doing really well. it is self correcting so he knows right away if he is making the correct letters/numbers/shapes. they have some games to help with dexterity also. it is fun, he enjoys using it and his progress shows.

"Frustrating, but still a valuable tool"
I bought this game, despite the negative reviews, because I really wanted a way for my four year old to work on his fine motor without having to argue about "yes, you must TRY to color in the lines" and "son, you need to TRACE the lines, not free color". He is a very independent spirit :-)

The other reviews are true, it is a frustrating game.

The calibration is an issue (this can be remedied. A Mr. Jason Mortara left a comment on another review stating "To access the Calibration Screen, turn on the Leapster and wait for the Sign In Screen to appear. Then press the Home + Hint + B Buttons simultaneously. Use the Pen to touch the five points that appear." and it works). Even after recalibrating the stylus, if you hold the pencil at different angles than when you recalibrated the line appears in different places. For instance, if you hold the pencil straight up and down during the recalibration, but at a slant when you trace, the line is not in the right place.

When my son does the mazes I feel the game is overly sensitive. You are not allowed to pick up your pencil during the maze, you must make one continuous line. Who doesn't stop to get your bearings during a maze? So you have to determine your course before you put your pencil down, and then don't dare get turned around.

He was becoming extremely frustrated, but what amazed me was that he didn't want to take a break, and try another game. Despite the high anxiety, he still wanted to persist until he got it right.

What we ended up doing was taking turns. I would try a maze, and make sure I crashed somewhere close to the end. Then he would try it. This way he got an idea of which way to go, because it isn't fair to expect them to actually do the maze, AND concentrate on not lifting the pencil, their pencil grip, and not going out of the lines. I felt the fine motor was more important than the logic skills of maze solving, for this particular instance.

So, in the end, it IS a FRUSTRATING game, BUT nevertheless does its job. It still teaches the fine motor skills that my son needs to work on. And it is more entertaining (barely) than the usual PAPER tracing pages, mazes, connect the dots, etc.

A more traditional, paper, alternative to this product would be the Kumon Workbooks, excellent products.

Durability: I'm not sure about this game specifically, because we haven't had it long. However, "Number Raiders" accidentally got put throught the WASHER AND DRYER and still works fine!!! Amazing. Tough little cartridges!!!

"mostly fun"
I brought this game for my 6 year old for Christmas. She enjoys tracing the pictures and playing some of the games. She gets a little frustrated with the maze. You have to go through the maze without touching any of the lines and if you take the pen off you get the buzz sound. So she gets really upset with that. I like the game because it helps to teach kids to write neatly. She is just beginning the game but I think it will help her. She has not played all the parts of it yet. She also loves the part where you just change colors and can write and draw what you want.

"great leaning game"
I purchased a leap frog lmax and this is one of the games i purchased for the system. my daughter is four and this is her favorite game right now. She gets to draw earse paint and stamp. THey let her pick from coloring book pages and have learing games where she can trace the letters and even has drawing lessons. It is a great investment and keeps her busy.