Roman Town App ~ A Crew Review

Learning can be more fun with a game than a textbook. Dig-It! Games is back with another opportunity for your children to learn history while playing a game on their Roman Town (iOS) App. Arlene has been reviewing the Roman Town app for a few weeks, and despite a few bugs, it is a fun way to spend part of your afternoons.

From Arlene:

Like Mayan Mysteries, Roman Town is a good app for 3rd-5th grades, younger kids might not understand it and older kids might think it too simplistic. Once more you can be Charlie and Fiona and talk to the tourists and play games with them such as Memory Match plus several other puzzle games. Kids learn facts about ancient Rome from the Tourists while visiting different sites around the city. They also get clues to track the Mysterious artifact snatcher Ladrone from Mayan Mysteries. Putting together what you find to figure out what their next target is. 

Dig-It! Games was founded by professional archaeologist, and former Middle School teacher Suzi Wilczynski. For parents this should be an encouragement because each fact given as a clue, or in a conversation with a tourist, in the game has been researched for historical accuracy. 

To start off in Roman Town, you begin visiting with tourists on the street in Pompeii, then you can venture to the House of Vettii, the Baths, and the Temple of Jupiter. This app should provide you and your children with several hours work of fun learning.

I had Arlene explain the game to me before I tried it myself the first time. I’m not much of a play a game on the computer or iPad type person, so I figured I needed some pointers. You can choose to play as either Charlie or Fiona. To successfully complete the game, you will end up playing as each character because you need all of their clues to unlock the final level. (I’m not that far yet!) Similar to other app games, there is background music, but it is surprisingly pleasant and not wearing on your nerves. 

As your character talks to the tourists in Pompeii, there will be pop-up voice bubbles that share the information. Here is where I differ from Arlene in age recommendation, as some of the terminology used would be difficult for many third graders. I would consider this more of a 5th-8th grade game, although I am sure your younger children would have fun playing it with you, or an older sibling, to help out in those parts.

There are many mini games and challenges to play along the way. One of those is the game of Calcili, which may remind you of our modern-day game Connect-Four. I found myself working to beat the clock in the Roman Numerals challenge, as it has been a long, long time since I used those! The artifact ID game is one that gets progressively harder the more you get correct, so be ready for a challenge.

Why not spend some time exploring Pompeii in an interactive way? Visit Roman Town today!