## Description
_Madeline and the Magnificent Puppet Show_ is an educational game for
children aged five and up. It is based on the 1999 _Madeline_ book by Ludwig
Bemelmans, which also spawned a media franchise and a US TV series. The game
was released to coincide with the premiere of the animated TV series _The New
Adventures of Madeline_. Madeline’s neighbor, who takes care of animals, is
about to lose her home, but staging a puppet show could bring in the money
needed so he can pay the rent to keep living there with his animals. Madeline
and various kids journey through Paris in the neighborhood of her boarding
school with different learning activities presented as mini-games and
collecting items such as curtains, a cape, a chain, bread, gumballs, a balloon
and puppets for the show along the way.
After entering a name the player chooses to play the game with French or
Spanish words. Madeline can freely explore the different environments and
clicking hotspots triggers short animations in the background. She meets
various characters she can talk to. Madeline learns new words in French or
Spanish by spelling them and then plays a matching game in the classroom to
practice them. With an artist in the street she can freely paint backdrops for
the show. At the print shop Madeline creates invitations for the show and
decorates them. A large part of the game plays out as a simple adventure game
with minor puzzles too. It ends with the show being performed.
Skills that are developed are creativity (painting, design and sticker
activities), problem solving (critical thinking, logic and memory), spelling,
typing, and vocabulary (300 new words in French, English and Spanish). The
game also lists cooperation, kindness & compassion as skills that are built.