[tempaway43563]

I remember watching my young nephew play Lego Island and the introductory video where the camera flies around the island is amazing. But then he was totally baffled by the 'main menu' when some excited lego guy babbles instructions at you in flowery hard-to-follow language, and you had to do abtract things like write in a book or drag icons onto the map before you got to do anything fun like racing cars. I think he could have clicked around that screen for hours and never realised he had to drag the people onto the map.

Great game but they wouldn't make it like that now. Its like a grown ups idea of an interface that a young child would like, rather than something actually tested.

[prophesi]

To be fair, after you enter your name in the book, the Infomaniac tells you that you have to drag a portrait on to the map to begin the game.

[tempaway43563]

Yes but that only works if the child is listening. Children dont listen to wiggly mad dudes waving around on the screen. They just randomly click around and giggle at things.

[butlike]

Part of the game is discovery and clicking and moving things around is a core gameplay mechanic. That being said, 1996 game UX was a little rough around the edges, as you said.

[tempaway43563]

Yeah, its just the contrast between the very exciting intro video and the completely baffling main menu was kindof crushing

[rmwaite]

I think kids are smarter than you give them credit for. You’re right that they randomly click around and will do so for hours. But they /will/ do so for hours. And when it finally clicks - that time was not entirely wasted. Kids in my observation essentially brute force everything. Their one resource is time and they will happily use it for as long as they feel.

[blabla1224]

I never played this game before and I got stuck with the main menu as well :)

[brettermeier]

I also struggled and quit after 10 seconds or something not getting onto the island ^^

[msgodel]

You have to click the red arrows a couple times then go through the rotating door.

I don't remember struggling with it much as a kid tbh.

I've thought about what I used to do with computers before and realized I used to have way more patience with them than I do now. I remember suffering a lot of the stupidity in qbasic and Turbo Pascal when I was 11. I don't think I would tolerate that today. Lego island seems similar.