PLAYBOOKS: FOR THE internet

Maze of Darkness

Guide the little blue ball to the yellow light while avoiding the treacherous red circles in this exciting race against the clock.

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Game play alone results in modest improvements in real-world executive skills. Please refer to our Playbook Tutorial, general coaching and comprehensive guides to transfer game skills to sustainable real-life behaviors.

QUICK FACTS

Game Type: Arcade
Platform/Console: Internet
Other Requirements: Adobe Flash Player
LWK Recommended Age: 5+

 

This Game is Good for Kids Who Need Help With:

• Completing tasks on time (time management)
  
• Thinking before launching into a situation (response inhibition)

What You Need to Know About the Game:

Reading ability is needed to understand the instructions, but the game is very intuitive so many players do not feel the need to read them.

How to find it:
http://www.addictinggames.com/mazeofdarkness.html

Controls, game basics, and instructions:
The game is controlled using the arrow keys to move in the corresponding directions.

Solutions:

Many free fan-made walkthroughs can be found on the Internet. We suggest you look here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMrs_kxb7Eg. Since this game is timed, we recommend that you look at the walkthrough after trying the game since you will lose valuable time if you try to watch the walkthrough while playing.

This Game Helps Your Kids With Time Management:

This game is good for kids who need help with completing tasks on time, because they must:

• Finish all the levels of “Maze of Darkness” in fifteen minutes. The faster their time, the better the score. Players must develop strategies on the fly or risk losing valuable seconds due to indecision. It helps to complete the easy levels as fast as possible, leaving more time to complete the harder levels. As you can see in the following screenshot, the clock is prominently displayed in the top left hand corner.

Talking Points:

• When were you able to finish the game within the time limit?
• How did using time management skills help you to be more efficient in completing the levels?
• How is completing “Maze of Darkness” within the time limit like finishing a test in school before time runs out?

Making it Real:

• Set reasonable time limits for tasks and then work to reduce these time limits. For example, set an expectation that children can unload the dishwasher or clear off the table within 15 minutes. Gradually decrease the amount of time and praise the children for efforts towards completing this task more efficiently. Ask your child to identify other areas in which he/she can become more efficient and then set progressive time limits on these tasks.

This Game Helps Your Kids With Response Inhibition:

This game is good for kids who need help with thinking before launching into a situation, because they must:

• Develop a basic strategy before beginning a level. Sitting in place, contemplating a strategy spends time, but more time would be wasted dying repeatedly at the same spot (sending the player back to the beginning of the level). A level may look overwhelming at the start, but if the player takes a few seconds to analyze the pattern of the moving red dots, the level becomes a lot more manageable. What you cannot see in this screenshot is that the red dot closest to the bottom is moving back and forth, while the other red dots regularly disappear and reappear. The player must plan his or her dash for the yellow dot in accordance with the patrolling dot and the vanishing ones.

Talking Points:

• Can you give an example of a strategy that you developed to beat a level?
• How did developing a strategy before doing the level help you to complete the level faster overall?
• How is developing a basic strategy before starting a level in “Maze of Darkness” like thinking about what you are going to say to somebody before you get their attention?

Making it Real:

• Teach counting strategies to delay actions. For example, encourage your child to count to 5 or 10 before acting on an impulse or answering questions. Get him/her to practice this routine and reward him/her for using this strategy at home and school. Verbally model response inhibition by talking out self-control strategies. For example, state, “I’d really like to eat now, but I want to go exercise, and eating will make it more difficult for me to exercise.” Model daily strategies by stating, “Let me think about that for a minute before I answer you.” Work with your child to develop his/her own set of verbal self-rewards that encourage momentary delays and/or reflection. Examples include saying one one thousand, two one thousand, or spelling a reminder word (e.g. WAIT or STOP) to him/herself.