Designed with a $5 million educational grant, Cosmos Chaos is designed to integrate educational elements into a fun gameplay experience, like asking player's educational questions as a way to provide in-game rewards.  The game’s publisher, Mentor Interactive, is looking to build a niche by delivering fun games that have strong educational values.

Cosmos Chaos an exploring game that is ultimately a vocabulary builder, with a touch of science added.  As players explore the world to find their missing dog (who has been taken by an alien resembling a fish), the entire story is presented through text which must be read, although there are a few sound effects present.  As players come across other characters and objects, they'll notice that certain words in the text descriptions are underlined.  By clicking on these words, players will not only earn points, but also be given an audible pronunciation and definition of the word.  The more words you learn, the more points you get, and to progress through the game you'll need to answer quizzes or simple questions that use these vocabulary words in context.

One example of the game’s science element is a quest that makes you use a spray bottle to dissolve a clue, and there’s actual science behind what you need to do.

In the game’s testing, Cosmos Chaos has been enjoyed by kids as young as five years old, although reading is a key element of the title, and for that reason we think older kids that are 7 or 8 might get the most enjoyment and educational benefit out of this one.

We really think Mentor Interactive is on to something here with games like Cosmos Chaos that are designed to be both fun and educational.  With an emphasis on building vocabulary, Cosmos Chaos has the ability to teach kids new words in the course of gameplay, which will make many Moms and Dads happy, too, because they know their kids are learning something while playing.  So while there isn't a strong multiplayer component for Cosmos Chaos, we still highly recommend this for families due to the educational component.

*FamilyFriendlyVideoGames.com Favorite* - This was one of our favorite family-friendly video games we saw at the E3 video game trade show in Los Angeles in June.