Baby Type is one of those games that can’t actually be called a game, but is more of an application or an edutainment title. As the name would suggest, it is a typing tutor geared toward younger computer users or even beginning typists (as opposed to some sort of application that makes predictions about a child’s future.) Baby Type was both developed and released by the programming firm known as DOKA. It was somewhat forgotten due to the more popular and commercially marketed typing tutor programs issued by Mavis Beacon.
While Mavis Beacon benefited from a lot more marketing and a bigger overall bankroll, Baby Type is certainly not without its positive points and should not be forgotten and set aside automatically in favor of the more popular titles. While Mavis Beacon was very lesson oriented in its beginnings, Baby Type is more of a fun little program that also requires speed and accuracy in typing. It was a much less serious approach that was built especially to appeal to younger typists, but still served a valuable purpose for older computer users who were new to the skill. The more modernized businesses became and continue to become, the more people saw the need to master the skill of keyboard data entry, and the more useful this
program…and those like it…became.
As mentioned above, Baby Type is more game and fun oriented than lesson oriented. It “plays” in the form of a side scrolling platform game. The user will control a standard little action hero, but instead of using his reflexes and quick thinking to jump and maneuver, slash and parry…the gamer will have to rely on fast and accurate typing to advance his character through the levels of play. There are many enemies, and the only way to avoid them or kill them is to mimic the letters and words that the program asks the user to input. As he or she becomes a more skilled typist, this becomes easier and easier, and practice is the only way to get better, much like the routines of standard platform games.
This is a good typing tutor and it can be useful to typists of all ages. Even experienced typists will eventually find themselves far enough in the game to be challenged, possibly fooled by its ease and juvenile goals in the beginning stages. It may take them longer to make enough mistakes to “kill” the hero of the game, but it will happen sooner or later, proving that no one is perfect, and everyone can use a little more practice at typing.
