In 2001, Music Games International was founded on an idea to take timeless masterpieces from famous composers and transform them into music games for kids. Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker, The Music Game launched in 2002, followed by Mozart’s Magic Flute and Alice in Vivaldi’s Four Seasons just a year later.
The games were multigenerational and immediately struck a chord with young audiences and families. Parents and grandparents enjoyed playing together with children.
Discovery Schools called them “highly entertaining games that kids will enjoy playing again and again.” Parenting Magazine praised the “ingenious audio puzzles” and “gorgeous watercolor-washed scenes and stellar sound quality.” In a review of Alice in Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, the New York Times wrote, “It is obvious from the imagination and care put into these altered arrangements and the other puzzles that Seasons was created by people with a deep understanding and appreciation of music. The game feels less like children’s edutainment than like the work of musical evangelists who consider music a powerful, life-changing force.” The games are fun, entertaining and according to DiscoverySchools “work children’s brains in fantastic ways.”
The trio of releases was a resounding critical success, winning 41 entertainment and education awards. Along with the 2003 Distinguished Achievement Award from the Association of Educational Publishers, the games were recognized by multiple prestigious Parents’ Choice Gold Awards, NAPPA Gold Awards and Dr. Toy – 10 Best Children’s Software Products. Accolades included a “Best Pick for the Holidays” by USA Today, Teacher Raves Awards from Scholastic’s Instructor Magazine, and an Editor’s Choice Award from Teaching K-8 to name a few.
Many reviewers noted how addictive and fun the musical jigsaw puzzles were, and how children and parents couldn’t stop playing them. “My Kid loves it. She can’t stop playing” Bruce Gellerman, WBUR. SuperKids.com called the music puzzles “a truly fascinating concept.” According to Computing With Kids, “the musical jigsaw puzzles are always fun.”
Educators recognized that playing the games reinforced important listening, problem solving, aural discrimination, focusing, audio and visual memory, critical thinking, and pattern recognition skills. According to Professor Briansky, Longy School of Music, Nutcracker game was “A perfect marriage of music and technology, boosting imagination and sharpening the ear in a novel and fun way” All three games were included in the Pearson Education Making Music with Technology textbook package for elementary schools.
Our mission since 2002 has been to put a Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker the Music Game on every computer in every school in every country. In 2003, MGI together with Music Educators National Conference distributed Nutcracker Game free of charge to more than 14,000 music teachers. We also have worked with many renown institutions to get a free Nutcracker Game to kids. Our games were handed out at the Young People’s Concert at Lincoln Center, and a Nutcracker performances at Boston and Pittsburg Ballet.