TOS Review/ Roman Town from Dig It! Games

Have all the fun of a real archaeological excavation without getting your hands dirty!

"Roman Town is a unique educational computer game created by teacher and archaeologist Suzi Wilczynski. It's the only game that lets you be a real archaeologist while you learn about archaeology and Roman history.  Immerse yourself in the ancient Roman world:  manage your team of diggers at a realistic excavation site, uncover and analyze ancient artifacts, talk to ancient Romans, and tour Roman buildings."



Roman Town, or Dig It, as my kids call it, was a huge hit at our house.

I asked both of my children what they thought about Roman Town, and this is what they said.

*(From my 6 year old. These are his exact words.)*

"Ah, that's a good one. I like their games, then I liked their puzzles, and I liked their digging, and finding. And then I liked finding bones, and all the stuff. Then I liked matching the old and new stuff."

I asked him if he would play the game again, even though he finished it, and he said YES. And he said he would want to play more of this type of game. 

I asked my 13 year old daughter as well, and this is what she had to say.

"I liked learning about the artifacts. I like history, so it was fun for me, because I got to learn about what types of things they used back then compared to the things we use today. I liked doing the 3D reconstruction, and obviously the digging part was fun too. I liked playing Calculi, which is basically connect 4 , but with 5 pieces, and you can place them anywhere on the board. I liked filling in the reports at the end too."

She said that she isn't sure that she would want to play the exact same game again, but she would definitely want to play future games. She said, "When you've done it once, you don't really want to do it again. "But she loved the game.

This game targets 5th -8th graders, but I really think that kids as young as five or six can enjoy this game. I know my son did.


Your child will try to figure out why Fossura was destroyed, and why they never rebuilt there.
Here is how it works. There are 6 different levels. Each level starts off with your child digging for artifacts.

When one of your men uncovers an artifact, your child gets to dig it out themselves on the screen by using the mouse.

After your child uncovers an artifact, they will learn all about that particular piece. This is really where the educational part of the game comes in.
My daughter thought it was very interesting to learn about all of the ancient artifacts.
To tell you the truth, we probably wouldn't have spent much time, if any, learning about Rome's ancient artifacts, so I really appreciate this game. It is such a fun way for my kids to learn about this type of thing. I do, however, wish that there was an option to have the program read aloud to the younger children. My 6 year old can do the whole program, but someone has to be there to read everything to him. If it were to read to him, that would eliminate the need for a parent, or an older sibling, having to sit with a child the entire time.  I do understand that it is aimed towards 5th-8th graders, but a younger child could easily use this program if they had this feature.

After uncovering all of the artifacts, the children get an opportunity to go to the Lab, and play fun games that reinforce what they have been learning. But before they go to the lab, they will learn how to separate their items into categories, such as: glass, metal, bones, frescoes, mosaics, pottery, and amphora.

Within the Lab, you will find games such as 2D, and 3D Reconstruction. In this game, your child will put back together one of the artifacts that they previously uncovered.

The Old and New game is fun. Here they will match modern day items with ancient items, that were used for the same purpose.

The doesn't belong game is one of my favorites. Your child will try to find all of the modern items that do not belong in an ancient room.

Another fun game is one that shows your child a room full of items, and then removes some of them, and then asks your child to place them back in the right spot. 

Now, these games that I just mentioned are mandatory for your child to move on the next level.
After the completion of these games, your child will fill out a report. This is kind of like a review. Now, they can move on to the next level.

My daughter would like to see an option for older students to have a more difficult report.  She feels that the fill in the blank report that they currently have is more for younger students.

There are, however, some additional games in the lab that your child can play:
Calculi, which is very similar to connect four, Term Match, Word searches, and true or False games.
They can also take a tour of the room that they just excavated, and learn all about the uncovered artifacts.

There are 6 levels to this game, but each time you go through the game, your child will uncover new, and different artifacts. You can have up to five saved players with this game.

You can purchase a CD of Roman Town for $39.95.

BUT WAIT! I have great news for you! Until Feb. 21st, you can purchase Roman Town for only $19.95. That is half price! Just use the code TOS2011, when you check out. Don't miss out on this opportunity.

(You can also purchase a Teachers Edition for a classroom as well as an Educators manual, if you were to teach a large group.)

I have also heard that levels 2 and 3 are in the works. I can't wait!

See what my fellow Crew Mates thought of Roman Town!

*I have received a download copy of Roman Town, free, as a member of the TOS Homeschool Review Crew, in return for my honest opinion. No other compensation has been given to me.*

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