Bozzball is an educational program aimed at 3 to 8 year olds. It aids in teaching basic knowledge such as the alphabet, colours and shapes, and basic skills such as adding, counting and spelling.
To do this, it uses a cheerful little character called Bozzball. He talks to your child, asks them questions, and offers them praise whenever they do something right.
The first incarnation of Bozzball was actually written on an old Amstrad 8 bit games computer for a friend's four year old son. So successful was it that a number of years later it became a Bozz Software product for the PC.
Unlike the many edutainment packages out at the moment, Bozzball focuses primarily on education, with playing used only as a reward to children for scoring full marks. Also unlike many other educational programs, the play feature can be switched off if you feel it is interrupting the child's learning.
As listed above, there are six subjects for your child to study, and for each, there are three levels for them to attempt.
Level 1 is the easiest, gently introducing your child to the subject, often actually teaching them at the same time. For example, when teaching the alphabet, level 1 uses the traditional method of showing a letter in both upper and lower case and a picture of something that begins with that letter. The child must find and press the matching key on the computer's keyboard. If they hit the right key, they'll be given the next letter of the alphabet and a new picture. If they hit the wrong key, Bozzball will patiently wait until they get it right.
Level 2 is concerned mainly with testing your child on the subject, sometimes with a little help. By level 2 your child should have a fairly good grasp of their alphabet, so here they'll be shown a picture, but no corresponding letter. The picture acts as a safeguard in case they forget where they're up to.
Level 3 is the hardest. Your child will be tested on the subject without any help. On level 3 of the alphabet, your child will have to know their alphabet without any prompts. As they type it in, a sentence is formed using all the letters.
Should your child happen to score full marks on any level of any of the six Bozzball subjects, they will be given the option to play a little, controlling the character of Bozzball in various strange situations. This feature can be turned off where not required.
Originally released as shareware for the PC market in 1994. Requirements were 512k RAM, DOS 3.3 upwards and a VGA or better monitor to run on.
Estimated release date: Summer, 2027
Plans to re-release our back-catalogue are now underway for the mobile phone and tablet market, including Android and iOS devices.
If you would be interested in hearing when any of our software is due to be re-released or potentially being a beta tester, please let us know via our support page.
Dave Barton
Owner
Please note, all Bozz Software products past and present are protected by international copyright law. Any attempt to replicate them in whole or in part without the explicit permission of Bozz Software will be pursued through legal channels.
