My Word Coach

As with the popular Big Brain Academy game, what makes this game fun is that you enter a school to train -- here it's called the Institute. You choose from one of four word entertaining coaches to guide you. After taking a simple test to determine your "Expression Potential," a number assigned out of a possible 100, the coach encourages you play games so that you can increase your initial Expression Potential.

My Word Coach does a good job of trying to moderate the intensity of learning words by periodically introducing two recreational games that aren't tracked. Plus, after 20-30 minutes of training, the game suggests you quit for that day. While some adults may resent the emphasis on speed that is part of the games, for kids, the speed angle may actually help to sustain their interest in these educational games. High schoolers who are preparing to take the verbal and writing portion of the SAT might want to add this video game to their backpack – it's more fun than simply memorizing word lists.