The Nutcracker Music Game Review

I was given the opportunity to review a really cute computer game, The Nutcracker Music Game. This is a game to download, and it features the beautiful music from The Nutcracker.


This computer game gives children an outlet for exploring their own appreciation of music, while sharpening their listening and problem-solving skills and improving understanding of the basic concepts of music. The Nutcracker Music Game is a magical adventure that celebrates music by challenging kids through interactive participation and exciting game play.

The premise of the program is to save the Nutcracker by earning nine golden keys through a series of musical games and activities that teach students about differences between sounds, exercises their memory skills, and increases their music vocabulary.

One of the first games we tried involved a hallway, with many doors. When your mouse hovered over a door, it would play music from one of the songs in The Nutcracker. After given you a selection of instruments typically used in these songs, you were to choose which instruments were used in playing that particular song. 

The Nutcracker Music Game offers exceptional teaching tools, such as the ability to demonstrate, in the classroom, every instrument of the orchestra and its interaction with other musical instruments. But above all it teaches children to love and appreciate music.

The program features a multitude of innovative musical games, puzzles and riddles, as well as an animated Encyclopedia of Musical Instruments, an extensive Listening Room, Tchaikovsky's biography, the Nutcracker story, the History of the Nutcracker ballet, music trivia and more.

It has won a series of awards, including Parent's Choice Gold Award, the NAPPA Gold Award, and the Parenting Seal of Approval, just to name a few. Some of the professional reviews given are as follows:

"What is so impressive about this CD-ROM is how much fun kids had while really putting their musical ears to the test." - The National Parenting Center     

"A decidedly unique software game with enormous educational value…Kids will enjoy playing again and again." - Discovery School  

 "The best software I've seen to date or stimulating the musical imagination… Sophisticated in its design and content, Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker offers exciting adventures in musical listening and problem solving that are both irresistible and educational." - Dr. Larry Scripp, Ed.D, Chair of Music-in-Education and the Research Center for Learning through Music, New England Conservatory  

"It's a splendid blend of fun and learning, sensory stimulation and rational thinking, Old World atmosphere and new technology marvels." - Houston Chronicle 

There have been several YouTube videos made to share the experience:

Part 1

Part 2...and

To purchase this game, visit The Nutcracker Music Game...and discount has already been applied: immediate downloads are $10.00, and to get the CD-ROM, it will be $12.00 + $4.95 for shipping.