Xia-Xia hermit crab toys arrive on Nintendo DS

— -- Popular scuttling toy hermit crabs known as Xia-Xia pets can now be played with in a virtual world found on the Nintendo DS. These cute crabs, with interchangeable shells, star in a platforming-puzzle adventure game.

Created for young kids, the "Xia-Xia" game teaches the basics of platform puzzling. In the 25 levels spread out over five locations, kids practice skittering, jumping, snapping claws to open things and exploring environments both above and below the water's surface. This is a great game for kids who are just learning how to play video games, one to introduce before giving them a "Mario" game or other more difficult platformers.

While light on story, the game is set in the beach world of Xia-topia where the Xia-Xia crabs live and play with their pals, the Kooky friends. However, their 60 Kooky friends and special starfish known as the Golden Starfish have mysteriously gone missing.

Kids help the Xia-Xia pets reunite with their friends by playing through 25 levels of puzzles. Before starting a puzzle level, kids choose a goal, such as finding one of the missing Kooky friends or collecting all the sand dollars in the level. They can also choose from four Xia-Xia pets to act as their avatar in the level.

A level will be a maze-like environment that appears on the top screen of the DS. Kids will be able to move right and left with the multi-directional button, as well as jump (pushing the "B" button) onto ledges that are above and below them. Little arrow signs are found throughout, indicating how to find the Kooky friends.

In addition to pitter-pattering along pathways and jumping onto platforms, the Xia-Xia pets will need to overcome obstacles and collect items needed later in the level. Kids will learn to hit the "Y" button to make the claws snap. That action, when used repeatedly, can break through metal chains, open boxes and clamshells and activate crystal switches. Busting open the clamshells and boxes may reveal pearls, gears or sand dollars. The pearls and gears are needed to open doors within the level.

The crabs' ability to jump and float along increases when they are underwater . While there, the crab may run into bubble currents that help it move up to high, out-of-way places.

The developers of "Xia-Xia" clearly had their target market of young kids in mind when they made this game. There are no bad guys to scare young kids or hinder their progress. Plus there is no way to fail a level, because these explorations aren't timed. They cleverly put multiple goals within each level, so that kids will want to replay the levels to achieve all of the goals.

"Xix-Xia" has a Dress-up activity about changing the shells of these pink, red, orange and lavender crabs. By playing the game, kids find new collectible shells that they can swap out among the four Xia-Xia crabs. While this dressing up activity might appeal more to girls than to boys, young boys will enjoy the challenges of navigating this simple platforming game.