Game: "ToySight Gold"

Platform: Macintosh OS X

Developer/publisher: Freeverse

Genre: Video-cam game

Number of players: One to two

ESRB: Not rated, but similar to E (for everyone)

The premise: Use your moving image via a Web cam to play a dozen different games.

Game play: If you own a firewire Web cam such as Apple's iSight, chances are you aren't using video chat as much as you thought you would.

Freeverse's "ToySight Gold" game suite is the answer, because you play by moving your own video image superimposed on the screen. In some games, you'll flap your arms to control a flying owl in a maze adventure game, or teeter them back and forth precisely to control a puzzle game of falling marbles. You can also assume the role of an island volcano god and manage your population of villagers by clapping your hands to create thunder and lightning. There are a dozen games, and as a nice touch, high scores for each are listed next to Web cam images of the player.

The good/bad: The best games are those especially suited to use with the Web cam, such as the flying owl adventure and an aerial dogfighting game.

Engaging in aerial combat is surprisingly easy: You fly by stretching out your arms and tilting yourself to steer, while saying "dagadagadaga" to your iSight's microphone to shoot at other planes.

Some of the games are mediocre renditions that fall into the realm of acceptably fun only because of the addition of the Web cam. Examples of these include a Tetris-like marble puzzle game and Pie Sight, where you engage in a food fight with monkey characters from Freeverse's popular Burning Monkey Solitaire series.

Some of the two-player games could have been better. There is a version of Pong that depicts tanks instead of paddles, but the hot-potato bomb that fills in for the ball frustratingly explodes after a certain number of bounces.

Tips: Because the motion detection works by noting any differences to a snapshot of your room, make sure to mount your Web cam so it won't wobble, and so that your background is free of moving objects such as curtains. Learn to use the video-based menu before you play. You'll find that you must completely remove your hand from a menu button before making another selection. Finally, be sure to download the latest patch from the Freeverse Web site (www.freeverse.com/tsg/).

My take: "ToySight Gold" ranks as one of the most innovative uses of a Web cam, and it will be a hit with the kids. Younger children will enjoy the simpler games, as they will most enjoy seeing their own image on the screen; older players will appreciate the more-involving dogfighting game, owl adventure or the extremely difficult Martian lander. If you have an iSight or other firewire Web cam on your Mac, "ToySight Gold" is worth a try.

Robert Uyeyama, a University of Hawai'i-Manoa graduate student, founded the Macintosh game site Macologist.org.

THE VERDICT: 3

THE RATINGS

5 — Outstanding: Add it to your collection now. A must-have.

4 — Great: Buy it or rent it — definitely play it.

3 — Good: Worth playing despite some flaws.

2 — Fair: Unless you're a fan of the license or series, don't bother.

1 — Poor: You'd have more fun playing Pong.