Joystick, paddle, trackball, thumbpad, keyboard, mouse, Wiimote, letter tiles? Leapfrog's WordLaunch offers a hands-on approach to reading and spelling with its "sound-it, build-it, learn-to-read-it system"?

The WordLaunch is a TV Plug-and-Play device with a few buttons, 4 tile slots, and 32 letter tiles. Children (Recommended for Age 4+) play a series of games by placing letter tiles into the slots to form 3 and 4-letter words. Like the magic of the LeapPad, the system can tell which tile you placed into each slot and will help you find the right letter if you have trouble.

Based on a carnival theme, the setting takes three different approaches to word building in two modes, "Games" and "Explore." Games are more directed, while Explore allows children to experiment with words and sounds. In the tea cups, you create 4-letter words by matching the letters to form the word on the screen. Then, it changes one or more letters to form another word, like vest to west to rust. All the while, the letters are smiling, making noises, and dancing. Bumper Cars are similar with three letters instead. The Magic Silent "E" Show is like the Tea Cups with words that have a silent e. By playing in Games mode (including bonus games), kids earn points and gold tokens that can be spent at the Build-a-Coaster by adding parts to a roller coaster and watching it run.

The hands-on quality of this game gives visual, auditory, and tactile feedback for an immersive experience, and the short "levels" cater to the short attention span of most preschoolers. There's always something new right around the corner with lots of positive reinforcement. The "explore" setting allows for creativity to find new words, and when the child discovers a new word, the system congratulates you. It doesn't have every 3 and 4-letter word in the dictionary, but it has a fairly large selection.

Sadly, the game system offers no AC Adapter, and while this makes it easy to set up, the option would've been nice to avoid battery consumption. That said, it's light on batteries, and even though it has a physical switch to turn it on and off, it will shut itself off after a period of inactivity.

Our biggest problem with this game is the multitude of pieces. With 32 letter tiles to keep track of, parents will need to meticulously guard them to see that none of them get lost, not always easy with a small child, and if one or more letters get lost, the entire device is useless. The storage tray only holds one of each letter of the alphabet, so that leaves 6 extra tiles. The box holds everything easily enough, but an improved storage solution would be helpful or even necessary. Get a duffle bag or something to hold the letters. I called Leapfrog support, and unlike the Fridge Phonics, replacement tiles are not available, so don't lose any. If your child tends to lose pieces from games, this system may not be for you, or should only be used with supervision.