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TALK about Alice Through the Looking Glass! MacMan's Magic Mirror is an exploration of the world of mirror reflections, not only the relatively simple vertical mirror but also horizontal, a combination of both and diagonal.

The first problem presented is to match up pegs on the mirror screen moving MacMan around to place them. There is a time limit, but using a joystick speeds up the action. When the pegs have been matched the next task is to reproduce a simple jigsaw and then comes the really fiendish problem of repeating a mirror image of patterned blocks. The puzzle requires careful observation, not only to recognise the pattern but also to reverse the blocks to their mirror image. It can be very tricky indeed especially using the horizontal/vertical mirror.

MacMan's Magic Mirror provides plenty of practice in the all important skills of visual discrimination and observation of patterns in an entertaining and original way. The stated target age is four to eight but four year olds might find it rather difficult, and six to 10 is probably more appropriate.