Difficulty levels

Difficulty levels, also sometimes referred to as skill levels, are a feature that appears in almost every JumpStart game and are typically accessed via the toolbar. There are typically three difficulty levels, and they can be set for each activity in the game. Some games, such as the JumpStart Advanced series and JumpStart Kindergarten (1998), segregate academic skill level and game play/speed level. In addition to being freely selected by the player, difficulty levels will adjust automatically depending on how well the player is doing.

A rather unusual system for difficulty levels can be found in JumpStart Learning Games series titles such as JumpStart Spelling, JumpStart Numbers and JumpStart Music. The player can choose their grade level (from Preschool to 3rd Grade) at the beginning of the game, and within that grade level, there are many more gradations of difficulty levels than just three.

JumpStart Adventure Challenge had a unique case in that the player would be prompted to choose a skill level each time they started an activity.

In the JumpStart Spy Masters series, there are a total of six difficulty levels. The first two are designated as being for 3rd Grade, the third and fourth as being for 4th Grade, and the fifth and six as being for 5th Grade and above.

In the JumpStart Advanced series, an assessment test can be played before the game to set the difficulty levels to the player's skill.

Quotes

 * "This button is to make a game harder or easier to play." - Mr. Hopsalot in JumpStart Kindergarten (1998)