The technology has gotten to a point where you can't go very far wrong whatever you choose. It is still recommend taking a hands-on look at anything before buying, either through someone you know who has access to it, or at a store like Learningsmith, who might have the games available for trying out. We learned that kids don't have the fear of pressing the wrong key that adults have. They are far more likely to plow ahead and see what happens, and kids software takes that into account. We also learned that with the best of the software, it can take kids quite a while to fully explore and learn every part of the program, which is good.
Kids tend to get hung up on one part of a game they like.
Finally, we were startled by how comfortable all of our kids were in front of the computer. Adults get intimidated, but for these kids, it was as if they had been raised with computers around. Some of the kids had not used a mouse before, but picked it up almost instinctively. Perhaps we have evolved to a point where basic computer ability has become part of our genetic code. After seeing what is possible and available just in kids software, the imagination is staggered when considering what is in store for us when our kids begin to design and publish software of their own.