How’d you like to stick the head of a shrimp onto a rhinoceros? Now you can, with this mix-and-match app from Mexico. By swiping the head, middle and tail, you can combine the creatures until you get what you want. Then, you can color your animal with a set of art tools. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This interactive comic introduces “environmentally aware” themes to children, through the adventures of three friends named Flash, Graham and Melody Tulip. The 26 screen story is about the friends search to learn the identity of the Phantom Clickerist — the person (or creature) who keeps turning out the lights. The creature, turns out to be a polar bear, who wants to prevent global warming. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
Perfect Pitch Piano (PPPiano) is designed to teach you to play piano by ear, by playing a copy-cat style game with your iPad. Your screen displays a large, responsive keyboard that is just over an octave in size (17 keys) and sounds exactly like a piano. The app starts easy, playing a one or two note phrase and then waits for you to answer. The lessons get progressively harder; wrong answers give you another chance, depending on the settings. You can adjust the activity so that you can make as many as six mistakes. You can also change the pitch and tempo. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
La Forêt by Gallimard Jeunesse features clear, hand drawn, labeled illustrations, professional French narration, and a well designed table of contents. Features include 3D illustrations that respond to screen tilting, the ability to “paint” seasons with your finger, hidden animals and insects and realistic ambient sounds. Note, that there is no English language option. You can use this title to expose your child to a real immersive French experience. Illustrations are by René Mettler. Developed by Studio v2 for Gallimard Jeunesse. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
This Pixar-themed collection of movement games contains five multi-level games; each game is based on a different set of movie characters. You start by entering a Pixar theme park; to move you pump your arms (as if running). You’ll soon discover different gates for the Incredibles, Ratatouille, Up, Cars 2 and Toy Story 3. Each story contains an obstacle course where you must jump, climb and run your way to the end. A co-op mode lets a second player jump in or out of an activity at any point. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
There are quality racing games abound, but not with the comedic antics of Nickelodeon’s Ben 10 gang. The latest PSVita version looks and sounds more real than ever, with 25 tracks and the ability to unlock additional cars. You can play as Ben, or one of the 15 aliens. Content includes 25 grand-prix tracks from five planets. Even if you don’t like the show, you’ll like the game. Teaches: racing, fine motor skills. D3Publisher of America, Inc.. www.d3publisher.us, $40. Best for ages 6-up.
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This 24 screen app is adapted from a printed book by Rana DiOrio, illustrated by Chris Hill. The app addresses the question, “what does it mean to be global?” and gives you the idea that the world would be a better place, if we all thought globally. Features include on-the-fly toggling between Spanish and English, narrated sentences and limited animation on each screen. Other features include a coloring book, a journal where you can type your own sentences and drag and drop stickers onto a blank page, a set of lesson plans and a quiz. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This is a power of 10 app, that lets you explore the really big and the extremely small. You start with a view of a back yard, with a dirty dog named Tick Bait. You can zoom in or out by powers of 10. If you zoom out, you see views of the earth’s atmosphere, then the Earth itself. From there it is out to the solar system’s sun and planets, the Milky Way galaxy and beyond to the universe. At any point, you can also start zooming in, back to the back yard, and then down into the ticks on the dog’s skin, and down into the microscopic world to explore bacteria, viruses, DNA, atoms and protons. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
A cross between a Pokémon game and Animal Crossing (with a bit of “Carnival Games” tossed in), PokéPark 2: Wonders Beyond lets you play as one of four different Pokémon, including Pikachu, Oshawott, Snivy, and Tepig, as you make your way through PokéPark and try to save the missing Pokémon. Once you get to the Park (an exotic theme park) you can try your hand at different game attractions that can be played with up to four players using the Wii Remote. These include a shooting gallery, dancing, and flying through space in a race around the stars. As you explore, you can make friends with other Pokémon by playing games such as Chase or Hide and Seek. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
Motion Math Hungry Fish lets children practice skills like “instant addition” in an undersea setting. We reviewed the free portion of the app — the first of six levels. The center of the show is a fish who eats number bubbles (e.g., addends). You help, by dragging the correct bubbles to the fish as quickly as possible. This might involve combining bubbles such as 3 and 4, to make 7. The better you do, the harder the problems and the more points you earn. These points turn into magic pearls that can be used to customize your fish, with different colors or fins (a nice touch). There are six sets of problems, but only the first can be played with the free version; the other five are available as in-app sales. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Based on themes in the last three Harry Potter books and the final four films, this single game, for nearly every platform, takes you through Harry Potter’s adventures in such places as Privet Drive in Little Whinging to Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade and Hogwarts, as well as new locations like Grimmauld Place. As you explore and collect LEGO parts, you prepare for the ultimate battle against Lord Voldemort. The game builds upon the gameplay, lessons and potion-making skills learned in LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 to equip you with the tools necessary to challenge new and old enemies (including He Who Must Not Be Named). Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
With a look and feel that is nearly identical to the Kinect edition of the game, Kinectimals for iPad lets you pet, bathe and teach your large baby cats. The more you play, the more parts of the island of Lemuria that you unlock. There are five total, each with different challenges. For example, you can flick a ball to see how many times your cub can catch it, or swipe up to make your cub jump, in time to a jump rope. You can also transfer your pet to the Kinect, by holding your iPad in range of the Kinect camera. Once it recognizes your cubs pattern, your cub “jumps” into the Kinect game. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
This dinosaur encyclopedia contains a library of 60 animated, roaring dinosaurs, as well as biographical facts on a set of famous dinosaur hunters. You can either explore the screens, one at a time, or listen to each page read aloud by British actor Steven Fry. Every dinosaur and object can be spun around in 3D motion, allowing you study the visual details such as skin texture and color. You can also view fight sequences from any angle. The dinosaurs feature “real” sounds and animation. Content includes 310 3D models, 60 realistic dinosaurs and 40 recreations of dinosaurs fighting. There’s a total of 200 pages of text, and five hours of narration. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
What to learn a little “chisenbop?” Here’s your app. This app teaches you how to turn your fingers into a calculator. You start be learning how to count to 99. Next, you learn addition and subtraction. The better you do, the harder it gets, by way of leveled challenges. Features include: the ability to save up to five players; 60 levels that increase in difficulty; 10 touch points on the iPad where you hold your finger down to have it counted. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This virtual racing game lets you battle against friends or evil spirits. Content includes 100 DaGeDar racing balls to unlock, collect and trade, as well as special limited edition characters. Each ball carries abilities of acceleration, top speed, defense and attack modes. There are 30 tracks and DeGeDar points at the end of each race for rewards and bonuses. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Back in the 1980s these six classic video games earned a lot of quarters. Today, all six come on a cartridge the size of a quarter. What’s more, they’re in 3D. The catch is that they’ll only run on the Nintendo 3DS. Titles include Pac-Man, Pac-Man Championship Edition, Galaga, and Galaga Legions, along with two new 3DS only games. In Pac-Man Tilt, you move Pac-Man through stages filled with obstacles, platforms and ghosts with tilt controls. You use flippers, platforms and power pellets to jump, flip, swing, and eat through to the finish line. In Galaga 3D Impact, the 3DS becomes a ship’s gun turret as you attack and defend the ship while ridding space of the incoming Galaga army. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This pocket-sized edition of Madden NFL for the Nintendo 3DS brings virtual football to the 3D screen. Content includes 32 NFL teams and stadiums, with three types of playcalling. GameFlow automatically selects the best play for the situation based on authentic NFL team gameplans; Arcade gives you more control over plays; and Classic lets you experience your favorite team’s playbook. There are both 11-on-11 games, or 5-on-5 games that have no penalties and no play clock — the winner is the first team to score a set number of touchdowns. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
Those frogs can now jump right out of your 3DS screen, in this new edition of the classic arcade game. Content includes six worlds to hop through, including New York, the Far East, and Space. There are 60 stages in all, each with multiple road crossing challenges that get harder. Along the way, you meet other frogs who might destroy obstacles, absorb damage or light the way in dark spaces as you progress through the game. Features include the ability to compete against other players in 4-player multiplayer over wireless, engage in street battles, and show off your skills in the new Forever Mode. Developed by Alpha-Unit Co. Ltd. for Konami. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This cartoon adventure contains excellent music and fast-paced sidescrolling, with plenty of fights in between. On the DS, all the dialog requires reading, which makes this a language enrichment activity, as well. Created by WayForward for Warner Bros. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
After you log in using the innovative interface (you see yourself rendered inside the menu, and touch what you want), you choose which of up to eight players will play in the three game modes. To play, you must shape your body to match the shapes you see on the screen. The games include Shape Frenzy (mimic the shape that appears on the screen to earn points based on how well you fill its silhouette); Twist & Fit (avoid the wall and fit your silhouette through cutouts coming at you on a moving wall, scoring points by passing through a wall without touching); Break It Down (work your way through a stack of colored blocks by assuming their form. When a shape is removed, the wall above will begin to crumble); and Spot On (Challenge up to three players or four teams of two) in a game of contortion H-O-R-S-E. Create a shape and see if your friends can match it. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
Skating/surfing and SpongeBob come together in game for the Kinect (we did not test the DS version). In the game, you must move down a hill (or a river ) and steer to avoid obstacles. In the story, the friends have strayed from Bikini Bottom and landed on a beach. The game features a two player mode that lets you surf or skate side-by-side. The DS version contains a wireless multiplayer function that we did not test (ratings apply to the Xbox version), and a single player mode lets you set off on a road trip with SpongeBob and friends. Content includes 12 courses (six waterways and six seaside streets). The DS version contains 24 boarding maps and 10 unlockable snowboarding stages. Developed by Blitz for Xbox ($50) and by Sabarasa for the Nintendo DS ($30). Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Helping a child understand long term temporal relationships — things like how a plant grows or how a glacier retreats — has always been a challenge for a parent, librarian or teacher. Now there’s an app for that, and it works. Featuring a very basic design, Painting With Time (called “Paint With Time” in the app store) exemplifies how you can leverage the power of a multi-touch screen to make an abstract concept — in this case time — have meaning. A gallery containing 14 pictures includes such things as A Messy Room (showing how a child’s playroom gets messy over just a few days), Growing a Beard (over 30 days), “Spring Comes to Boston” and “A Glacier Retreats.” Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
The Xbox 360 version of Instant Artist, the title that comes bundled with the $80 uDraw game tablet package, includes all the drawing basics — pencils, brushes, chalk and charcoals, and an infinite number of colors. You can easily fill or undo with one button, and a redraw feature lets you review your painting, as you drew it. A smart pallet system remembers your most frequently used colors and tools. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure combines a video game with collectible toys, with a set of 32 plastic figurines (three come with it) that interact with the game using a “Portal of Power”. The toys “come to life” within the game for you to control when placed upon the Portal of Power. You take on the role of a powerful Portal Master and can control 32 different characters, including the fire-breathing dragon Spyro. As you explore the 3D world, you fight creatures, collect gold and solve puzzles while trying to save your world from Kaol, the evil Portal Master. Each interaction figure remembers your shared experiences and leveled-up abilities, allowing you to customize and power-up your toys, and bring them to life on a friend’s Portal of Power for co-op play and player-versus-player arena battles. This feature makes this one of the most innovative toy/video game marriages to date. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
Two years after the the original Mindflex (CTR Feb 2009), comes Mindflex Duel — with two headsets for two players instead of one, and a higher price. The headset fits tightly onto your head so it can capture information related to your body’s electromagnetic energy, by way of two sensors — one you clip on your ear lobe, and the other that you fit on your forehead. The levels of energy are fed into a computer that controls a small blower that causes a small foam ball to go up or down, Bernoulli Blower style. When in two player mode the game is like a tug-of-war — the idea is to move the ball across the game’s obstacle platform to your opponent’s side. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This is a collection of 600 puzzles for one player. Games include Sudoku – the classic numbers game in 3D; Bridges – link all the islands on the screen with bridges, making sure to match the on-screen numbers to the amount of islands you are connecting together; Boxes – divide the board into rectangles where each piece has to be included with the digit that will be the size of the boxes; Museum – light up an entire hall without overlapping the lighting with the limited number of lights given to you; and an exclusive unlockable 3D puzzle created specifically for the Nintendo 3DS. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Combine the board game Monopoly with the zany spirit of Nintendo and you get Fortune Street, a fast-paced business game that contains 15 game boards based on popular Mushroom Kingdom and Dragon Quest locales. Using virtual dice, you move around one of 15 themed boards in random intervals, buying shops to build your portfolio and collecting symbols you can cash in at the bank to earn gold. You can play the stock market, purchase shops and collect shopping fees. Players with multiple shops adjacent to one another see them grow in value and their shops level up, and if another player lands on those squares they have to pay an increased fee. A beginner setting lets you learn the basics, and there is an advanced mode with more challenges, options, and the ability to play the stock market. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
Bobo Explores Light is an example of how an app can let children aged 7-up play with — and better understand – an abstract concept; in this case light. Organized as an ebook, the 21 page (or screen) app covers a range of light-related topics, starting with the sun, and ending with fireworks. Each screen contains three pull tabs that lead to videos, facts, and definitions. The app was created by Juraj Hlavac at Game Collage, LLC., with text and research by Craig Fusco and illustrations are by Dean MacAdam. Game Collage also produced The Three Little Pigs and the Secrets of a Popup Book. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
You heard it right, Pokémon fans — 3D, for the first time. The game contains 600 Pokémon, including the libraries from both Pokémon Black and Pokémon White.
There’s also Boss Pokémon, which is stronger, and two new battle modes. In Team Battle, you are joined by two of your own Toy Pokémon as you battle numerous mini bosses in a quest to defeat a Boss Pokémon. In Charge Battle, the strength of your team is challenged when two large battalions of Pokémon collide. The game also allows for two players to team up and play over a local wireless connection, or you can use the StreetPass features and challenge Toy Pokémon that other nearby players have collected, and view customized Mii characters within the game. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
This second version of Kinect Sports contains six sports: tennis, golf, American football, baseball, skiing and darts. Each game has three difficulty levels, with the starting level (rookie) designed to make sure that a child can succeed. Sharing is possible either online (an XBox Gold membership is required, sold extra) or with as many as four other players in your living room. Noteworthy features include in-game voice commands and much better motion tracking than last year. Also new is Challenge Play for Xbox Live, which lets you send a challenge to a friend for later when they log on. You can also log onto KinectShare.com and download photos and videos capture in-game and share with friends and family, and for the first time, post these directly to your Facebook wall. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
I Am T-Pain Mic ($40, Jakks Pacific) combines three rhythm tracks, an MP3 Player, auto-tune technology, a speaker, an audio-out jack and a USB port, with enough memory to store up to three minutes of your voice. Your goal, of course, is to sound like rapper T-Pain, one of the first to use auto-tune technology in his music. Powered by 3 AAA batteries, the Mic comes in four styles. You can sing in freestyle, or record and play back your songs. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Designed for older (upper elementary) readers, this 40 page/screen story is about life at the animal film studios, where The Fox is the director. The mystery has to do with finding some stolen jewelry. While there are no text-to-speech features, each page has something interesting to discover, or fun to do to support the story. On one page, you might match various types of lace to different dresses to complete a wardrobe. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
Dressed in bright orange and white colors (to make sure it doesn’t get confused with a real gun), this is a plastic gun that houses your camera-equipped iPod Touch, iPhone 3 or greater in a plastic case that snaps onto a gun barrel, about where the sight would be. So instead of looking down the barrel, you look into your iPhone screen. The first step is to download one of the apps. We tried AlienAttack, a game that plays exactly like many Nintendo DSi and 3DS games, where you see creatures floating around your room as seen through the camera on your device. A radar screen clues you into the creature location — the more you shoot, the harder the challenge. There are just two buttons on the app, one for each trigger. When you pull the trigger, the capacitive energy from your finger is passed to the screen, through a little plastic pad that presses against your screen. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
You know you’re living in the future when you can go to a toy store and pick up a 128 MB of memory, a tiny lithium polymer battery, a microphone, camera and video camera for $40. To top it all off, all these components have been crammed into a pair of sunglasses that can record what you see. The only clue that the camera is on is a tiny red LED mounted — on the inside of the frame — is the only clue that the hide a small camera in the center of your forehead. You can either take snapshots or shoot video by pressing You can record up to 20 minutes of video, which can be transferred to your computer by way of a USB port. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
Lego Life of George lets you test your pattern matching skills under the pressure of a stop watch, providing you have a camera equipped iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad 2, and have downloaded a free app called Life of George from iTunes (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grNO42UK5q8). The app serves as your blueprint, timer, progress tracker, and — most interestingly — your judge. The $30 kit contains the basic supplies — 144 Legos and a special cardboard grid that serves as a backdrop, allowing your camera to “see” your work, using special software called EyeCue (see www.eyecue-tech.com). In addition to Game Mode which can be played alone or against one competitor in a pass-and-play format, it is possible to design and capture your own models to be saved in a scrap book. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
In this one player game you navigate through the maze-like stages by learning a series of two-step swipes. For example, to get Kirby to float, you have to drag a star onto him, and then draw a line. In the story, Kirby is split into 10 pieces by an evildoer with a magic cane. You use the stylus on the DS touch screen to control a group of Kirby characters (up to 10) as they set off on a journey to return to their original form. The number of Kirby characters you control is important, because some challenges require a specific number of Kirbys in order to be solved. When the number of Kirby characters is increased, you can gain the upper hand. You can control each Kirby in a variety of ways, for example, a Kirby character can be launched into the air with a flick of the stylus, or you can make a swarm of Kirby characters dash to a given point by tapping on that spot on the touch screen multiple times. You can also swipe the touch screen to launch them in a mass attack against enemies, then tap the enemies into submission. The goal is to collect medals hidden throughout the various stages and to unlock additional minigames. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
This picture book is designed to introduce facts about trees. Each narrated page has one interactive element that you can try to discover on you own, or you can use a hint button to see where you should touch. You can also draw your own tree. Written and illustrated by Firecatcher design studio and developed by hedgehog lab. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Good for older readers (upper elementary and middle school) this children’s magazine (by Bayard Presse) on an iPad mixes age-appropriate content with some mid-to good-quality interactivity. There’s no doubt that this is a British publication, and the narrator accent is proof. The idea is to continue stories from app to app, so there is continuity from issue to issue, like the printed counterpart. We reviewed the first issue (#1) so quality might improve. At the core of each issue is an animated story. For this issue, “How about a MOOH?” is about Stella the little calf who wakes up but does not moo. The farm animals are worried but a little cuddle with her Mom is all she needs. Features include the ability to record your own voice, or zoom into illustrations for a closer look. Content also includes Science – Why do aeroplanes leave trails in the sky? (note the British spelling); SamSam – GumGum the giant – follow the cosmic adventures of the smallest of the big heroes plus watch an episode of the SamSam TV series; Animal world – learn about Humpback whales; Games – fly your kite, join the dots, maze, match the pairs, find the correct order; and Polo – an adventure without words to lead you into the world of dreams. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
In this seek and solve game you must unravel the mystery behind the Malgrave Island by using the Wii Remote to search for clues, solve puzzles and find concealed items in multilayered hidden object scenes. There are three multiplayer modes for up to four players, consisting of three rounds, and you can choose options such as skill level. Multiplayer games include: Swift Pick – compete to find hidden objects; Tick Tick Pick – find hidden objects and pass the bomb before it explodes; and Classic Pick – race to find the most hidden objects. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Turn your iPad into a small chalk board and your finger into a piece of chalk, with this free subtraction toolkit. Content starts with single digits and moves you through ten levels of addition mastery. Once you’ve solved the problem with the “chalk” you enter your answer using a digital numerical keypad. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.