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.
Turn your iPad into a small chalk board and your finger into a piece of chalk, with this addition 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.
In this game, you play as Po (a panda) and try to become a Kung Fu master by taking on enemies that vary in ability. This requires carefully timed punches and kicks and, with the Kinect version, plenty of room for this type of activity. The Wii version uses the uDraw Tablet, letting you customize your environment and control Po using the stylus; the DS version also gives you the ability to level up and choose from an array of moves as you perform team attacks. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Turn your iPad into a password-protected journal with iDiary for Kids. If you can type with the iPad’s keyboard, you can easily setup a new account — just put in your email address and make a password. It is then possible to make daily entries, or if you like, jump a week ahead to make notes. Besides the ability to type, you can make sketches or put in images from your iPad’s existing photo library. The help system uses recorded voice prompts. Other features include a scrapbook and address book, support for new iOS features such as AirPrint, the ability to back-up and restore individual user data to a computer, and multi-user password protection. 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 70 page/screen book contains embedded spelling games. In the story, Chuck and friends are playing a game of chase when they encounter Flip, a new vehicle in the scrap yard. Chuck is not so sure about Flip and challenges him to a stunt contest. In the process, the two realize they can work together and become fast friends. Features include 70 pages of read-aloud content with narrative-driven matching, touch and reveal graphics and spelling activities that teach letter recognition, picture/word association and basic problem solving. 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 Wii-only, follow-along dancing program is based on the movie, The Smurfs. Content includes 20 dances, each with different sets of moves illustrated by a small squad of strange looking Smurfs. Using a Wii Remote in each hand, you can dance alongside your favorite characters and heroes from the film, including Smurfette, Pap Smurf, Clumsy, Brainy, Gutsy and Gargamel. Songs include both popular tunes such as One of the Boys and Higher and original songs from the The Smurfs incluidng Smurfberry-licious and Gargamel. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
There are six games that can be played through as a game show, or individually for practice: Saving Choices (sort items according to four categories — saving, spending, donating or investing): Earn It! (decorate cup cakes to earn money); Rainy Day Fund (a confusing but fun fortune cookie game); Spend Avoidance (a maze game where you try to avoid wasting money in the mall); Wealthy Habits (decide whether to buy a new book, or visit the library by tilting the screen left or right); and Kids Earn (make cups of lemonade). It is easy to jump right to a game or play through each activity in sequence to see how much money you can make. Created by award winning designer Daren Carstens for Susan Beacham of Money Savvy Generation. 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 maze game (search “A-Maze-ing” in the app store) lets you navigate through 16 detailed, hand-drawn scenes by dragging vehicles through a map. As you explore the connected maps, you find 85 hidden items embedded in the pen and ink maps. Your mission is to find them all, a task we stopped at around 11. Because up to five player profiles can be stored at once, it is possible to sign in or out and continue progress at a later time. Hidden items include stars, letters, penguins, numbers and ice cream trucks. Created in the Netherlands. The free version limits the number of levels and the amount of fuel for your car. See also Roxie’s Doors. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Designed to help you memorize names and facts about the 44 US Presidents? Combining flashcard-like facts with a “break-out” game mechanic, the app doles out multiple-choice questions like “Which President succeeded Thomas Jefferson.” To answer the question, you touch one of four labeled portraits. Correct answers give you a chance to fling a President, in ball form, at a set of aliens, until no more are remaining. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Based on the book by William Joyce, this is an interactive edition of a short animated film that nicely tells the story of a man (Morris Lessmore) who loves books. Each of the 27 pages weaves interactive features with the storyline. For example, you help scatter the books during a windstorm by circulating your finger on the screen, spell words using alphabet cereal, or tilt the screen to fly Mr. Lessmore through a tunnel of words. Programmed by Twin Engine Labs, created by Moonbot Studios. 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 unique game uses two styluses at once. You start by creating and customizing your own own avatar. Content includes seven “sports,” including Home-Run Challenges, Archery, Soccer Penalty Kicks, and more; Rank Match – Play to be the best and earn points in each sport; Score Try – Practice each sport with specialized trials and challenges; Today’s Challenge – different sports challenges every day; and Tap Exercise – Hone your touch senses with these activities requiring you to perform feats of dexterity using both hands. 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 app lets you peel back the skin of nine popular dinosaurs, shown with a person to put the size in perspective. You can drag a slider bar across the image to gradually unveil the skeleton. You can also touch five or so hot points to explore features. Facts are presented in blocks of text. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This newest Ben 10 game (based on the television series) lets you take control of Ben Tennyson and up to 17 alien forms including Armodrillo, WaterHazard and AmpFibian, as you jackhammer through enemies, unleash water blasts, and emit explosive radiation beams. You will journey to Paris, Tokyo, China and Rome in search of an ancient alien artifact that will help save humanity from a mysterious cosmic storm. You will use the power of the new Ultimatrix, an upgraded alien watch that transforms Ben into the most powerful, hyper-evolved alien forms ever in the game. The new Quick Switch feature allows you to transform from alien to alien quickly, and create custom alien combos, and the new Upgrade System lets you enhance your alien’s strength, speed, defense and special attacks by gaining experience from defeating enemies, collecting rare sumo slammer cards, and crushing cars, forklifts, furniture, and various objects throughout each level. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This ebook consists of twenty eight watercolor screens set to classical music. The story, at a glance, is of Hildegard Rhineheffer, a hippo/waitress by day and a backup singer by night. In the story, opera star Frau Hoopenholler has fallen ill, Hildegard has her big break, but suddenly loses her voice. Your job is to help Hildegard overcome her stage fright by feeding her, helping her try on silly hats, or popping bubbles in her bath. 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.
Girls, are you tired of coloring in princesses and puppies? Here’s a new twist: this app lets you color in three dimensional outlines of exotic girl characters that include angels, peasants, warriors or other “strong” characters. As you touch areas of each character, you fill it in with color. You can also add stickers, such as floating balloons. Hues and shading effects are automatically added to create a 3D appearance, and your model can be turned for a 360 degree view. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This game for the Nintendo 3DS features more than 100 timed Nanogame (very short game) challenges. Like WarioWare, the challenges that last no more than five seconds each, and require extremely fast reaction time. Content includes several video clips featuring Patchy the Pirate, plus a drawing activity, where you can sketch using a pallet of colors. 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.
From Thinkfun, the creators of the original Rush Hour game, comes a well designed touch screen version with slide-to-park interactivity. The goal is to arrange a set of tightly parked cars in order to get one car (colored red) through the parking lot exit. There are 2500 games and four levels in all, and the game remembers your current level. Other smart features include an instant undo, a hint, and the ability to replay a level, letting you retrace your steps through the puzzle. 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 is the second Phineas and Ferb adventure for the Nintendo DS we’ve reviewed. Like the first, you can swap between characters to work your way through each level. Play patterns include skating, riding in mine carts, fighting aliens, and do surfboard tricks. Minigames include jet pack and X-ray goggles, along with a DSi specific camera controlled minigame. 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.
One of the oldest math facts franchises has made a historic move to the multi-touch screen, in this edition of Math Blaster Hyperblast for the iPad. Featuring an outer space theme, the goal is to outsmart the alien robots by solving math facts problems as fast as possible. As with other Math Blaster games, you start by choosing which types of problems you want to practice, from addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. To play, you grip the screen on the sides, and tilt (like a steering wheel) to move through a tube full of things to avoid. You use your thumbs to launch mines or missiles to clear your path of problems. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This app is designed to help you learn the names, locations, major cities and sizes of the world’s 192 countries. You start by seeing four flashcards, along with a question like “Spanish is the official language of which country.” Wrong answers disappear along with an explanation, but correct answers (in this case the Dominican Republic), give the the ability to drop the country onto a platform. The goal is to earn enough countries to build a stack that reaches a high water mark. Content includes 1,000 questions, 192 flash cards, and an interactive map of the continents. 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.