Seek Your Own Proof is a web-delivered detective adventure that follows the story of three investigative siblings – Aidan, Milanie, and Heiko Munro on a series of missions. Each Flash-based mission is sold for $4 (the first one is free, after you register); or you can buy ten for $20. Created by Canadian-based Rocketfuel Productions, in partnership with Discovery Kids. 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.
Mixing a side-scrolling collecting adventure with multiple-choice workbook problems is nothing new, and this title is no exception. Children guide a Penguin through simple levels, earning badges as they kick rats, collect popcorn and complete activities. This title covers basic math content — such as comparing quantities, solving tangram shape puzzles and completing addition or subtraction problems. Created by InLight Entertainment for Leapfrog. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Fresh from Disney, a children’s virtual world based on the movie Cars, making it possible to drive into Radiator Springs, chat with other car avatars, enter races, or just explore. If you have a Mac or Windows computer, you can have a car up and running by the time you finish this article by visiting www.worldofcars.com. There are three areas to explore, each with a different theme, stores and four player racetrack. Features include two types of chat, the ability to make friends and have private chat sessions, and subscription access to special areas of the world. In addition, Mattel is selling a set of die cast vehicles that come with special race codes. 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.
VTech’s completely re-engineered MobiGo is an important new addition to the handheld learning category. There is no backward compatibility with the age-old V.Smile cartridges, a break from the past for V.Tech. Fortunately, the included Touch & Learn game cartridge offers six fun games. Powered by four AA batteries or AC power (neither included) there are also ports for earphones and a USB connector for saving progress online. Additional $20 cartridges feature characters from Toy Story, Dora, Mickey Mouse and Shrek. 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.
Five activities — each previously released as separate apps — have been combined into one $4.99 universal app. See the individual reviews of each app, with ratings. Sound Shaker is a sound making game that uses the accelerometer, so you move the screen to make musical patterns (see the full review). Field Flier lets children control a flying bird. They touch spots on the screen to hear activities like sleeping, resting or hiding labeled. Count Caddy lets children count by 1s, 2s or 3s, by dragging and dropping items into a large circle. Sort Slider shows two objects, and asks children “which one matches.” To make a match, you can either swipe with your finger (left or right) or tilt the screen. In Pattern Painter, children are asked “which shape comes next” and are then presented with three options, multiple choice style. They are then asked to trace the shape on a template. If they have trouble, a short tutorial automatically starts. 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.
thinkSMART for the Wii and DS is a collection of exercises paired with a record keeping system. After you sign in and make an avatar, you choose from a series of mental challenges that include math, logic, memorization, language, and spatial reasoning. These are organized into free-training exercises, a daily routine, a test, and a multiplayer mode. All include the same challenges, but the free-training and multiplayer modes allow you to set your own difficulty. Created by dtp young entertainment for Mentor Interactive and Conspiracy Entertainment. 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.
After you sign into one of the three game-save slots, you can select the gender of the pilot in this flying game. You then begin a tutorial that helps you learn to fly through some rings by holding the controller like a pair of handlebars. Next you try putting out a fire with a water canon which involves carefully buzzing a building, and then clearing sheep from train tracks with carefully aimed buzzes. There are 40 missions including hunting for lost pirate treasures, abducting cows in a UFO, and eventually becoming the Sky Captain. You can play alone, or invite a friend to fly cooperatively (in split screen) in any of the missions. You can also compete head-to-head in mutliplayer mode. Developed by Torus Games for D3Publisher. 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 game, you play as Buzz, Woody or Jessie as you run, ride and fly through scenes inspired by the film. For example, in one scene, you jump along the cars of a moving train, ducking under low poles or swinging buckets, and navigating across train cars with moving logs. You can complete missions to earn rewards such as gold and new customizations, and purchase new toys with your virtual earnings. Or you can customize new buildings, and then change how they look with paint and accessories. A “Toy Box” mode lets you add new characters and game elements. Developed by Avalanche Software for Disney Interactive. 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.
Like it’s 2007 predecessor, you find yourself immersed in a planetary hopping theme, where the conventional rules of physics don’t always apply. You steer Mario through each maze-like level; flying, jumping or working upside down. New power-ups include a drill that Mario uses to tunnel through the planet’s surface all the way to the other side of the planet. Your goal is to collect as many Power Stars as possible, rescue Princess Peach and defeat Bowser. Other content includes the ability to transform yourself into either Cloud Mario or Rock Mario, which enables Mario to create temporary cloud platforms, or to smash through obstacles. With the Spin Drill, he can tunnel from one side of a planet to another. 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 Princess and the Frog comes to your iPad with this 23 page/screen adaptation that mixes highlights of the movie with two games, two songs, three coloring activities, the ability to record your own narration and a new feature for the read-along series, three jigsaw puzzles. Features include the ability to have the story read automatically, or to let the child flip through the book, one screen at a time. A pair of mouse ears at the screen bottom lead to a tray of options that include a microphone for recording your own narration, the coloring activities, and a scrolling set of pages, that makes it easy to jump directly to any page. There are two games: Facilier’s Fortune and Firefly Chase. Both games are active, and have three challenge levels. 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 original game was a number-based grid puzzle where players filled in squares to reveal the hidden picture. In Picross 3D you must reveal a 3D image that is hidden inside a larger rectangular block composed of smaller squares, using the stylus to remove the blocks. You use a variety of numerical clues placed upon the rows and columns of the larger form. The clues indicate the number and possible grouping of blocks within that row or column. When there are no clues present, you must use logic and the clues on surrounding areas to determine where blocks should be removed or left in place. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
We tested the Wii version of this third-person action shooter, designed for one player. You can choose to play as either Iron Man, or War Machine, as you shoot bad guys and try to save the world from destruction. You can either run around, or fly using your jet packs, using a rather complicated menu system to track such things as damage. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Toy Story comes to your iPad with this 23 page/screen adaptation that mixes highlights of the second movie (Toy Story 2) with two games, two songs, three coloring activities and the ability to record your own narration. Features include the ability to have the story read automatically, or to let the child flip through the book, one screen at a time (the pages curl, like paper). A pair of mouse ears at the screen bottom lead to a tray of options that include a microphone for recording your own narration, the coloring activities, and scrolling set of pages, that makes it easy to jump directly to any page. This includes two games: Parachute Drop (tilt the screen to steer a soldier through a maze of obstacles) and Toy Barn Maze (swipe to move Buzz through a maze, collecting toys). 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.
Turn your iPhone screen into a paint-splattered mess with this simple program. The app was first released in 2008 and has been updated several times; but it is basically the same. While there is no iPad version, it still works and looks fine on either sized screen. The program starts with a blank, white square turntable surrounded with splatters of paint. You can either swipe or tap to start it in motion, in either direction. A double tap makes it stop or increase in speed. If you hold your finger down, you can make a perfect circle, or you can choose the large paintbrush to make a big mess, quickly. 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 the story, you’re stranded on a mysterious island when you come upon a book titled Myst, and you have no idea how old it is or where it came from. You read through the book and are provided with a description of an island world. As you search the island by choosing directions, multiple-choice style, you will solve mysteries and puzzles which will “challenge your skills of perception and thought”. The game features six worlds, called ages, including Stoneship and Channelwood. Borrow it if you’re a game historian. Otherwise, pass. Originally created by Cyan. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
The classic storybook, about a spider in search of friendship, comes to the iPad. When a page is turned, you see a preview of where the hotspots are on the page. You can also touch images for surprises, paint pictures, solve jigsaw puzzles and play games. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Poke the spider to change scenes in this adaptation of the classic nursery rhyme. You can make rain come down from the clouds, splash in the puddles, help a caterpillar become a butterfly or play peek-a-boo with a frog. Your child can also count from one to ten as a squirrel builds his house, find hidden eggs on a scavenger hunt, create your own music using eggs that play different notes, stack hats on the spider’s head, listen to classical music with violin and cello pizzicato, and record their own singing. 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.
Turn your Nintendo DSi into an ebook, with this series of six titles, found in Nintendo’s DSiWare store for 500 points (roughly $5). To buy the book, you must locate the store from your DSi or DSi XL (wireless Internet connection required) and select one of the titles. After you download the title from the DSi Store, you turn the DSi sideways, to open like a book. You can flip the pages by swiping across a page, or by using the arrow keys. Other features include the ability to unlock an additional bonus story, and the ability to beam a book to a nearby DSi owner, for sharing. The print version of the book was published by Egmont. The FLIPs title was created by EA’s Bright Light Studio. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Children explore with their fingertips, in this colorful underwater playground, where a school of quick swimming fish illustrate numerals (up to 20), the alphabet song, and a set of shapes. In the alphabet song, children can swipe forward or backward, hearing the alphabet backwards if they like. If they stop at a letter, such as U, they hear “U is for Umbrella.” The number line works the same way, only the quantity is presented along with the numeral, in the form of a line of small eggs on the bottom of the screen. The “Playtime” activity fills the screen with dozens of differently colored fish, of every shape, size and pattern. Other more structured activities include a game of concentration, and a discrimination game, that asks children to find the fish that doesn’t belong. The iPhone and iPod touch versions are available for $.99 at http://tinyurl.com/fishiphone; the iPad vesion is $1.99: http://tinyurl.com/fishipad. 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.
Based on the Webosaurs.com virtual world, this app features 3D versions of the Webosaurs’ characters including Stretch, Pterry, Horns and Rexxy. Players can race their Webosaurs through various environments by moving their iPhone face up and down to maneuver through obstacles and jump over ramps. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Designed for one player, you play as either Ratchet or Clank, as you run, jump, fly and fight your way through over five levels. Each character has unique abilities to help with different jobs. You can fly on Ratchet’s Hoverboots that allow him to travel at high speeds and great heights or utilize Clank’s time-manipulation abilities that can be used to stop Dr. Nefarious, who is attempting to control time himself. 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 Pokémon empire continues to grow, with two more titles that share a nearly identical design, but offer different collections of Pokémon to find and trade. Following the same tried-and-true formula of the original Pokémon games, SoulSilver is a spiced up version of the GBA Pokémon Silver version released ten years ago. These new titles contain 115 new Pokémon (or “pocket monsters”), some wireless game play features, plus a Pokéwalker pedometer that lets you earn game credits by moving around. 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 Pokémon empire continues to grow, with two more titles that share a nearly identical design, but offer different collections of Pokémon to find and trade. Following the same tried-and-true formula of the original Pokémon games, HeartGold is a spiced up version of the GBA Pokémon Gold version released ten years ago. These new titles contain 115 new Pokémon (or “pocket monsters”), some wireless game play features, plus a Pokéwalker pedometer that lets you earn game credits by moving around. 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.
Based on the book Dragonology, this scavenger hunt game for the Nintendo DS lets you explore an interactive journal, travel the world, and learn ancient tracking skills to find dangerous dragons to study, protect and preserve. As you progress from apprentice to Master of Dragonology, you will build your own Dragonological Encyclopedia, and collect dragon curiosities which include dragon claws, scales, and teeth. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
In the story, you help Sylvie Leroux, a young archaeologist, as she travels to Malta at the request of her uncle, a world renowned historian. When she arrives, she discovers he is missing and it is now up to you to help her save the professor and decipher the clues to the secrets of the Knights Hospitaller order. Content includes 50 locations, 14 minigames, and a special game mode called Hidden World, that allows you to play classic hidden object levels. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Want to see a 21st century rattle? Innovative and easy to use, this bite-sized App engages young children with music in a way that could only be done with a motion sensing device like an iPhone or iPod Touch. You start by choosing one of six sound sets: chimes, a flute, drums, barnyard sounds, a xylophone and a random mixture. The instructions are short and sweet — “Tap the screen to add sounds.” From this point, your iPhone or iPod Touch screen becomes a musical open-ended busy box, where every tap becomes a ball, that rolls around the screen, using the accelerometer to detect the motion (hence the term “shaker”). Longer touches result in higher notes and larger balls, helping children understand musical relationships. This is part of the Tickle Tap Apps series. Teaches: music, scales, causality, logic, fine motor skills. zinc Roe Design. www.zincroe.com, $1.99. Best for ages 3-5.
Rating: 
or .96%
Inspired from the UK television show with the same name, this DS-only game puts you in the role of the sheep, Shaun. In the story, the other sheep have escaped and you must find the rest of the flock before the Farmer returns home. As you explore the barnyard, you must find hidden items, and interact with characters from the show such as Shirley, Blitzer and Timmy.
There are three modes: Story Mode, Mini-game Mode, and Collection Mode, with eight unlockable mini-games such as Baath Time and Bend It Like Shaun. Based on the television series from Aardman Animation. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This collection of 25 minigames is organized into six happy themes, all available through six numbered tabs on the top of the touch screen.
In the Invitation Game, children play a spin on whack-a-mole that requires some fast decisions. In Button Factory, they sort the buttons on a moving conveyer belt, in order to create outfits for the party. On the last tab, you can paste together a simple outfit and take a picture. Each game is timed, and you are given instant feedback about your choices. Created by Barnstorm for Majesco Entertainment. 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 the story, a boy washes up on the island of Crete and doesn’t remember how he got there or who he is. He discovers that he is immortal, and so are the friends he meets. In the game, you will travel from Crete to Athens to Mount Olympus, fighting against Minotars, Harpies, and Hydra while trying to earn your place among the immortals of ancient Greece. 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.
Fantage, or “fantastic age” is a responsive, safe and no-fail MMO that resembles Club Penguin back in the good old days, minus the penguins. The Fantage theme is a bit like Disneyland with nine-themed areas, including a castle, a forest, a lighthouse, uptown, downtown and others. In each you can chat (freely but filtered) with others, invite others to become friends, decorate your room, or play 11 Flash-based games. 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.
As in many scavenger hunt types of games, you explore, earning points and health by smashing statues, park benches, and hedges as you try to find your way to the next level. You can also become one of five Alice in Wonderland characters; each with different attributes. Note that the DS version has a very different design than the Wii version. It requires reading, and uses a different animation style; not like the movie. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Pirate Parade
In the story, you help the Backyardigan gang (Pablo, Uniqua, Tyrone, Austin and Tasha) travel to outer space, collecting garbage, capturing evil villains as masked super heroes, and tapping on instruments to play music in a pirate parade. Created by Black Lantern Studios for 2K Games. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Designed to improve math skills, this math app uses a 3D tile-matching metaphor to deliver practice with addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and fractions. The goal is to touch two tiles that have the same amount (e.g., 4 and 2+2). If they match, the tiles disappear, and you search for the next pair, until all the tiles are gone. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
If you don’t mind the crude drawing resolution of the Wii Remote, the Wii version of Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter ($30) offers a lot of play value, with a creative twist. (Nintendo DS specific comments, later). As you explore, you draw characters and tools needed to find the Artifacts of Power and rid the Raposa village of evil. In addition to the one player side-scrolling platform environment, there are several two player minigames, including soccer, hockey and basketball.
The Nintendo DS version costs less ($20) and you can draw humans, animals or multi-limbed creatures easily, and use them to find hidden coins. Created for THQ by 5th Cell. For more information, visit www.drawntolife.com. See also ScribbleNauts. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Based on the young adult book by James Patterson, this explore and fight game lets you jump into the book, and possess the power of creation in order to save the earth from aliens that are bent on destroying the Earth. The setting looks like an old factory with elevators, boxes, portals, and magical walls. Made by Griptonite Games (A Foundation 9 Entertainment Studio) for THQ. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Concentration anyone? This iPhone/iPod touch app delivers a simple game of concentration. Each card shows a picture of an animal, and an associated sound. The object is to try to make a match by touching any two squares. When the squares flip over, the animal displayed makes its sound, and the pictures stay on the screen, a fact that clutters the game. If the animals don’t match, they are flipped back over and you must try again. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Coming this fall, LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, the next chapter for the series that was one of the first to bring drop-in, drop-out interactivity to the games.
This construction game for Windows, Mac and Wii lets you drag-and-drop sticky blobs to construct structures that look a bit like carbon molecules. You quickly learn which structures work best to solve a particular problem. On one puzzle, you must construct the highest tower using the fewest possible parts. Another presents you with a spinning set of teeth that requires a curved structure.
There’s a lot of different ways to solve the same problem, making this game addicting. Content includes 15 different varieties of blobs, each with different properties; enough to keep things interesting. Note that a Wii-Ware version is available, as a download. This is a fun way to introduce building dynamics to young science students. Created by 2D Boy (www.2dboy.com) for Brighter Minds Media. Winner of the 2010 KAPi Award. Teaches: science, creativity, building, physics, forces, potential energy. Brighter Minds Media, Inc. www.brightermindsmedia.com, $20. Best for ages 7-up.
Rating: or .96%
Blackjack
This party style board game includes 17 virtual casinos and 15 gambling mini-games. The games are adaptations of real casino games that vary in quality. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Inspired by the animated film, this game includes 25 mini-games that include moving to the music, cooking, and dressing Tiana. You can also collect Mardi Gras beads to trade for new dresses, fabrics, ingredients and recipes, as well as explore quest hubs with drop-in/drop-out multiplayer. The game features seven playable characters.
The DS version is a platforming side scrolling game, that lets you play as Tiana and Ray as you jump, swing and soar in order to collect ingredients and recipes, and cook dishes. You can also perform music with 1-4 players using wireless DS multi-card play and save your tunes in the game’s jukebox. Designed by Griptonite Games. Prices are $40 for the Wii version, $30 for the DS, and $20 for the PC version. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.