Kung Fu Panda Interactive Cookbook Review – Cooking with Po, Shifu, Tigress, Monkey, Mantis and friends!

Posted on June 8, 2011 by Nick Papageorge

My daughters are terrifically huge fans of the Kung Fu Panda franchise, so when I saw the cookbook on the app marketplace, I thought “What the heck, I’ll give it a try”, and as it contained quite a few vegetarian recipes (which would likely be kid-friendly to make), it was worth a shot.

The cookbook is exactly as it is advertised. It’s a nice culmination of quite a few recipes (2 salads, 11 main dishes and 6 desserts) that are all encompassed in Dreamwork’s baby, Kung Fu Panda. I’d loved for there to have been a few more recipes, but I’m not disappointed.

When you open the app, you’re presented with a nicely supplied list view of all the recipes, simply sorted and displayed with thumbnails, as you can see below:

It does exactly what you want it to do, and you’re able to either click on the recipe of your choice, swipe to change the page or tap on the page edge. The swiping to change pages doesn’t work perfectly, but the other methods are just fine on their own.

Once you get into the recipe you want, the app really starts to shine. You’re presented with quite a few options with each recipe, which are easily accessible through a navigation bar that appears at the bottom whenever you’re in a recipe. The navigation bar is really nice, and although some of the options aren’t the most clear and require some trial and error to figure out, but once you get the hang of them, you’ll wish that every cookbook shared the same features.

From left to right, the options are:

  • Converter – Scale the recipes for more servings, change from US to Metric.
  • Social Sharing – Share to Facebook, Twitter or Email.
  • Play/Stop – Will start or stop reading the recipe out loud.
  • Record your own voice – Record whatever you want, tied to a that specific recipe (notes, read with adjustments, etc.)
  • Timer – Allows you to set by hours/minutes/seconds (only works while the app is open)
  • Bookmark – Flag your favorite recipes, the “flag” shows on the thumbnails from the main app.
  • Home – Brings you back to the main page.
  • Shopping List – Opens up a note-pad looking shopping list of exactly what is needed for each recipe.
  • Info – A legend detailing what the other buttons do.

I’m sure some parents aren’t that comfortable with the social media being in apps designed for kids, and it’s worth noting that it’s not possible to remove this, so be aware of that.

That said, this bar makes me want anyone preparing to design or re-design a cookbook for the iPad look to this as a reference.

The simple act of having a “Shopping List” that integrates so seamlessly alone is very cool, and one of my favorite features. But the converter is something that’s definitely a huge benefit for me. It allows me to make food that I’ll get left-overs from, and it really works like gangbusters. The unit conversion is also a welcome change, as being in Canada means that a lot of things we buy do not get reflected in US units, and I hate wasting my time trying to convert, this saves me that headache.

I’m not sure how I feel on the option to record your own voice. I’d have much preferred to have an option to take down written notes here. First, I don’t like the sound of my own voice and, second, when working on a recipe I usually create 4 or 5 separate notes on separate aspects, which I could easily see and skim if written, but if taken vocally… well, it’s just more of a novelty that works fine with a kids book, but is out of place here.

The “Meat” of the App – How it all works

When you actually get into the recipes themselves, everything just works. The layout is clean and sufficient. It gives you exactly what you need. There are no adjustments to the text size, which I would really have liked, and it’s not possible to make personalized notes on the recipes, which I think should be a standard these days, but for a cook book, it does everything else it should.

Where it stands out, however, and why I think it deserves focus here are the videos on each of the recipes.

That’s right, almost every recipe contains a “how-to” video describing the process to putting the actual food together.

The videos are lead by an adult female and a boy (probably about 12 years old?). The female does 99% of the talking, while the boy nods and smiles for the camera. They’re both a little corny, and the way they’ve incorporated the Kung Fu Panda universe comes across equally corny, but you know what – For the kids, it works perfectly. And the videos themselves are very informative and clear. They were very well produced, with good direction that focuses on important aspects of what is being cooked. Most of them only focus on the more complicated aspect of the recipe (for example, the mouse recipe discusses how to separate an egg), and the rest is left to the written recipe on the page.

Simply put, they work. And I have to admit that I did find them helpful for my children, and a few for me. It’s nice to see certain kitchen aspects clearly explained through a video. It’s a great way to learn how to operate in the kitchen, especially for children. I learned a bit, and my daughters did as well. Having a younger child helps kids relate to someone.

Now, there are also Kung Fu Panda movie clips that replace 4 of the recipes. I wasn’t really prepared for these, but my daughters were quite happy. In some ways, I would have preferred these to be somewhere else, as the recipes would have benefited from the instruction videos, but I expected something like this and at least it was done in a nice, integrated way.

All of the videos play either in the windowed “picture-in-picture” mode, or full screen. They’re all in mostly HD quality, none look grainy.

So, that’s my explanation of the cookbook, I’ll move on to what is probably my most popular section, bullet points! :)

What’s Great

  • Sturdily designed with easy and clear navigation between recipes.
  • An easy system to mark your favorite recipes, making it simple to get back to them at a later time.
  • A navigation bar that seriously needs to be in every cookbook app out there, conversions that update the on-screen recipe? Generating a shopping list based on your scaled recipe? A simple, functional timer? Cookbook makers, take note!
  • Cute videos that young kids will quickly take to, and that are actually informative, useful and smartly directed, focusing on techniques that might be difficult for children (or.. adults ;) ).
  • Fantastic recipes. A good selections for vegetarians, and for the most part the options here are healthy and ones I’d be comfortable sharing with my family.
  • Some of the recipes are directly tied into the movie (Dumplings, Shifu’s Noodles, Monkey’s Cookies).
  • Having some Kung Fu Panda movie clips built in is a nice touch.
  • Videos are all stored in-app, there’s no need to be connected to the internet at any point.

What Could be Better

  • My first thing is to have a section for written notes/comments on the recipes. I understand the voice recording is a nice use of technology, but I’d rather have my own notes available to me.
  • An option to disable social sharing. I don’t have a problem with this, as my children are still quite young, but I can appreciate parents wanting to have better control over this.
  • While having the videos in the app is convenient, the app is simply massive (well over 300 megs) and if you happen to have a smaller iPad, it might be hard to make room for this large a cookbook with only 19 recipes.
  • No multitasking. If you decide you want to switch out and check your email while in the app, you have to wait for it to reload when you come back in. Because it’s a large app, the load times are a bit lengthy, even on the iPad 2. We’re almost on iOS 5, multitasking should be on every app at this point.
  • The Kung Fu Panda videos are all from the first movie. I understand the movie was just released, but movie studios license clips for their tie-in video games, why not for this? My daughters asked me why it wasn’t related to Kung Fu Panda 2 (as some of the recipes reflect the 2nd movie), and I just had to shrug.
Review Overview
Graphicswww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.com
Clear layout, nicely designed but a bit on the boring side, versus some of the cookbook apps I've seen
Soundwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.com
For what is there, it's great. The videos sound clear, as do the voice reading of the recipes.
Replay Valuewww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.com
There are 19 recipes in total that come along with video instructions and vocal reading of each recipe. The recipes are actually really, really good - so you'll find yourself coming back to this even after your kids have moved on past Kung Fu Panda.
Overallwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.com
Average score from all categories.

My Summary

Kung Fu Panda Cookbook is something that took me a bit by surprise. I didn’t actually think it was going to be worthy of a review, but I’m happy to say that it’s not just a cheap tie-in that no one took the time with. Instead, it’s actually a well thought-out and planned cookbook that was put together with some real thought and planning. All of the instructional videos are done by decent cooks who also reference the movie. It’s a bit corny/cheesy but, honestly, for the market it’s aimed at, I don’t mind it at all. I got a good snicker at times where, say, they’re cracking an egg and as they do it, they count saying “1, 2, 3 SKIDOOSH!”.

It’s all in good fun, and it works to show that the makers didn’t just phone it in. Not at all. And as long as it stays reasonably priced (right now it’s currently $2.99), I’d say it is worth your money for the 19 recipes you’ll find inside. As far as it being “interactive” – well, no. There are no games, the movie cips (all from the 1st movie) are around 3 – 5 long, giving you about 15 minutes of “movie” in the cookbook.

So I say if you’re looking for a cookbook you can share with your kids that ties into what is the biggest kids movie of the summer, look no further. Heck, if you’re looking for a good cookbook that has some really easy and awesome recipes in it, look no further than this. It’s very well done, and I’ve actually found quite a few recipes I’ve put in my permanent rotation, something well worth more than $3. Kung Fu Panda Cookbook – Proving that not all tie-ins suck! :)

Kung Fu Panda Interactive Cookbook for the iPad. Price: $2.99
iTunes Link – iPad ONLY

Kung Fu Panda 2 Interactive Cookbook

**Tested on a 2nd Generation iPad WiFi model.**NOTE – This is for the iPad ONLY! This will not work on the iPhone. It is NOT universal so please, please do not go in expecting this to work on your iPhone or iPod touch.

Posted in 3 Years Old, 4 Stars, 5 Years old, 6 Years old and up, Cooking, High School+, iPad, Kids - Books, News and Information, Parents | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Toca Doctor HD Review for the iPad – The doctor is in!

Posted on May 31, 2011 by Nick Papageorge

Okay, it’s no secret that I’m a fan of Toca Boca, the makers of Toca Tea Party, which I reviewed previously right over here.

Although this app is mostly fun, there’s actually some educational value to it. Not a lot, but enough that, as a parent, I feel comfortable giving it a recommendation as a bit more than just entertainment. Please note that this review is for the iPad version only, and I will research and post an update if there are differences with the iPhone version at a later date.

The app is designed for younger children, probably around 1 – 5. No reading is necessary and everything is done via pictures, which is actually pretty nice. I’ve leave the reading apps to teach my daughters how to read.

For the most part in Toca Doctor, you’re performing simple actions to save your patient. And man, this patient is VERY, VERY sick. Your patient is also ambiguous at the start and it’s not clear if the patient is a boy or a girl until you’ve finished the 3rd round. At this point, treating the hand ends up with a nice diamond ring and the hair a pretty pink bow.

Anyway, you start off the game with the Toca Doctor Mascot on a “camera” unit, circa the 60′s it seems! You touch him, he scans the patient and you’re presented with investigation points, 4 of them to start.

Each one you touch will bring you into a different mini game. They’re all very simple, and remind me of the Wario Ware games on the DS and Wii. What’s nice, as well, is that there’s some unique thought behind each of them. For example, when you click on the Ear, you have to take 3 pieces and match them to their respective spots. It’s easy enough for a 1 or 2 year old to do, but there’s something that’s really cool about this. With each piece you put back, you hear a little music riff. The first time, it’s really scratchy and distorted. The second, it’s clearer but there’s a heavy sound of static behind it. The final piece, the cochlear bone, when placed cleans the sound up perfectly, and you “win”. But the cool thing is that the 3 bones are actually bones that exist in the ear, they’re not just there for nothing. It’s that attention to detail that encourages me to do reviews for companies like this.

When you finish the first round, you click on the camera again and he performs another scan, showing another 4 spots in need of repair. The games are similar, but there are a few changes. One that my daughters got a kick out of here was the stomach one. You had to pull out 3 “balls” in the patient’s stomach while listening to a very upset tummy. Once the final one came out, a nice polite belch came from the patient. Hysterics ensued. Yes, girls. I have girls.

As with the first time, once this is complete you hit the camera again and get 5 spots. A few stand out here, the main one is trying to get something that looks like a pill into the stomach. The piece you are bringing down through the intestines is very happy, and says “Whee!!” as you spin around each corner, and when it gets into the stomach the piece that was in there, very sad, becomes very happy, they hold hands and jump up and down. But according to my daughters, NOTHING beats the procedure in which you have to clear a key out of the your patient’s intestines. Yep, your patient swallowed a key and you have to guide it out. The task is one of the easiest of all the tasks, however the kicker is that once you get it to the, ahem, “exit” of the intestine maze you hear a very tight, controlled fart. I’m sorry, toot, as my daughters would correct me. It’s at this point that I sometimes question whether my children will go off to become brain surgeons in space while heading up the Canada/US commission of the UN, but hey – they’re only 6. I’m sure Issac Newton would have played with this as a kid! ;)

So after you complete the procedures over 3 scans, you are presented with a first-aid kit and that’s another small mini game, where you put away all your tools (gauze, scissors, etc) and that’s it, you’re done with the game. I would gather, based on my children and how they played with it, most kids around their age would take maybe 15 minutes with it from start to finish. A bit more for the younger children and for those who like to hear bodily noises, maybe a bit more as they’ll want to do those “operations” again.

Now, my take on it? Well, on to my good old friend the bullet points.

What’s Great

  • Nicely designed for a wide age range. A 1 – 2 year old would be able to easily navigate the game and be a masterful little doctor.
  • The sound effects are top notch, like with Toca Tea Party. It’s something many apps take for granted, and here it’s great.
  • Nicely bright, colorful and engaging. There’s no doubt that this app will capture the attention of almost any child (and parent, at least for the first play through!) that sits down in front of it.
  • About 14 activities to go through spread out over 3 different scans and although some are obvious copies, they still provide some variety.
  • This app, albeit in a superficial level, brings an awareness to the human body. That’s never a bad thing!

What Could be Better

  • I’d love more activities. My daughters have played this probably about 10 – 20 times, which is good, but it would still have been nice to see activities that would last longer than 15 – 20 minutes per play through.
  • Although I didn’t expect more, the learning here is superficial and it would be cool to see a bit more information on each different part of the body. I’d love to see an app like this integrate more legitimate learning through a fun way after, say, each procedure. I know it’s probably unrealistic to expect that for the price point, but how cool would it be to see a real cross-section of an ear with a voice over explaining quickly how it works?
  • A way to restart the app once you’ve completed it. As of now, you have to close out and then force the app closed. For the 2 year old, that’s not as easy as hitting a bit “Restart!” button once you’re done with everything.
  • Maybe add a free-form room that would allow you to do stuff like, say, place band-aids on your patient, or interact with an “office” somehow. Allow you to go to the sink, turn it on, clean off instruments… turn the game into some sort of “hub” area and really expand the app.
Review Overview
Graphicswww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.com
Attractive interface that is appealing for children, but compared to Toca Tea Party, it's not as good and is missing that 5 start perfect edge.
Soundwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.com
No actual game music, which is a bit disappointing. The sound effects in the game are, like with Toca Tea Party, very good and are very cute, they fit the theme but there's not a lot there.
Replay Valuewww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.com
Because this is an app designed for very young children, this is a hard section to rank. Most kids will probably play through this game 20 times within the first week of owning it. Add that through months and months, this app will easily pay for itself. If this was for adults, I'd give it 2 stars. But it's for children who want to watch the same episode of My Little Pony 5 times in one week.
Overallwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.com
Average score from all categories.

My Summary

I don’t want to spend this comparing Toca Doctor to Toca Tea Party any more. They are different apps and although they’re from the same developer, they’re trying to match different markets. Toca Doctor is in a class all on its own. Consider it a kiddy version of Adult Swim’s “Amateur Surgeon” (which, don’t tell anyone else, I’ve let my kids play and they LOVE it… shh…). You have to walk in realizing that it’s designed for very young children, ages 1 and up. Maybe even younger, depending on how coordinator your child is. The game play is very simplistic and won’t put up a challenge after age 2. But focusing on that demographic, and comparing it to what other apps are marketed to kids in that same age range, I have to say only one thing… Toca Doctor is a must have. I see an endless myriad of terrible apps that are completely useless. Toca Doctor is a breath of fresh air. It provides a perfect level of interactivity for younger children and does so in an entertaining and very loving way. Toca Doctor wasn’t slapped together by people just wanting to make a buck. It was crafted by people who care about the kids who are buying it. The game oozes with love and the people at Toca Boca should seriously pat themselves on the back for creating apps as amazingly fantastic as this. I feel privileged to know that this game will stay on my iPad for a long, long time to come.

Toca Doctor HD – iPad Version. Price: $1.99
iTunes Link – iPad ONLY

Toca Doctor for the iPad

Toca Doctor for the iPhone and iPod. Price: $0.99
iTunes Link – iPhone and iPod version, compatible with the iPad

Toca Doctor for the iPhone, iPod and iPad

**Tested on a 1st and 2nd Generation iPad WiFi model.**NOTE – This is for the iPad ONLY! This will not work on the iPhone. It is NOT universal so please, please do not go in expecting this to work on your iPhone or iPod touch.

Posted in 0 - 1 Year Old, 2 Years Old, 3 Years Old, 4 Years Old, 5 Years old, 6 Years old and up, iPad, iPhone, iPod, Kids - Educational, Kids - Entertainment, Kids - Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Yoomi Duo Review – Bringing Physical Board Gaming to the iPad

Posted on May 31, 2011 by Nick Papageorge

This review might sound a bit strange, because one of the things I’ve applauded the iPad for the most was the ability to free us from the ties of board game-dom. You can pick up and play a game of Sorry, Scrabble or Carcassonne and not have to worry about lost pieces, wasting time to set up the board, etc. Yoomi sounds like a bit of a step backwards, right?

Well, no.

Like with eBooks, board games hold a special place in my heart. As frustrating as it can be to try to find room to set up Monopoly, having the set pieces in your hand is meaningful. Putting those away is a bit of a sad affair, albeit a much cleaner affair.

I think this is where Yoomi Duo comes in, to a degree. It allows you to have a tactile element to playing a game on the iPad, while still interacting in a unique, albeit basic, way with your iPad. It’s convenient enough to make me feel like there’s “something there”, and is cool enough to appeal to anyone who spends even a few minutes.

My kids were thrilled when I got the Yoomi in the mail, I told them it was coming and explained a bit about what it was, so when the door rang and the nice FedEx person delivered it, I had to get prepared to take some video of them playing with it then and there. They weren’t about to sit around and wait for me to be ready.

So I unboxed the Duo and although the box it comes in would equal the size of, say, Cranium, there really isn’t a lot to the whole system. It consists of the Yoomi Duo machine, some tokens and small instruction page that explains how the game works, but is primarily focused on the operation of the machine itself.

Now these are my girls, sitting around the duo for the first time, tokens spread out among themselves, ready to play away!

Now the main game that I am focusing on here is the launch game for the Duo which is aptly named “yoomi”. You do have to manually download the game from the app store. It is a free download that is easily available just by searching the app store, but it isn’t made really all that clear in the documentation and is something thing I’d love to see changed via the instructions, but it’s not a deal breaker. Just make sure you load up the app store and download it before you start playing.

Once you get it installed, which shouldn’t take too long, the next process is to doll out the included “tokens”. My first thought when I saw them was “Hey, I used to have those in my fish tank! Yikes, I don’t want glass around my iPad!” but fear not, these are made of a soft, light and seamless plastic material.

The game is designed for 2 – 6 players. Each player gets 7 tokens of the same color and you set the rest to the side.

So people have their tokens and you have the app installed and this weird looking little unit in your hand… what next? Load up the software, turn the Duo to the “Play” position (ensuring the top cover is closed) and set it on top over the outline. It might take a few times to get it right, but it’s pretty easy to line up with the home button. Also, for anyone worrying, there are nice soft rubber feet, no worries about the Duo scratching your iPad!

The nice thing from here is that even though you have the Duo taking up the screen space, you can still get access to the instructions, which you’ll need to read because the ones included in the box… well, just read the ones here.

Then it’s simple, pick a person to go first and that person sits with the iPad facing with the home button and the “open” area of the Duo toward them.

They will see 2 “cards” on the iPad that describe 2 different objects, events or situations. It’s their job to decide which one they would like better or would rather do. Once they decide, they reach inside the “Top Secret Compartment” (capitalization courtesy of Discovery Bay ;) ) and secretly indicate which card they want by selecting the color coded button inside the corresponds to the card. Once they select their choice, the cards flip and turn towards the other players who get to, in turn, guess and put one of their tokens on top of the Duo’s 2 spots (also color-coded to match the card).

Once everyone places their tokens, the “chooser” presses the “Reveal Answer” button and the magic of the Duo takes hold and the unit will turn the top platform based on the answer the “Chooser” picked. If anyone guessed correctly, their token will be swept into the Duo’s “bank” (I’ll explain later how the iPad tells the duo which color was picked). It’s very cool and even though my children have played it easily 20 times, they still giggle whenever they guess right and their token is swept in. The thing that entices the chooser to pick the correct choice and not just try to stump people is that if the guessers pick correctly, you get to put your token on the correct choice and are able to give up a token as well. If you miss your chance, then you lose out. I didn’t do this the first game with them, but since then… well seeing a young child try to grab a token and get it on top quickly is incredibly funny to watch. If you guess wrong, you take your token back for the next round.

I have to mention a simple, but cool, thing here. Once you hit the “Reveal Answer” button you realize why the “bank” area of the Duo is clear. It lights in the shade of the color you picked and flashes like a disco dance floor while it’s turning the platform. Is it really fancy? No. But does it add a lot of character? Honestly, yes.

Anyway, back on track. The way to win is simply get all your tokens in the bank. Once you win, hit the “I’m out of Tokens” button and then it’s dance, dance party time. Some fancy music starts playing and the cards dance across the screen, all the choices throughout the game.

There are about 300 cards in the Yoomi game, which will last you a whole ton of plays before you start repeating.

Here is a hands on video of my daughters playing on the Yoomi Duo.

Oh, yes, so you want to know how the Duo works, do you? Is it Bluetooth? Some sort of Wireless technology? Jedi powers? Yes, it’s the last one! Okay, sorry – I have to nerd out a bit. It’s actually fairly low tech, it uses light technology to tell the Duo what color it needs to turn towards. If you lift up the Duo unit, you’ll see a little “black” area there that is the eye of the Duo. Depending on which color you choose, when you hit the “Reveal Answer” button it will flash a code that the Duo recognizes and turn it accordingly.

Needless to say, my children love the Duo. There’s something about it that’s distinctly appealing to them and I can honestly say, I’ve had tons of fun playing it afterwards with them. As I write this, I look forward to being able to play it with them tomorrow when they’re home from school.

Is it a highly complicated or difficult game to play? No. It doesn’t require any major skills of deduction or strategy. It’s simply a game that helps you, as a family or as friends, bond in a very simple and fun way.

One thing I have to also stress is that even though the game is designed for ages 8 and up, it is easily played with children younger than that. My daughters who are just about 6 and a half think it’s simply fantastic.

One of the reasons why it works so well for younger children is the design of the pictures. Although they might not make sense to everyone, they explain themselves for the most part as to what they are. For example, one set is “Spend the night in a castle” vs. “Spend the night in the jungle”. They simply have pictures that represent a castle or jungle. Some other ones are “Dig for gold” or “Dig for fossils”. Sometimes someone older might need to translate, but it’s easy enough to either skip or guess that it’s a non-issue.

So now comes the part where I tell you how I really feel.

Do I like the Duo? Yes. Do I love the Duo? Honestly, yes. Sometimes I wish it were a bit more, but it gives a lot more bang for its buck than I thought when I first saw it. My initial impression was that it was going to be another gimmick that lost its luster after about the 2nd play. It’s not that at all. The launch game, “yoomi”, is the epitome of “Family Game Night” and promotes the kind of fun and bonding that every parent wants with their children.

I think the perfect age range for Yoomi would be between 6 and up. Chances are your 15 year old might not want to play “Guess which I’d rather do” with their parents, but I can easily see them playing it amongst their friends, even if they try putting a more unique spin on it.

Anyway, I know most of you have just skipped down here anyway, so here are my bullet points!

What’s Great

  • Exactly what a parent would want for Family Game, seriously great bonding material!
  • The Duo unit is solidly built, isn’t too heavy but doesn’t feel cheap at all.
  • A nice “Game show” vibe to the entire layout of the app. The music fits nicely and isn’t obtrusive, the interface is clean and it’s very easy to figure out what you need to do, even if you skip most of the instructions.
  • Questions which aren’t likely to offend anyone, but yet still give a real glimpse into the person on the other end. That’s not easy to do.
  • One of the first accessories for the iPad that makes you realize just how versatile technology can be, and that we don’t have to do away with the old school to enjoy the “new school”.

What Could be Better

  • Sometimes the Duo sensor doesn’t register properly. This can happen if the Duo slips off of its “spot” too much, or if the brightness isn’t up high enough. It’s not a major issue, but did happen a few times when playing.
  • The software is a little too bare bones and can be a bit frustrating. The only option is to turn off the volume, it’s not possible to easily restart the game, if you accidentally touch the yoomi logo on the side of the app it opens up Safari and takes you to the yoomi webpage and it’s sometimes a bit too easy to hit “I’m out of tokens!”
  • It’s a bit of a pain to take the tokens out of the bank, since they have to come out the same way they go in.
  • The overall functionality of games designed for the Duo is limited. It’s going to be an “A or B” answer, it’s not designed for anything more complicated than that.
Review Overview
Graphicswww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.com
From the hand drawn art on the cards to the animation under the bank, yoomi does its job and then some.
Soundwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.com
The sound does exactly what it needs to, it doesn't get in the way and it stays peppy enough. Can't say it's going to be perfect on the 100th game, but that's what the mute switch is for!
Gameplaywww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.com
Although it's not as complex as some board games, yoomi and the Duo system do what they say they do very well. It's easy to use no matter how old you are, something that's not easily said about a lot of games.
Replaywww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.com
In yoomi (at least based on the physical non-iPad version) there are 300 cards. Assuming you play with 3 - 4 people, you'll get a fair amount of play before things start to repeat to the point of saying oh, that one again..
Overallwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.com
Average score from all categories.

My Summary

Is the Duo worth your money? Is it worth putting out another, depending on the sale, $30ish? Will you enjoy it, will your family, friends, kids enjoy it? Honestly? Yes. I really do think you will get your money’s worth out of the game and then some. You’re not limited to playing with your children, this game will scale to playing it with your grandparents or your friends from work. It’s so simple that as long as you know the people you’re playing with, you’ll have a blast. You’ll end up learning something new about them, too. Even if it’s that they’d rather peel potatoes every day versus having to eat potatoes at every meal every day (real question!!). Sure, you’re not going to be able to interact in a complex manner with the duo, but who cares? The Duo does something with the iPad that we need more of today. It adds social into an environment that finds itself stuck being very anti-social. The Duo is a must-have for any family that owns an iPad. It provides a way to have fun with your family, learn something about them and laugh at them in a way that’s not going to seem incredibly lame for your tween, but won’t be too hard to handle for your grandparents, and yet STILL will work for your 6 year old. If that’s not worth $30, then you’re just too darn hard to impress..

As an aside, there is another app available now, called “Smithsonian: Fact or Fiction” that focuses around, well, The Smithsonian Institute, something that’s a bit out of my children’s current level of knowledge and I think would go well with children over the age of 10 (and would do better in the US, as well). I’ve included the link below.

Price: Free
yoomi, the surprising guessing game about you and me (aka: the app reviewed here) – iPad ONLY

yoomi a game about you and me for the iPad

Price: $2.99
Smithsonian Artifact: Fact or Fiction – iPad ONLY

Smithsonian Artifact: Fact or Fiction for the iPad

Yoomi Duo at Amazon
Price: $35.99 list price (currently on sale at the time of writing for $17.50)

**Tested on a 1st Generation iPad WiFi model but will work on 1st and 2nd generation models.

**NOTE – This is for the iPad ONLY! This will not work on the iPhone. It is NOT universal won’t work on the iPhone or iPod touch.

Posted in 4 Stars, 5 Years old, 6 Years old and up, Board Games, Games - General, High School+, iPad, Kids - Entertainment, Kids - Games, Parents, Primary/Middle School, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Stella and Sam: Into the Snow We Go and Backyard at Twilight reviews

Posted on May 21, 2011 by Nick Papageorge

Stella and Sam: Into the Snow We Go and Backyard at Twilight Review, more adorable sibling fun from Zinc Roe!




I don’t normally do combined reviews of apps, but because these are very much the same, I don’t believe it will do a disservice to cover both here. As with Stella and Sam: Rainy Days (you can find my review here: Stella and Sam: Rainy Days and Rainbows) these are short animated stories that follow the very cute sibling duo of Stella, Sam and their dog Fred.Most of what I stated in the previous stories holds true here, including my criticisms.

But, that said, the more time I have with these stories, the more endearing the characters are. Of course, this is also something I recognized from the get go with the previous books.

These are highly polished works, so much love and care has gone into the story and animation that it really blows me away that people care this much about unique iPad creations.

The animation is on par with what you’d see in a Little Bear cartoon, or Max and Ruby (heck, I’d hazard to say that it’s even better than Max and Ruby).

The music is great, the navigation is seamless and the entire thing just feels rock solid.

But as I stated with the previous app, it is very short. Watching all 3 of them together will take you about 20 minutes, give or take.

With a little one, it might be a bit longer as I would guess kids under the age of 3 will want to redo the activities a few times, or they just might take a bit more time to do.





The chapter listing for both books. You can see there are 3 games and 4 chapters in each book

The games included are mostly the same as with Rainy Days, but there are a few that really stand out from the pack. In “Backyard at Twilight”, I was really impressed with Connect the Stars and Firefly Pictures. In Into the Snow We Go, Pictures in The Snow really stood out.

Pictures in the SnowThe aptly-titled “Pictures in the Snow”. A simple pick up and drop game, but the pictures animate after the pieces are dropped and they are also quite cute.

Connect the StarsConnect the Stars is also very simple, but the pictures are quite beautiful and lightly animated. It’s nice to be able to see the face of your child change as they start to realize what the picture is…. even if they get it a bit wrong ;)

Firefly PicturesFirefly Pictures is a “chase the dots” game. You touch the fireflies, they jump to their spot and begin to put together an image. It’s not as inventive as connect the stars, but it’s cute to see your kids chase them with their fingers.

Why were these so fantastic? Dynamic content. Unlike some of the other games, where the result is more or less the same, these change. I didn’t count exactly how many of each type there were, but I was able to create 3 or more out of each of them. To me, things like this are important. They keep it fresh for kids, and it’s nice to have a change.

So there you have it. Again, these appbookgames are hard to define, without sounding stupid, but there is something very special about the subject matter. I want to know more about the night giant, I want to know how Stella and Sam lost the toboggan. And that’s saying something.

Of course, there are things that could be improved upon. It might be nice to have a switch that would allow you to turn the games off and just let it run (especially for really young children who aren’t able to do the games without their parents). I’d also like to see more complex games as well, something to appeal to the older children.

And most of all, more. Just more. The problem is cost. It isn’t cheap putting an app like this together, the animation and such, but I do think these are a bit on the expensive side for how short they are. Does it matter to the children who will want to listen to them again and again? No. But for the price, even another few minutes of content, be it games, coloring pages (seriously, a very inexpensive way to give something like this legs), more animation or even a snippet of a Stella and Sam book would give us an “Oh, okay – I’ll definitely buy the next one at this price, too” sensation.

Enough of me rambling about this, let’s get to the bullet points!

What’s Great

  • Easy and accessible for children from children of all ages (very young children may need help from an adult for the games) .
  • Endearing characters that are fantastic role models for siblings and people as a whole.
  • Crazy high production values. As I’ve said, you look at this and know it came from a top quality studio, it’s that good.
  • Easy to navigate, click on the ribbon at top and it pauses and you can choose what chapter/game you want from there. Couldn’t be easier.

What Could be Better

  • More content. I know, it’s asking a lot and there was much that went into this, but it is a bit on the short side.
  • More games, but also a bit more complexity/depth in what is there. Some of the games look pretty, but there’s nothing to them.
  • Since these are based on the books, allow easier access to find info on them. The Info page leads to a in-book browser. Not good. Have it open in Safari, no one will purchase books or really pay much attention this way.
  • Speaking about the books and TV show, give us more information on that! It’s great to find out they’re based on that, but there’s not anything useful about this in the links. Even if there might be something a few clicks past, this info needs to be there, now, in the front and easy to access.
  • Multi-tasking, please :) I know that this isn’t an app that you’ll lose all progress when you quit out of, but we have 4.x now, it should be a standard. Especially if there are links to go to about the author, the stories, etc ;) .

My Summary

Please, don’t take my criticisms to mean that I don’t like the Stella and Sam books. Honestly, I wouldn’t have spent the time I did reviewing them if I didn’t believe it was worth your time. There is something special, something magical, something really amazing about being a part of the adventures of Stella, Sam and Fred. They are amazing role models that any parent would be proud to show to their children. Fred, as the sidekick, is equally adorable. You couldn’t ask for anything more, as far as characters and quality of a product. But that’s the problem. If you give a person the most amazing ice cream invented, enough to make lactose intolerant people banging on the door to buy it, but give them a tiny thimbleful, they’ll be grateful they had it, but also be begging you for more. That’s how I feel about Stella and Sam. Of course, there were other analogies I could use here, but they’re not appropriate for my site ;) . At the end of the day, Stella and Sam should not be passed up. I’m cheap, so I’m always cognizant about pricing, but I can’t imagine anyone paying for the apps and not falling in love with them.


Review Overview
Animationwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.com
Little Bear/Max and Ruby type quality, you'd expect to see this on a national kids show, but it's even better than that.
Soundwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.com
Between Sam's cute lisp and Stella's Canadian accent, there is nothing I can complain about. Simply stellar
Interactivitywww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.com
Unfortunately there are only 3 games per book and for the most part, the games are short and there's nothing to really keep you coming back for more. Outside of that, you are just watching an animated short..
Replay/Re-readabilitywww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.com
You have to ask yourself, how often do your kids watch a short 5 minute clip? It's top quality, but it is only 5 minutes. But these are kids we're talking about here. I have to block out their music when they've repeated the same song 15 times!
Overallwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.com
Average score from all categories.

Price: $2.99

Into the Snow We Go iTunes Link – iPad ONLY

Stella and Sam - Into the Snow We Go

Price: $2.99

Backyard at Twilight iTunes Link – iPad ONLY

Stella and Sam - Backyard at Twilight

**Tested on a 1st and 2nd Generation iPad WiFi model.**NOTE – This is for the iPad ONLY! This will not work on the iPhone. It is NOT universal so please, please do not go in expecting this to work on your iPhone or iPod touch.

Posted in 0 - 1 Year Old, 2 Years Old, 3 Years Old, 4 Stars, 4 Years Old, 5 Years old, iPad, Kids - Books, Kids - Educational, Kids - Entertainment | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Toca Tea Party – A fantastic tea party with none of the mess!

Posted on May 8, 2011 by Nick Papageorge

Toca Tea Party – Stunning, awesome, fun, cute and the PERFECT social party app for kids.

Wow. Okay, so this might be a spoiler for this review, but wow. I have a LOT of apps and books for my daughters. A lot. They like a lot of them. They keep coming back to a lot of them, talking about a lot of them, etc.None have had the kind of impact Toca Tea party has.I contacted the developer about this because I’d seen it review a few places.

Because my daughters are 6, I thought they would be an interesting demographic for this, as they’re a bit older than what I believe the app is designed for. But they’re girly girls, and they enjoy tea parties.I sat them down with it, laid out a little blanket on the floor and gently placed the iPad on it.

Within a minute, they jumped into the game. Like that, the entire afternoon was sucked into the fun of them having a tea party with each other and their stuffed animals.

Disclaimer: These aren’t my kids, and my carpet isn’t that nice ;)

Now, this app isn’t going to teach your children how to read or how to do quadratic equations, but that’s fine with me.

What it will do is create a world of imagination for children. You have a simple, clean and perfect way of setting up a tea party for 3 people.

The process to set up the tea party is simple and ANYONE can do it. This is how the app can appeal to children starting at the age of 2, possibly even younger.

When you load up the app, all you have to do is start it up and click the “Play” button.

From there, it’s as easy as drag and drop! First, the Tablecloth. Click on it, hold down, and drag it right onto the table!

Once you’ve got the Tablecloth down, and there are 3 different choices with colors that change when you restart, you then start to set down the plates and cups. There are outlines on the table through each step that show you exactly where to put the plates. Great for the younger kids, and it keeps things in order for everyone!

Then, it’s just a simple click, drag, click, drag to fill the table with drinks and snacks. Once that’s done, the app fills in the rest. It gives you a box of tissues and jugs to refill everyone’s drinks!

Once you’ve done that, your child’s imagination can run free. They can keep it as a tea party for themselves, or grab their best toy friends to sit at each of the 3 spots. Once everything is set up, the drinking and eating is super simple. Just tap on the food to eat and tap on the drinks to drink. You’ve got a radio that has 2 stations of looping background music, it’s not much but it’s better than nothing!

Be careful, if you’re not – You’ll spill your drink! But no need to cry over spilled Lemonade, Coffee or Tea! Just grab a tissue and wipe it on up.

You get unlimited refills on your drinks, which is only fair because it’s a shame when you spill them. As for the food, you get a total of 4 sweets to eat.

One of my favorite aspects of the app are the sound effects as you eat and drink. They’re incredibly cute and add to the whole “adorable” atmosphere.

Multitouch is enabled, so if you’ve got a few kids going at a time, you can have each dragging a snack onto each plate. While you’re cleaning up a spill, someone can munch on a donut.

My only issue comes up when you finish up the snacks. The second they’re gone, the Toca Tea Party comes to an end. I’d like to see it leave it up, or provide a choice to keep going and refill. But, again, to keep it simple for users of all ages, it simply resets so you can do it again. I can’t fault the design for that.

And of course, once cleaning time comes up, the screen shifts and you can either drag your dishes into the wash, or let your iPad’s accelerometer do the work and let them drop straight into the sink. Either way is fine.

Once done, everyone gets a round of applause and a simple menu pops up to reset everything and start over or to go back to the home screen!

Anyway, I could go on and on, but I’m going to toss in a video to show just how much fun my kids had. This was their first time touching the app.

I think that says it all. They continued to play it after this until I finally forced them to stop. They could easily have kept going on and on.

Speaking of going on and on, I’m going to stop here and get on to the summary :)

What’s Great

  • Simple enough for a 2 year old to use with limited adult interaction.

  • So cute that it makes Hello Kitty look boring and bland in comparison.

  • Bright, colorful and engaging artwork, animations and sounds. If you don’t find yourself smiling after hearing the “Munch, munch, munch” sounds as your little one taps on the snacks, you’ve got no heart!

  • Multiple snacks, drinks, tablecloths and plate designs to choose from

  • Encourages imagination and social interaction

  • Completely closed design, no IAPS, no “sharing to Facebook”. The only thing close to this you’ll find is a link for parents to find other apps by Toca Boca. Perfect for parents who want to keep commercialization to a minimum.

What Could be Better

  • Forcing the tea party participants to “clean up” after they’ve eaten the snacks is a bit of a buzz-kill.

  • Other than eating, drinking or cleaning, you won’t find anything else here. No mini-games or anything. This isn’t an issue, as the app doesn’t promise any of that, but just be forewarned that it is a tea party and nothing more.

  • It wouldn’t hurt to have a bit more option for the snacks and plates.

  • More music! The 2 choices are okay, but it’s a little kitschy for my likes, and it wouldn’t hurt to have something else, or a bit more “cute”.

  • More spots. At least do a full 4 table settings. My daughters just played the part of their stuffed animals on the first run through, but the more they played with it, the more they were having their “friends” play, one more setting would just even things out.

My Summary

I had to struggle to fill out the section of what could be better. I can usually see both sides of the coin when I’m reviewing an app, but that was tough here. Toca Boca has provided an app that is simply fantastic. It does everything it says it does, and in such a incredibly cute and classy way. The way it promotes imagination and helps build social skills is something so rarely seen these days. Your child will get their hands on Toca Tea Party and it will change the way they interact with the iPad. There’s a chance it won’t enchant them the way it has my daughters, but assuming they’re under 7 and like having social tea party events, they’ll love this. No mess, self-cleaning and a magnificent app that I’m proud to keep on my iPad. In the future, I would like to see a full 4 settings, but there might be a reason there are only 3. I’d also like to see something that would be more “Boy” oriented, simply because this doesn’t NEED to be a girl-only app. Boys these days are playing with things that they enjoy, and that doesn’t necessarily mean trucks and monsters. I know if I had a boy, I’d encourage him to get in on the tea party action, as well. Having something a bit less “frilly” would be great. But these would just be the icing on a very tasty cake :)

Review Overview
Fun Factorwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.com
Tons of choices on your tablecloths, easy ways to munch on snacks and slurp up drinks, and a simple easy interface make this great for even the youngest, yet still appealing to older children
Soundwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.com
Incredibly cute, enjoyable sounds and music
Replaywww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.com
With multiple tablecloths, snacks, cups, drinks to choose from, this shold keep your little ones busy for quite some time!
Overallwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.com
Simply amazing. A charming and endearing app that will transform your iPad into an adorable tea party for 3. I cannot recommend this app higly enough, it's worth every penny, a must have for girls (or boys, if they're cool enough ;) ) to have a simple, fun and cute tea party with siblings and/or some close imaginary friends.

Price: $2.99
iTunes Link – iPad ONLY

Toca Tea Party for the iPad

**Tested on a 1st and 2nd Generation iPad WiFi model.**NOTE – This is for the iPad ONLY! This will not work on the iPhone. It is NOT universal so please, please do not go in expecting this to work on your iPhone or iPod touch.

Posted in 2 Years Old, 3 Years Old, 4 Years Old, 5 Stars, 5 Years old, 6 Years old and up, iPad, Kids - Entertainment, Kids - Games | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Stella & Sam: Rainy Days and Rainbows

Posted on May 3, 2011 by Nick Papageorge

Stella & Sam: Rainy Days and Rainbows, a seriously cute and sweet “moving story” for kids.

I try to focus on reading apps for my kids when it comes to “stories” on the iPad. Even if there are moving pictures, I generally try to find ones that at least have writing in the background to them, so Stella & Sam escapes from that box a bit, but I’ll tell you right off the bat – I don’t mind it at all.

The app is pretty straightforward. It’s a story about Stella, her little brother Sam and their dog, Fred.

It’s a rainy, ugly day outside and Sam is busy coloring and painting on the floor when poor Fred gets his feet into Sam’s paints and a very sweet little story ensues.

The Table of Contents, easily accessed by clicking on the “Ribbon” at the top of the story

The first thing I noticed when loading up the App/Show is that this is top, top quality. The production behind this is seriously StellaR (Sorry, I’m just in a bad pun mood today I guess!). The voice acting is great on every person involved and the character design and art is very, very appealing.

And not just to my daughters, but to me as well.

The story is a nice change from the now standard “Brother vs. Sister” type stories, where they put each other down or just constantly bicker. Here, they clearly love and respect each other. But it’s not done in a preachy eye-rolling way. It’s just… sweet and cute. And for a brother and sister willing to travel out in the rain to walk their dog, Fred, well that’s pretty darn cool.

The story alone lasts about 3 or 4 minutes. While it lasts, it is great. I’ve watched it a few times (for review purposes only of course ;) ) and I’ve enjoyed it quite a bit, as have my daughters.

The interactive games, of which there are 3, are nice for very young children. My girls, being 6, found them fun and all, but there was no challenge to them. There’s also not much in the way of staying power. You can’t save the pictures and the games don’t present much depth, especially if you were to compare them to the Toy Story interactive books.

But that on its own brings up an interesting point. This is a very different offering in the App Store. It’s not a book. It’s not a game. It’s not an entire show. It can’t be fit into a specific genre, but it certainly is appealing and should be considered if you have kids.

What’s Great

  • Top quality production. It’s like it was ripped right off of a fantastic kids show right from TV.
  • The story. It’s sweet, simple, not overly preachy and very enjoyable for parents and kids.
  • Highly appealing artwork, character designs and colors. I believe, as a parent, having characters that really attract kids to them will further instill an ability for kids to relate to who they’re watching, it works very well here.

What Could be Better

  • The games don’t really provide much for any kids over, say, 2. Even for those with younger kids, there’s very little interaction, and no huge draw to come back and do it again. You can’t save the pictures you create, and there’s really no purpose to the other 2.
  • The story is very, very short. Around about 5 minutes, maybe a bit less. Even if you include the games, it is a very small amount of content for the price.
  • Although it’s a great story with fantastic morals, there’s no educational value in the mini-games, they’re simply there for fun, and it would be nice to have seen a bit more “meat” to them.

My Summary

I find Stella and Sam: Rainy Days and Rainbows a bit of an odd duck to summarize. On one hand, it’s one of the most enjoyable kids stories I’ve seen in a very long time. The voice acting is simply superb and it makes me want to run out and grab the books this is based off of. The characters are terrifically cute, even Fred the dog. But as a parent who has to pick and choose where money is spent, it’s hard to justify spending $2.99 on an app that simply doesn’t have a ton of content in it, and that’s the problem. Nothing is bad, here, but there just isn’t enough. I want more. My daughters want more. And, honestly, for the price I would like to have seen more. If the app was slightly lower in price, or if they were able to add a full episode, it would be a no brainer. But, that said, my girls very much love it, and I can’t see them wanting to have it removed from my iPad anytime soon, so take that for what it’s worth :) .

Final Verdict

Fun, entertaining, but a bit too expensive for a minimal amount of content.

Price: $2.99
iTunes Link – iPad ONLY

Stella and Sam - Rainy Days and Rainbows

**Tested on a 1st and 2nd Generation iPad WiFi model.**NOTE – This is for the iPad ONLY! This will not work on the iPhone. It is NOT universal so please, please do not go in expecting this to work on your iPhone or iPod touch.

Posted in 0 - 1 Year Old, 2 Years Old, 3 Stars, 3 Years Old, 4 Years Old, iPad, Kids - Entertainment | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Will & Kate – Yes, a book about that. For kids. And, well, it’s not half bad

Posted on April 27, 2011 by Nick Papageorge

Will & Kate – A silly and endearing story about the Royal Wedding

It’s the royal wedding. I don’t care where you are in the world, you know what it is. You probably know the date. Heck, I have, in my email, something from Disney that’s talking about it! It may not be the number one thing North America is buzzing about, but in the UK and up here in Canada, it sure is!

So it makes complete sense that the 4-Person team at InkRobin (http://inkrobin.com) developed this silly and heartwarming story about the upcoming wedding of Will and, you guessed it, Kate.

As with InkRobin’s other book, “The Lollipop Lady Mystery” which I reviewed here, it is also narrated by a very well spoken British vocalist. The difference, this time, is that the narrator is female and the cadence is slightly faster and a bit peppier.

But outside of the narrator, “Will and Kate” is an altogether different book. The art style is very different, but not in a bad way. It is more relaxed and “cartoony” in its style. The colors are very bright and vibrant and the scenes are very descriptive.

This is perfect, as the intended audience is younger children who might not be as instantly drawn to a “wordier” story like “Lollipop Lady”.

And within the first few pages, you’ll see how it draws children in, even those who are getting a bit “old in the tooth” :)

There is a very high level of interaction with each of the pages in the book. I’d compare it closer to the Pop-Out series, or the Dr. Seuss book. 80% of the main “pieces” on the screen respond to your touch. It’s a very nice inclusion and it’s done very well.

If you touch on a dog, you’ll see it open its mouth and bark. During a scene on a farm where there are no less than 5 sheep on the screen, each one animates by opening its mouth and letting out a good old “Baaa!”. And the following scene to this you see a really, really cute sheep come over and eat Kate’s flowers. This also brings to note an interesting aspect to the art style, as it interlays the story graphics onto real life photographs. Instead of it coming across as cheap, it actually is done quite well and they’ve been able to fit it in perfect.


Poor Kate. Little does she know that in the time span of about 1 finger press, she’s going to lose those flowers. Bad sheep, bad!

Quite a few pages provide a sense of depth, allowing you to pan left and right. The words stay static, but it’s a very interesting sensation to be able to browse back and forth on the screen.Moving further, you are able to create fireworks by tapping on the screen. Another, again shown on the right, you can play “dress up” by helping Kate pick from 3 different dresses, each dress getting you an “Oooh!” and “Aaah!” or an “Ohh!” from an invisible crowd.

Help Kate pick out the perfect wedding dress for her Royal Day!

Another stellar sequence is the reception dance, where clicking on the female dancers causes them to spin on the dance floor, flaring out the bottom of their dresses in beautiful colors. It all finishes off with a bit of prognostication about how the wedding turns out and the happily ever after bit, but that’s fine. This is, after all, a bit of a real-life fairy tale.

What’s Great

  • Clearly written. As is typical for InkRobin, the grammar and spelling are spot on. The language of the story and its context is easy enough to be understood by younger children.

  • The colors (sorry, colours!) are vibrant as are the characters. The art style is relaxed and will appeal to those with young, eager eyes.

  • Interactions galore. You won’t find a single story page with less than 5 things you can interact with. Some have double that. Be it touching a sheep which snags Kate’s flowers or watching Will grow up from a little boy who loves a good Rubik’s Cube, you’ll never be bored or wondering what to do.

What Could be Better

  • As I’ve said before with other books, I do wish that the words would highlight as they are read. It’s not a deal breaker, but it’s helpful in teaching children how to read.

  • Although the woman narrating does a fine job, the quality of the audio recording isn’t the greatest. It sounds as though she’s recording the story through a hollow tube. It’s not poor, by any means, but it’s not as good as “The Lollipop Lady Mystery”.

  • No page select or ability to continue the story if you fully close out of the app

My Summary

Will & Kate is an endearing story about the Royal Wedding. It provides a fun book that will pull in kids as young as 1 or 2 but still provide enough interaction for kids much older than that. Who couldn’t love a scene where a cute sheep chomps off an entire bouquet of flowers on one finger press? Touching sheep that “Baa”, dogs that bark, fireworks that explode, a hot air balloon that flies higher and higher in the air – It’s all perfect for those inquisitive little fingers.If you have any interest in the Royal Wedding, or want to introduce your kids to a sweet and funny love story about a boy and a girl, this is the book to get. It has everything you could want in a kids book and it is clear much love has gone into it. Not only that, the book looks like the kind of quality you’d get out of the big book store app studios, another great MUST buy from InkRobin!

Final Verdict


  • Mom, Dad and Kid Approved!

iTunes Link – iPad ONLY

Will & Kate for the iPad

**Tested on a 1st and 2nd Generation iPad WiFi model.**NOTE – This is for the iPad ONLY! This will not work on the iPhone. It is NOT universal so please, please do not go in expecting this to work on your iPhone or iPod touch.

Posted in 0 - 1 Year Old, 2 Years Old, 3 Years Old, 4 Years Old, 5 Years old, iPad, Kids - Books | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Lollipop Lady Mystery – A Heartwarming Story for the iPad

Posted on April 18, 2011 by Nick Papageorge

The Lollipop Lady Mystery – another stellar interactive eBook with charm and character.

From the second you open the app, you’ll realize something about this book. It’s simple, clean, concise and made with love and care.

That may not seem like a lot these days, but it is. Suffice it to say, there is a lot about this book to love!

Getting into the book is simple, easy and you’ll find yourself at home with the menus if you’ve ever used any of the top quality book apps on the iTunes store (OM books, I’m looking at you!)

You can chose to have the book read to you (or your child) or to read it yourself. I personally prefer to read the book myself and it’s a welcome feature. I’ve found many books that don’t include this. I can’t figure out why, but it’s incredibly frustrating.

I started out by sitting on my chair with my girls, one on either side, and we started the book up. I wanted to have them listen to its narration, so I had them click on the “Read to me” and the book started.

Right from the first word, I knew I was in for a treat. See, I’m a sucker for a nicely done British accent, and that’s what was done here. A very nice gentleman comes in and voices Max, one of 3 siblings who are the main characters of the story.

I don’t know how these book developers get voice actors who do such a stellar job, but this is a case where it’s simply perfect. He emotes all the characters very nicely, and all are different. You’ll know when he’s speaking for Max, Millie, Colin, Mrs. and Mr. T, and that’s a very good thing. No boring flat speech here.

This is really important for this story, as well, due to it being a bit more for mature readers. I’m not saying your 2 or 3 year old won’t absolutely love it, they most likely will, but from how my daughters (who are 6) responded, I’d say it’s more suited for a 4 year old up.

To keep the story even more interesting, there are some minor interactive elements throughout. They are activated at any point and are as simple as a car honking to a slightly terrifying growl from Mr. T! My daughters got quite a kick out of that.

Throughout the story, the entire feel of the book is solid. I find so many books these days that are just lacking in any substance, that’s not the case here!

I can honestly say that The Lollipop Lady Mystery is one of the best kids books in the app store to date. I have a few different folders of kids books on my iPad, and I keep books of top caliber in one specific folder. In there goes books like the Disney Toy Story series and my Dr. Seuss books. I’ve proudly put The Lollipop Lady Mystery in there.

Why? Well it’s simple. The Lollipop Lady Mystery has just the perfect amount of character. You can relate to everyone in the book and you’ll find yourself, and your kids, connecting with Max, Millie and Colin throughout their journey. The care and concern for Mrs. T is real, and it’s handled in a way that’s realistic for children and that’s incredibly fitting.

So let’s finish up…

What’s Great

  • Clearly written. Great grammar and spelling, exactly what you need when your kids are learning to read! Elegant narration from a skilled voice actor that comes across as believable and connects with the characters, breathing life into people, rather than just reading words.

  • Cute and appealing art style that lends itself to the story, rather than overpowering it.

  • A reasonable amount of interaction through each story page. Nothing to cause major distractions, which tend to be problematic for some stories, but enough to add a bit of a fun element to each page.

What Could be Better

  • I’ve been spoiled with other books, but I really do wish that the words would highlight as they are read. It may not seem like it, but I find it a great learning tool for young readers as is being able to touch on the words to hear it spoken.

  • There are a few repeated sounds and pictures on maybe 2 or 3 pages in the book. Nothing major, but maybe a sound change-up just to keep it a bit fresh would be nice.

  • Allow us to continue where we left off. Many times I’ve had to stop a story in the middle to continue the next day, and it’s always a welcome addition for the book to keep its place for you.

  • Adding a “Younger Kids” mode to show arrows at the bottom. This could be in addition to, or in place of.

I know I added a bit to the “What could be better” part, but honestly, it’s all picking nits. The story is fantastic and it is one I’d recommend to anyone with children.

As for the price, I know some people may hem and haw on the price of “eBooks” but I can honestly say this is worth every penny. There’s a lot of content here, and it’s presented in a very professional way. This is a book that, in stores, I would feel comfortable paying $15 for, so to get it here for a fraction of that is a steal.

My Summary

All in all, it’s a book that my daughters and I will be coming back to on a regular basis and has found a home next to the iPad eBook greats. It’s a warm and sweet story, told by a fantastic narrator and wrapped up with some fun, interactive touch points.

This is the standard kids books on the iPad should aspire to be, simple as that!

Final Verdict


  • Mom, Dad and Kid Approved!

iTunes Link

The Lollipop Lady Mystery for the iPad

**Tested on a 1st and 2nd Generation iPad WiFi model.

**NOTE – This is for the iPad ONLY! This will not work on the iPhone. It is NOT universal so please, please do not go in expecting this to work on your iPhone or iPod touch.

Posted in 0 - 1 Year Old, 2 Years Old, 3 Years Old, 4 Years Old, 5 Stars, 5 Years old, 6 Years old and up, iPad, Kids - Books, Kids - Educational | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

4 Elements HD

Posted on April 13, 2011 by Nick Papageorge

Games like this are what the iPad was designed for. And as I’ve gotten older, are games that I’ve fallen in love with.

4 Elements isn’t anything that new. It’s not genre crushing. You won’t play it and go “MY GOODNESS, This is the next Bejeweled!”. It isn’t. But it brings quite a few new things to the table that make it very much worth your money.

Firstly, you should know that 4 Elements is a combination of a few different genres. The first you will encounter is a “Hidden Object Search”, popular with many of the Big Fish games (Empress of the Deep) as well as Mumbo Jumbo (Salem Witch Trials).

It also incorporates, to a smaller degree, “Spot the Differences”.

Both of these “mini-games” take a back seat to the primary focus, which is a match-based puzzler.

When I saw the initial screens for the game, I was intrigued. Primarily because I knew this would be a game that not only I could relate to, but that my children could as well. What 6 year old girl could turn down a fairy? And it’s also a perfect match for my wife, who enjoys casual puzzle and hidden object games.

Once I got into the game, a few things became clear.

The first is that the Hidden Object section of the game is actually very, very minor. You will start each chapter having to find around 4 or 5 items. You won’t be searching for candlesticks, matchbooks, paperclips.

Instead, you are looking for pieces that make up the 4 or 5 items that in turn allow you to interact with the background of the scene.

This is a very fresh take and it makes everything relevant. You aren’t looking for things that make no sense or are completely out of place. And although it’s much shorter than scenes you would find in, say, the Big Fish Adventure games, it never feels as though you’ve been cheated.

Once you get past this, you are then brought to the match puzzle section of the game.

In this section, you’ll find the meat of the game. This is the most unique part of the experience, and is very similar to the match experience you would get in Disney’s “Blackout”, an iPhone/iPod based puzzle game that is also quite fantastic.

Your goal is to take the Green Energy from one end and bring it to power the earth plant to the right (and up, or down, or whatever).

You’ll go through a few of these, “Decoding” the story as you go. I won’t spoil the stories, but they are enjoyable, if a predictable.

Now, the game doesn’t just give you these match puzzlers alone. It ramps up the difficulty slowly, adding new obstacles. And with those obstacles, new tools in the form of chargeable power-ups.

Spades that remove one square. Bombs to clear large areas of “gems”. A switcher power up that changes the place of the gems. You get the idea.

The power ups, the obstacles – they all tie in nicely to keep the game challenging and fresh. And yes, it gets a bit repetitive. Playrix does its best to mix things up, though, and it works. It works very well.

The game isn’t going to take you a month to finish. It will probably give you a good rainy day’s worth of play. You can have multiple profiles so if you have a family sharing one iPad, each person can have their own game.

One of the things that’s very interesting about this genre of games is that they initially appeared on the PC platform, some 3 or 4 years ago.

4 Elements HD was released in about 2008 and received fairly positive critical reception. Not much changes here and the graphics are sharp and attractive. The story and theme are relevant and don’t feel out of place in 2011.

To summarize…

What was Great

  • A fantastic mix of casual gaming genres (Hidden Object, Spot the Differences, Match Gamesd)
  • The graphics are sharp, attractive and very appealing.
  • A simple, but enjoyable, story about saving the planet while uncovering fantasy and mystical elements/creatures along the way.
  • Gradually increasing difficulty that never makes the game feel unplayable.
  • Perfect for both adults and children, though I would recommend children under 7 have their parents there to help read the story to them and assist with the more difficult hidden object/puzzle elements.
  • Unlike some hidden object games, even those geared toward younger players, the pieces are visual representations. I don’t have to try and describe a scimitar to my daughters :)

What wasn’t so Great

  • Although the game tries to provide a lot of variety, by the time you reach the end of the story you’ll probably want to take a break from this style of puzzle matching.
  • There aren’t enough Hidden Object scenes, and they are so nicely done it makes you wish for more.
  • No ability to zoom in/out of the Hidden Object scenes.
  • Having to go back to the main screen to continue on in the story, allowing a “Continue” option after finishing a puzzle would be stellar.
  • Unlike Hidden Object games with random items, you’re not going to see any difference if you run through the story again, all items are the same.

Should you buy this game?

If you are someone who likes puzzles, match games, casual games that will offer up a light challenge without making you feel like you need to consult a walk-through, this game is right up your alley.

This is the definition of casual gaming, and I believe it works flawlessly on the iPad platform. When I got my first iPad in June of 2010, I passed these games up, not giving them a second look. Now that I have paid a bit more attention, I understand why they are so popular.

That said, they are also very expensive. Most of the games are between $6 – $10 on the US app store and many of them will literally last you a day of play, max. Very few offer any replay value. Once you’re done, you’re done. The only way you’ll get more out of it is if you’re the kind of person who likes playing games over from the start with no other variety, or if you’ve got other family members who can share the game with you.

In my case, with a family of 4, it’s a no brainer and worth the price.

Playrix has done a great job with this game and it only makes me want to see what more they have to offer.

Final Verdict:

  • Mom, Dad and Kid Approved!

iTunes Link:

4 Elements HD on iTunes App Store

**Tested on a 1st and 2nd Generation iPad WiFi model.

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Posted in 4 Stars, Games - Picture Search/Hidden Object, Games - Puzzle, iPad, Kids - Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment