The iPhone Mom

I think that Tap & Learn Animals is best suited for older babies and toddlers. It’s divided into two sections, “Tap and Learn” and “Choose and Learn”. In “Tap and Learn” you tap on a picture of an animal and then hear it’s name and sound. There are twelve animals to choose from. Six on the first screen and then swipe left with your finger to see another six. In “Choose and Learn” the app asks “where is the…” or “do you see the…” and you have to tap on the animal it asks for.  Tap & Learn is a simple app but it’s well done with cute animals and realistic animal sounds.

Price when Reviewed: $1.99

Seller: Anna Islamova

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

Any app that has “a-ma-jig” in it’s name is worth a look, isn’t it? Slide-a-ma-jig is an app that gives you creatures and then lets you mix and match their parts. It currently features 30 different characters, each divided up into five body sections. (Hat section, head, mid-section, legs and feet.) Pick a character, touch on one of it’s sections and then swipe to the left or right to switch to a new body part. Each time you swipe you’ll hear a cartoony sound effect. Zoinks! The original Slide-a-ma-jig creatures are something else all on their own but things get pretty wild when you start combining their bits and pieces. You can make some disturbingly wacky combinations if you put your mind to it. And if you’re in more of a random mood you can also shake your iPhone to get a creature that the app creates out of various creature parts. There are also 20 different backgrounds that you can use to really mix things up. My thoughts on Slide-a-ma-jig?  I think it’s silly, icky totally irresistible. My kids agree.

Price when Reviewed: $.99

Seller: Lucky Radish Amusements

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

Maddition turns addition and multiplication practice into a game. Bubbles with numbers on them float around the iPhone’s screen. At the bottom of the screen are buttons showing the numbers 1-9.  You have to tap on two numbers that add up to one of the bubble numbers on the screen. When you get it right the bubble pops and you move on to another one. If you get it wrong the bubbles grow bigger and bigger until they pop. When you begin playing you’re only allowed to have three bubbles pop before the game is over but as you do well you’ll earn bonus bubbles. If you want to make the game tougher you can switch to multiplication mode. Then you’ll have to tap two numbers that multiply together to make the bubble numbers. You can adjust both the level of difficulty and the number of bubbles that appear on the screen.  Lastly, there is a practice mode to the game that you can turn on or off.

Maddition is a change of pace from regular flashcards. It would be nice to see a subtraction mode in future updates.

I’ve been given five promo codes for Maddition to give away. If you’ve got a child who could use some math practice leave me a comment. The first five comments win a code. (Promo codes will only work in the U.S. App Store)

Price when Reviewed: $.99

Seller: thrum

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

Here’s a simple game that requires you to have fast fingers and quick eyes. Not my strongest skills but I gave the game a try anyway. In descention you’ve got a row of boxes that falls from the top of the screen. On top of that is another row of boxes and another and another. They just keep coming. The boxes will be different colors or have different shapes or icons on them, depending on the level that you are playing. At the bottom of the screen is a row of matching boxes. You must tap the boxes in this bottom row in the order of the row that’s falling down. When you’ve eliminated that row you then move on to the next one. Points are scored and will be higher if you clear the boxes in the correct order. As you move up in levels the colors and icons on the boxes change and there are more boxes in each row. (You can also change up the icons in the game’s options.) The falling rows are supposed to speed up as you eliminate more and more but it seemed to me that they were slowing down and then I’d catch up. There were a few times when I had the rows completely cleared and then had to wait for more to fall. Also, I’m not sure at what point you finish a level. I made it up to line 50 and the game was still going strong. A time limit wouldn’t be a bad addition to the game.  Descention turned out to be easy for me, even at the higher levels, because of the time it took rows to fall. My experience with the game felt too easy for an adult but I think it would be just about right for an older elementary school aged child.

If you’d like to give descention a try leave me a comment. I’ve got five promo codes to give away and the first five comments will win them. (Promo codes will only work in the U.S. App Store)

Price when Reviewed: $.99

Seller: thrum

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

Kid’z Maze is a labyrinth style game that has been developed for young children. It’s not intended for adults although honestly, these mazes are more my speed than the adult versions. The app has labyrinths without any holes so there’s no way to lose the ball and have to start over.  To navigate the mazes you hold the iPhone in landscape mode and tilt it in the direction you’d like the ball to roll. Guide the ball through the maze, when you reach the end you can move on to a new one. The app features 100 different mazes.  As you navigate through the labyrinths your ball will run into balloons that have the numbers 1-10 on them. Pop a balloon and the number is said aloud. So as you travel through the maze you get some practice counting numbers.

Kid’z Maze features four different labyrinth sizes – Small, Medium, Large or Extra Large. As the size increases so does the difficulty. You also have the ability to change the color of your ball, the color of the maze’s background and the colors of the tiles.

I think Kid’z Maze is a great app for preschoolers (and probably younger children). It gives them the feel of a big kid game without the frustration that can come from trying to play one. The fact that it teaches numbers is an added bonus.

Price when Reviewed: $.99

Seller: Omer Vinik

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

Breaker, Breaker good buddy, here’s an app that’s got little boy written all over it. Truck Modz let’s you build your own truck and then take it for a ride down the highway. And guess what – there’s even a CB radio for your listening pleasure. The app begins with your truck a-riding down that lonesome road. Tap on the wrench in the top left corner to switch up your ride. Choose a new color for a paint job. Tap on the wheels to swap them out for some stylish new rims. Tap on the front of the truck to change the type of cab and then tap on the back to change that up too. You can mix up snow plows and dump trucks and go crazy.   When you’re done and back on the road you can tap on the CB radio icon on the bottom right of the screen. Each time you tap it you’ll hear a different trucking message.

The 3D graphics in Truck Modz are fun. You can shake your iPhone to see the truck from a different angle. The background is constantly moving and changing. You’ll drive by cows and cactus, pine trees and road signs. Your truck moves forward by default but if you swipe your finger to the right the truck will stop. Swipe to the right again and your truck will begin driving backwards. Like Mater! There are also sound effects and some driving music. And yes, one of those sound effects is the warning beeping that trucks make when they’re backing up. You wouldn’t want to hit anyone on that virtual road.

I thought this app was well put together and my son enjoyed it. I’ve got just a couple of suggestions that I think might make it a great 18 wheel hit. The first is to make the wrench and CB icons just a smidge bigger. When my son first tried to play he couldn’t figure out how to change the truck and when I first saw the wrench I thought it would take me to a settings menu. Maybe making it larger and more “cartoony” would help the kids know that’s where they need to tap. Right now when you change the colors for the truck it repaints the entire truck. It’d be fun to be able to paint the truck’s front and back separately. Finally, the included recordings are good but sometimes I found them a little hard to hear and understand. Something that would make this app a slam dunk at my house would be if the app provided a list of CB phrases and let you record yourself saying them.  My kids would think that was an absolute HOOT and I don’t think their the only ones who’d feel that way.

Lucky for you I’ve run through  my limited knowledge of what you say when you’re on the open road. Which means that I can’t think of a clever way to end this review other than “Over and Out”. Bet you’re relieved.

Price when Reviewed: $1.99

Seller: LotusLand Studios, Inc.

Super Search 60 puts a twist on the hidden object game. This game gives you 60 seconds to find as many hidden objects on the screen as you can. At the top of the screen is the name of what you’re looking for and how many you need. (Sneakers x2). At the bottom of the screen is your score and the amount of time that you’ve got left. Tap on the objects as you find them and they’ll disappear. Now the row that had the object will shift down and  a new object appears at the top of the row. This keeps the objects on screen constantly changing as you play. If you take too long to find an object it will start to wiggle at you until you get the hint. When your 60 seconds are up the game is over and you’ll see your final score.

Super Search 60 is connected to Facebook so you can play against your friends. But if you’d rather not play against anyone else then you can compete against the clock instead. I’ve got just a couple of minor suggestions for the app. When you begin you’re asked to connect to Facebook. If you cancel the Facebook connection then you’ll be able to play offline. This is the process each time you visit the main screen. It would be nice to have the choice to play offline before you’re asked to connect to Facebook. I think it would simplify the process. My last suggestion is for a score board that keeps track of scores when you play the game by yourself.

Super Search 60 (Unlimited) lets you play the game for as long as you like. Super Search 60 (Free) allows you twenty minutes of play against your friends each week. I’m not sure if offline play counts toward those twenty minutes. I enjoyed Super Search 60. I thought it was fast paced, fun and something that my older children and I can both enjoy.

**Please see Matthew’s comment below about a game update!**

Price: Super Search 60 (Unlimited) – $1.99

Super Search 60 – Free

Seller: KlickTock

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

I found Playscape Matching to be an absolutely adorable matching game. The screen is covered with rows of clouds. Hiding behind the clouds are numbers, colors, shapes or letters. To play you tap on the different clouds, looking for matches. When you find a match a little bear named Ben will pop up and say “Yay!” or “Wow!” or something else encouraging. I don’t know why but the way he talks cracked us all up.

If you tap the small “i” in the bottom left of the screen you’re taken to the “Play Settings” screen. This is where you can choose the game’s difficulty level. The names of these levels made me smile. Here is what you choose from -  some clouds, cloudy or overcast. The names refer to the number of clouds you’ll be trying to match. Some clouds is the easiest level and overcast will fill your screen with them. Clever names and just like real weather. This play settings screen is where you choose what you want to match – colors, shapes, letters or numbers. You’re also able to choose the background that appears behind the clouds. Choose from sunny, rainbow, night or surprise. Lastly, you can see your high scores here too.

As I mentioned earlier I think Playscape Matching is adorable. It’s graphics are simple, colorful and appealing. Ben Bear provides just the right amount of humor and I really like having several choices of what to match. This is a great matching game for preschoolers!

Price when Reviewed: $.99

 Seller: Steven Romej

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

Math Kingdom combines math facts practice with an adventure game. You are the hero who must save a captured princess and recover the Math Kingdom’s stolen treasures. To do this you’ve got to solve math problems and make your way through the castle. You are asked to solve a math problem and then write your answer on the screen. If you get the answer correct you break though a castle wall. After breaking down ten walls you’ll face a monster. (They’re meant to be monsters but don’t worry, they’re not very scary.) The monster will present you with a more challenging word problem. If you solve this one correctly you recover one of the lost treasures. As you progress through the app the math problems increase in difficulty.  Each time you begin or continue a game you are given five “lives”. When you answer a problem incorrectly you lose a life. When all of your lives are gone it’s game over but don’t worry, this is a friendly app. It gives you the choice of starting over at the beginning or continuing where you left off.

When I was playing Math Kingdom I did have a little bit of trouble with the app crashing as I was trying to load a saved game. I powered off and then restarted my iPhone and after that I had no problems. I like the way Math Kingdom jazzes up math practice. This app is a fun alternative to flashcards. I especially like the way it incorporates actually writing the numbers. This is fantastic practice for kids and the handwriting recognition works very well. It did a terrific job deciphering my sloppy chicken scratch.

Price when Reviewed: $.99    FREE

Seller: Acoco Interactive

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

When I first tried playing Gluons I stunk. But I tried it again and after a little bit of practice I got better. Not great, but definitely better. This is an arcade style game that requires some quick moving fingers.

In Gluons you are trying to link up colored balls (gluons) before they run into the laser at the bottom of the screen. The longer the line of gluons that you create, the more points you earn. Colors need to be matched and there are special rules when it comes to some of the balls. You move the gluons by placing your thumb on the iPhone screen and creating a “force field”. When a gluon bumps into the force field it will bounce off and move. The trick is putting your force fields in the right spots so the gluons will bounce against each other and link up. You can also control how often the new gluons appear. Every time you tap the screen a new gluon shows up. So tap quickly to get gluons one right after another. Or tap slowly to give yourself more time to maneuver your force fields.  Each level has a specific amount of points that you are trying to earn in a set amount of time. When you earn the points, you’ll move up to the next level. If you have to leave the game then Gluon will save your spot so you can pick things right back up later on. Finally, the game has three different modes, smooth, mild and wild. So far I’ve only been brave enough to try out smooth.

My Gluons scores weren’t the best and it’s going to take some practice for me to get better at moving my thumbs and putting my force fields in the right spot. But once I got the hang of playing the game I actually had a hard time stopping.

Price when Reviewed: $.99 (on sale, normal price is $2.99)

Seller: 2 Cubed Ltd.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.