Price: 5.99$
Overall Score: 99/100
version reviewed: 3.1.0
reviewed:
What it is: a set of 12 activities and games.
What you do with it: the activities include: find the differences, memory game, puzzles, drawing, scratch cards, sliding puzzles, whac-a-mole etc. Please refer to our video preview (below) for more details.
What we liked: lots of activities and options. Simple illustrations. Ease of use. No distracting elements.
What we didn't like: no spoken instructions (for younger kids parental assistance is necessary). No background music. Some of the games may be too difficult for the target age group.
Free preview: if you are not sure try the free/demo version of Playground 1 - Best off Edition.
Appysmarts
iPhone
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Price: 2.99$
Overall Score: 99/100
version reviewed: 4.43
reviewed:
What it is and what you do with it: a set of 7 puzzles (careers, professions, role-playing): farmer, doctor, builder, teacher, dancer, scientists, fireman.
Slide the pieces in place to complete the puzzles. The name of each piece will be read out by the narrator. Some puzzles contain additional activities (e.g. growing crops and feeding farm animals, medical check-up etc.).
What we liked: the concept. Good variety of puzzles. Nice graphics and animations. Sounds and sound backgrounds. Fun factor. Ease of use (simple drag and drop operation, visual hints). Good educational value (especially for younger kids).
What we didn't like: the educational value could be even better. Some of the vocabulary may be too complex for the target age group.
Appysmarts
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Price: 2.99$
Overall Score: 99/100
version reviewed: 1.0.3
reviewed:
What it is:a set of 'mix and match' puzzles with animals (15 animals).
What you do with it: slide 3 strips containing heads/bodies/legs to complete an animal then tap different parts of the animal for sounds and animations.
Two modes of play: 'free' (just mix and match) and 'challenge' (complete all the animals as instructed).
What we liked: the concept, simple illustrations, sounds, ease of use, fun factor, no distracting elements.
What we didn't like: some animations may be too 'flashy' for more sensitive kids. Some elements are designed for fun but they may introduce false concepts (e.g. a hedgehog keeping a baby hedgehog in a kangaroo-like pouch). The educational value could be higher.
Free preview: if you are not sure, please see our 'See before you buy' video (below) or try the free version of the app.
Appysmarts
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iPad
Price: free
Overall Score: 98/100
version reviewed: 1.0
reviewed:
What it is: 30 picture puzzles, 16 pieces each picture. 3 modes of play (Rotate/Move/Slide).
What you do with it: complete the puzzles by rotating single pieces (Rotate mode), moving pieces into place (Move mode) sliding the pieces one by one (Slide mode).
There is a help/preview feature (depends on the difficulty setting: 'easy' - you can preview the whole image, 'medium' - only the contour, 'high' - the preview feature is off).
What we liked: 3 different modes of play. Some of the pictures are really challenging (especially in the most difficult mode). Easy to use. No distracting elements.
What we didn't like: we would like to see some sort of extra motivation to complete more than a few puzzles (e.g. some sort of a rewards system). The background music doesn't help concentration.
Free preview: if you are not sure, please see our 'See before you buy' video (below) or try the free version of the Puzzle Master Pics app.
Appysmarts
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Price: 3.99$
May contain `more apps` links
Overall Score: 98/100
version reviewed: 2.0
reviewed:
What it is: about 200 'wood-like' puzzles made with various geometric shapes.
What you do with it: slide the shapes in place to create various objects like buildings, vehicles, people, animals, plants or tools. There are three 'modes' with various difficulty levels and different graphic approach (n on of the modes the shapes have additional drawings on them, which make the picture more 'complete' graphically).
What we liked: the concept, very good graphics, easy navigation and operation, number of puzzles, the 'training' module for younger kids, three levels of difficulty.
What we didn't like: the voice is a bit 'robot-sounding' (especially in the 'shapes' activity). A some sort of a prompt system would be useful - for example when you drop a piece accidentally on the stage in the wrong place it stays there. Some pictures may be a bit too abstract (e.g. the turtle).
Appysmarts
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iPhone
iPhone
iPhone
iPhone
iPad
iPad
iPad
iPad
iPad
Price: free
Overall Score: 97/100
version reviewed:
reviewed:
What it is: an interactive counting book (from 1 to 10) plus a set of jigsaw puzzles with the monster theme (7 puzzles, about 3-4 pieces each).
What you do with it: read the book and tap the monster for sounds and animations. Tap on the numbers to hear them read out. The book includes a special 'touch read' mode (touch individual words to hear their pronunciation).
What we liked: simple graphics, fun characters, ease of use, no distracting elements.
What we didn't like: no 'read to me' mode with automatic narration (that's why we recommend parental assistance). The educational value could be higher (e.g. we missed some sort of 'count along' feature to count monsters' eyes, feet etc when they are tapped).
Appysmarts
Android
Android
Android
Price: 2.99$
Overall Score: 97/100
version reviewed: 1.0
reviewed:
What it is: an interactive counting book (from 1 to 10) plus a set of jigsaw puzzles with the monster theme (7 puzzles, about 3-4 pieces each).
What you do with it: read the book and tap the monster for sounds and animations. Tap on the numbers to hear them read out. The book includes a special 'touch read' mode (touch individual words to hear their pronunciation).
What we liked: simple graphics, fun characters, ease of use, no distracting elements.
What we didn't like: no 'read to me' mode with automatic narration (that's why we recommend parental assistance). The educational value could be higher (e.g. we missed some sort of 'count along' feature to count monsters' eyes, feet etc when they are tapped).
Appysmarts
iPad
iPad
iPad
iPad
iPad
Price: free
Overall Score: 97/100
version reviewed: 1.2
reviewed:
What it is: over 100 'woodenlike' puzzles with shapes, words, colors and sounds.
What you do with it: see our video presentation
What we liked: concept, graphics, sounds, smooth interaction, options (colors, autocomplete), number of puzzles.
What we didn't like: -
Appysmarts
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Price: 0.99$
Overall Score: 97/100
version reviewed: 1.2.0
reviewed:
What it is: a set of 50 animal puzzles
What you do with it: slide the pieces into place to complete a picture of an animal. Two modes of play; Toddler Mode: 10 simple 1 piece puzzles (4 animals on a page) and Pro Mode: 40 animals, about 8 pieces each.
What we liked: ease of use (the puzzles are suitable even for very young children), simple graphics, no distracting elements.
What we didn't like: the app could offer more educational value (e.g. the names of animals could be read out etc.). We wish there were more sounds and sound backgrounds.
Appysmarts
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Price: 1.99$ (was 2.99$)
May contain `more apps` links
Overall Score: 97/100
version reviewed: 2.1
reviewed:
What it is: 4 activities, 12 levels of difficulty.
What you do with it:
memory game (from 3 to 10 pairs, depending on the difficulty level)
find identical pictures (from 6 to 20 pictures)
jigsaw puzzles (from 3 to 12 pieces)
coloring activity (fill the area with color, from 3 to about 20 areas)
What we liked: the concept. Simple illustrations. Number of levels. Ease of use. No distracting elements. Overall quality of the app.
What we didn't like: could have more educational value (no spoken instructions, the names of colors, animals etc. are not spoken etc). Can get repetitive over time (no reward system, not much variety - apart from increasing difficulty). The 'find identical picture' activity (it is very basic). The background music doesn't help concentration.
Appysmarts
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