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Tag: Kids

  • The Last Tinker: City of Colors Review
    Reviews
    • iOS
    • PC
    The Last Tinker: City of Colors Review

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    While 3D platformers in the vein of "collectathon" classics like Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong 64 have faded over the past two console generations (if you're looking for slap-stick 3D platformers it's basically just the Ratchet and Clank and the Sly Cooper franchises keeping the tradition alive), there are a number of independent game developers currently working on games designed with this nostalgic style in mind. Leading the charge of the resurgence is Mimimi Productions with their 3D platforming adventure, The Last Tinker: City of Colors.Debatably, what led to the decline of the old collectathon games was how tedious they became after awhile. Finding every golden puzzle piece or golden banana felt like a chore, and players were literally locked out of new areas until they scrapped previous areas clear of these golden collectables.  The Last Tinker deals with this issue simply by not forcing players to find the golden paint brushes that are hidden within the game's environments. 
  • If… Review
    Reviews
    • iOS
    If… Review

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    Obvious moves aren't that interesting. So when it came to light that EA founder Trip Hawkins had a new startup working on a game to teach kids social and emotional learning (SEL), it raised some eyebrows. Well, mine anyway, and possibly Dwayne Johnson's. Now that game, If…, is live, and it's no less intriguing in the way it blends high production values and dedication to its mission to create a viable alternative to much of what school-aged children might otherwise play on their iPads.The story of If… (the title is inspired by a Rudyard Kipling poem of the same name) unfolds on a planet called Ziggurat where anthropomorphic dogs and cats once lived together in harmony. But something has happened to upset the balance, and it's up to your child's customized canine character to get to the bottom of it, starting with a special town called Greenberry. Your guide is named YouDog, a mentor figure who's one part Yoda, one part Mr. Miyagi and one part man's best friend.Other characters follow through the portal to Greenberry in short order to help you with the literal rebuilding. This is the least compelling part of the gameplay, requiring the simple gathering of several resources to restore buildings to their former glory.
  • Toca Pet Doctor Review
    Reviews
    • iOS
    Toca Pet Doctor Review

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    If you've got small children and a touchscreen device, there's a pretty decent chance you've already encountered a Toca Boca product or three. That being the case, we can probably dispense with the formal introductions and get right to Toca Pet Doctor, a game seeking kids 2 through 6 to help 15 different pets with their problems. The result is a colorful but brief burst of fun that should put some smiles on the faces of the baby teeth set.When it comes to intuitive design, Toca Boca is typically on point, and that's once again the case with Toca Pet Doctor. What you see is what you get: 15 different animals awaiting attention with nary a human in sight. It's like the waiting room to the world's cutest and quietest veterinarian's office.Tapping on an animal begins its mini-game, each of which asks the player to heal an injury of some sort before feeding the animal in snack. Not all of the maladies are created equal, as the rabbit has what appears to be a very bad multi-bone fracture but the worm simply has his tail tied in a small knot.
  • 12 year old takes a joyride to the border, blames video games
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    • Android
    • iOS
    • PC
    12 year old takes a joyride to the border, blames video games

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    When scouring the globe for the latest in gaming gossip, it's not often that a story comes out of my local paper - but hey, it had to happen sometime.On Tuesday, January 28th, a 12 year old boy from St. Catharines, Ontario decided to take his grandmother's Nissan Altima for a joyride. Unlike most kids who do such silly things and crash before the end of the block, this kid got pretty far. All the way to the Canada/US border, in fact.The Queenston-Lewiston Bridge acts as one of several gateways in Niagara between Canada and the United States, and it's a good 20 minutes from St. Catharines (possibly more depending on where in the city he started from). Not only that, but it requires some serious highway driving - including a trek over the monstrously tall Garden City Skyway that still terrifies me on every trip I take. 
  • Club Penguin on iPad takes a big leap forward
    News
    • iOS
    Club Penguin on iPad takes a big leap forward

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    As of today, My Penguin, the mobile companion app to the popular children's virtual world Club Penguin, is no more - but only because it's becoming Club Penguin for iPad.When it launched back in May, My Penguin was designed to give players a way to connect with the web-based MMO while also giving Disney Interactive a chance to learn about how people would interact with the game on mobile devices. Kids could dress their avatars, redesign their igloos and try out a selection of mini-games, but it wasn't the full Club Penguin experience.With its latest update and name change, the mobile version of Club Penguin is ready to take a big leap forward. For the first time, young gamers can play the same way they do online, teleporting to rooms, visiting their igloos, and everything else they've been accustomed to doing on the web.Disney Interactive Worlds Vice President and General Manager Chris Heatherly told Gamezebo that the mobile launch includes about 20 to 25 percent of the content found online, but regular updates over the coming months would get the two versions to be very close to identical before too long.
  • Clumsy Ninja Walkthrough
    Walkthroughs
    • iOS
    Clumsy Ninja Walkthrough

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    Clumsy Ninja is a simulation game created by NaturalMotion Games. You raise your very own ninja into a seasoned warrior by playing with him, training with him, and simply interacting with him as much as possible. Gamezebo's quick start strategy guide will provide you with detailed images, tips, information, and hints on how to breed your very best ninja."
  • Entertaining and Educating: A Journey to Fun Town with Touch & Learn
    News
    • Android
    • iOS
    Entertaining and Educating: A Journey to Fun Town with Touch & Learn

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    Inspiration is just as likely to come from unlikely sources as it is from the most obvious places. In the case of Touch & Learn, a British studio devoted to creating educational games and apps, it relies on a little of both.The surprising part of the equation starts with the Touch & Learn's founder and CEO, James Lewis. With experience as a Hollywood art director responsible for the look of work as wide-ranging as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Band of Brothers, he's not the first person who'd come to mind as a creator of kids' apps.Yet his motivation is both simple and easy to understand: he's got kids of his own, and he watched how easily they were enthralled by mobile devices."I'm a bit of a tech geek, and I got the original iPhone," Lewis said to Gamezebo. "Once I got over the fact that I didn't want to damage it and it wasn't so precious, I let my daughter, who was 18 months old at the time, just interact with it. It blew me away how intuitive the phone was. And then we got the first iPad and it was the same thing.
  • Toca Hair Salon Me Review
    Reviews
    • iOS
    Toca Hair Salon Me Review

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    For the last fifteen years I've sported a military-grade buzz cut, but not today. Today I am resplendent in an enormous shock of pink curls. Yesterday, it was long and green. Tomorrow, I think I might try an orange Mohawk.This is not because I've suddenly become a wig fanatic, but all thanks to the latest app from Toca Boca, Toca Hair Salon Me. As its name suggests, it allows you to put your own face into a digital avatar and then style and colour their hair to your heart's content. You can even add accessories like hats and glasses, change the color of their clothes, and pose them for a photo."Like everything the developer does, it's all perfectly intuitive. Start by browsing the pictures on your device, or taking another in-app so you don't have to pop out and boot the camera. Then fit your chosen image into one of four face shapes and sizes, adjust the apps' estimation of where the mouth and eyes are, and style away.The technology behind this is seriously impressive. So long as your photo is a pretty tight fit for the chosen head and you get the eyes and mouth right, it brings your avatar to life with uncanny accuracy. The first time I saw myself in the chair, closing my eyes against the hairspray, twisting away from the dryer and emitting little 'ooh' and 'aah' noises of appreciation, it actually creeped me out so much I had to put the iPad down and walk away.