The app Angry Birds has become a big winner with all ages, but it is by far not the only game like this. A number of different apps work on what is considered the “physics” principle. That is, determining what direction to launch a character, in this case a bug, in order to land in the designated location. As many similar games, Jump Out has multiple levels, so can be played by children as well as adults. Since the game takes logic, planning and strategy to move forward, the game is rated for the age of eight and above. In total, the game has 75 levels, four characters with different looks and personality traits—from a cute little squeaky bug to a sort of shrimp-looking being–and eight objects. New levels are being added all the time.

In the game Jump Out, as its name implies, players need to help the bugs leap out of different types of perilous situations while rotating on sprockets, such as being stuck in cardboard boxes and computers. When helping these little critters, winning players are awarded and can collect stars. This can be done by launching—tapping and dragging a finger away from the bug–and releasing. The result is the bug leaping off the sprockets. Another reason for older children playing—the losing bugs, for example, curl up and die or fall to the bottom of the screen like they have been hit with Raid.

When you drag your finger, a thin line appears to let you know the general direction that the bug will travel in its launch. This makes the physics a little bit easier, since you have some idea on any obstacles in the path and how you are lining up with the final destination. It is also possible to ignore the bugs that are too difficult to launch, since you only have to send one critter on its way to move onto the next level.

The characters are lovable enough that you want to save them. The insects, which are the easiest to launch, are as cute “as a bug in a rug.” The crickets, which can bounce from place to place make little eye movements, and the shrimp moves along in a bubble. The insect says “hallo,” when tapped.

Gaming aficionados, or those people who are addicted to this type of game and play each one that is available, say that Jump Out is not as difficult as some of the other available apps. Yet, for an older elementary schooler and even tweenager, it’s a fun game. In fact, I admit to playing it even after I had finished writing this review.

By Age Range, By App Feature, High School +, Just For Fun, Middle School, Primary School, Reviews

Xperica HD is a really unique, educational and interactive iPad app that includes four physics experiments, ideal for the high school student studying physics. It has been twenty years since I took physics in high school and although I have vague memories of enjoying this subject, I remember very little of what I learned. When I first opened this app, I thought I was going to have to pass on reviewing this application as the subject matter is now way over my head, and this app lacks any reference material needed if one does not have a basic understanding of what is going on.

Even though I understood very little of what I was looking at, I could tell how educational this would be for the right student with some base level of understanding of physics, so I asked my dad, a retired engineer and professor, to look at this with me and tell me his thoughts. All throughout school, I turned to my father for help with all my math and science homework, as often times my dad had a better grasp of explaining the subject matter than my teachers did, so I thought he would be the perfect person to give his insights.

The lack of a textbook type reference material within this app did not phase my dad at all, who knows this subject matter well, and he was fascinated with the educational aspect of this application. Impressed that this app was free, I asked him if he would pay the $3.99 to buy an additional pack of six experiments for me if I were in high school and his answer was a enthusiastic “yes.”

Typically, I am not a fan of add-ons, but this app delivers a lot of content that my father looked at for quite some time, making this app very worthwhile with or without the additional experiments. I wish this app were available when I was taking physics, I think it would have added a great deal to my experience, especially at home as you can do experiments not possible until now in a home setting.

Here is my father’s impressions of this app:

“This a great app. It is suitable for a high school student and even for a student taking (college) freshman physics. The app consists of four experiments: The Law of Moments, The Specific Heat of Water, Resistance of a Series Circuit, and the Oscillation of a Spring. Each experiment consists of varying parameters and seeing what happens. The amount of physics explanation is minimal, however, so reference material may be required. Alternatively, the student can try to derive the correlating equations from the experimental results. I think that this is a very valuable teaching tool, which allows a student to see how the systems described by the experiments operate and, for the more advanced student, may allow him to actually discover the physics behind them.”

I recommend this app for anyone studying high school, possibly early college physics. Also note that the website associated with this app mentions that teacher resources and other learning material will be available at some point in the future, an addition that I think would be great, especially for parents who may know less physics than their child but still want to participate in the use of this application. I think that apps such as this are brilliant new tools for learning, I hope I continue to see more educational apps such as Xperica HD in the future. iPhone users be aware that a version for iPhone is coming soon.

By Age Range, By App Feature, For Parents, High School +, Just For Fun, Reviews, Science

I know, Halli Galli is probably one of the silliest names for a game on the app store, but I urge you to look past that and spend some time with a simple and incredibly fun set-collection card game for the entire family.

I have to say that this is one of the most frequently played and one of our most requested. Its execution, while simple, provides flexibility that will work as a great challenge for adults, but is easily played with children as young as 3 years old.

Halli Galli is broken into 3 modes, and although the goal in each version is to collect all the cards, how you go about it varies. In each game, you have a split set of cards, and each turn one card from every player’s deck is placed on the board. When playing against other players, it’s a race to ring the bell, and I’ll explain further how each mode works below:

Junior mode – Our MOST played mode and the most accessible mode in the game. In this mode, you watch the cards until you see 2 smiling clowns that are of the same color. If you’re wrong, you give one card to each other player. If you run out of cards, you’re out of the game and the first player to collect all the cards, wins.

For more complex playing and for older kids and adults, the other 2 modes are great.

Classic – In this mode, each card is of a type of fruit and has a specific number of fruits on each card. Once you see a a set of cards that totals exactly 5 fruits of one kind you ring the bell. The same rules for Junior apply for winning.

Extreme – This is where it gets really complex and challenging. The cards deal faster than other modes, and you ring the bell when you see 2 identical cards or when a monkey appears and there are no lemons, an elephant appears and there are no strawberries and when only a pig appears. Another difference is if you’re wrong, you “Go to Jail” and your cards get placed under the bell. The next round you win, you only get your jail cards back. Lose a round while in jail you’re out. Everything else is the same.

Each version has 3 different modes. Arcade, Single Player and Multiplayer. With Arcade, you’re the only player and if you’re wrong, you lose 3 cards (there’s no Jail in Extreme). Single Player pits you against 4 computer players with 3 difficulty levels and Multiplayer allows you to play with 2 – 4 people.

I have had so much fun playing this with my 6 year old twins. Huddling around the iPad makes you realize just how perfect a platform it is for these types of games. And it’s great, you don’t have to set up any cards, you don’t have to worry about the bell not working, or someone missing hitting it. You just get to really bond as a family and play a unique and fun game.

I also think it’s an excellent educational tool that will get your kids (and you!) to really learn to focus your mind to watch for matches, and is a great way to improve your reflexes and hand-eye coordination.

I cannot recommend Halli Galli highly enough, it’s a game that will grow with your family no matter how old they are. And most importantly at the time of this writing both the iPhone and iPad version are on sale for $0.99. You can’t even buy a plain deck of cards for that price!

By Age Range, By App Feature, Counting, High School +, Matching, Middle School, Preschool, Primary School, Reviews, Shapes, Social

Every now and then you’ll see an app that really makes you do a double-take. ROBOT 99 is one of those apps, both visually and in its gameplay.

ROBOT 99 is simple. Robots live up in the sky, in clouds (seriously) and every now and then, they lose their footing and fall toward the ground. What’s the only thing that can save them? Fingers! Your fingers, your kid’s fingers, your friend’s fingers! As many fingers as you can fit on the screen!

The controls are spot on simple right from the get go. To save a robot, simply touch it and its parachute will deploy, carrying it safely to the ground below. Once it touches the ground, it will set its jets in motion and fly back up into the sky where it belongs and reward you with points. You have 3 robot “lives” to get as many points as possible.

Sounds simple, right? Well, although it’s simple, it gets crazy very quickly. Multiple robots are on the screen very quickly and they continue to appear one after the other. So you’ve got all these ROBOTS around, now you need to get some points. Tapping rapidly on a ROBOT will build up a point multiplier. You can also drag a ROBOT to the “POWERZONIA” section (a bar that runs across the screen) which will give you lots of extra points, but also give you a massive speed boost, firing your ROBOT at super speeds back up in the sky, but you have to be careful throughout this, as it’s easy to make ROBOTS bounce into each other and cause them to fall to their doom.

Now here is what makes ROBOT 99 special and very different. You can go through this whole chaotic experience with the entire family. I spent almost an hour sitting beside my daughters playing on my iPad, fingers flying trying to save these poor ROBOTS. Within minutes, we were all laughing hysterically. It was really a magical, albeit crazy, experience to share.

And it is a beautiful experience, too. The design, hand crafted by the developer, is bright, gorgeous and detailed. There are 99 unique ROBOT designs, so you’ll never see the same ROBOT twice. It is also designed for the Retina display on the iPhone 4, but the iPad is no slouch, it’s stunning on both.

Now ROBOT 99 isn’t perfect, there are a few marks against it. The biggest issue I have is the lack of changes to the game. Other than the background and the landing area, everything else basically stays the same.

Also, although anyone with fingers can play the game, it takes a fair amount of skill to get a high score. It’s also a game that’s not “winnable”, you unlock levels by a cumluative score and for kids who need a standard “Level Complete” screen, this might not be for them. My recommendation on minimum age would be 5 – 6. Kids over 6 will have a better chance at getting into the skill of the game and start to see higher scores.

So, is ROBOT 99 for you?

Are you in the mood for something different? Do you want a casual, hectic and crazy game you can share with 2 or 3 other people? If you are, then this is right up your alley. And at this point, ROBOT 99 is $0.99. It is a no-brainer at this price and is great fun for the whole family, and will likely get everyone in hysterics while they play. The designer, Keng-Fu, said that he aimed to create a fun, multi-touch game for families. I can say for certain that he succeeded.

By Age Range, By App Feature, For Parents, High School +, Just For Fun, Middle School, Primary School, Reviews

The controversy whether or not to rely heavily on results of the Scholastic Aptitude Test for college applications continues, and increasing numbers of schools are either not requiring SAT results or are giving greater weight to other criteria. That being said, SAT scores are still important for many colleges and universities. This is why there are so many SAT iPhone and iPod apps. Some of them focus on mathematics or vocabulary, others have a more general approach. Mark Anestis, a tutor for the last 13 years at a test preparation company and author of several test prep books, has jumped into the app market with the SATLadder.

Recognizing that many teenagers are not into the standard SAT computer learning programs because they are too much like schoolwork, Anestis decided to make an app that would turn the learning into a game. It was also important for the students to determine and enhance their strengths and identify and work on their weaknesses through practice and review. “I wanted to produce a test preparation product that capitalizes on the fact that teenagers like to compete and at the same time help them accomplish their goals.”

Users can play the solo mode and participate in five-round matches against the SATLadder app. Each of these rounds consists of questions in mixed areas of math, reading and writing, and all questions are automatically kept on the student’s profile page at www.SATLadder.com for later review. Students are told when they answer incorrectly and which answer is right. They are also see the length of time it took them to answer each question.

Students can also play in the head-to-head mode and have either friendly or SATLadder matches against specific or randomly chosen competitors and then be ranked on the SATLadder on performance level. The students can work toward making their way up the ladder to get up to the #1 spot. The SATLadder app includes more than 2,000 questions with answer explanations and definitions to over 1,000 high-frequency SAT words.

Admittedly, when I was reviewing the app, I kept on saying, “I’ll stop after the next set of questions…” and found myself wanting to see if I would get the next and then the next series right or wrong. Although I always had high grades in school, I never was a good test taker. I wouldn’t have minded having an iPhone game that I could play off and on during the school day to prep me a little. I don’t know if my score would have greatly increased, but every new thing learned would have been in my favor.

By Age Range, By App Feature, High School +, Language, Math, Reading, Reviews

This iPhone, iPad and iPod app “shows to go you” that science, especially physics, can taught in an interesting way that it is not dry and expressionless as was the case with a few of my junior and high school teachers. Actually, it can be fun, as the information on the app says, for the whole family. Go Car Go also demonstrates that it does not take rocket science to teach science. This is a very simple app that clearly shows how different physical properties and design will alter a car’s performance. If I “get” it, anyone can.

You are given a wide variety of different options for constructing your own automobile. You are given the pieces of your car—simple circles (wheels) and squares (car parts) and just have to drag them over to the main screen to design your car. Let’s say, for example, that you vary the weight of your new creation. What will happen as you put it into gear and it starts driving up and down hills? This brings back memories of those Boy Scouts car derbies I did my sons. I wish I had the app then.

In terms of physics, the concept deals with mass, weight, and inertia—different words, same concept. Mass is the amount of matter in an object; bricks have a lot more mass than sponges. Weight is the gravitational force exerted on an object. Weight depends on the mass of the object. The earth will pull on the brick more, so it is heavier. Mass always remains the same; weight changes. So, if you make two cars, the one with the greater mass will weigh more. OK. Now add in inertia. That’s the tendency of objects to resist motion. A still object remains still unless a force causes it to move. An object in motion stays in motion unless a force makes it stop. Finally, the more the mass, the more the inertia or more difficult something is to stop. When I see a chocolate candy bar, it is difficult for me to stop moving.

So, who cares? Right? I just went through all of this explanation to demonstrate that just by making a couple of cars, you can actually see all these physics concepts in action. You are actually learning and not even realizing it. With Go Car Go, you are given 48 different courses, each with its own set of obstacles. When you make your car, you can guess what is going to happen once it gets going and see if you are right. There is also a Sandbox Mode to let you compete with others for who travels the longest.

I love the very simple stick drawings on this app. It does not clutter up the science with a lot of unnecessary bells and whistles. However, do not just hand this over to your kid and say, “Here. This will help with your physics questions.” The concepts are explained—easily—but having an adult read along and provide some explanation would be helpful for younger kids who are just getting into Isaac Newton. There are no ages listed that I could find. Elementary school children can just have fun building and watching their cars move along or flip over. Junior high school kids will need some assistance. High schoolers and adults—you too—will have fun and even learn a thing or two.

By Age Range, By App Feature, For Parents, High School +, Just For Fun, Middle School, Primary School, Reviews, Science

The Raven By Edgar Allen Poe from vNovel Interactive delivers two well-done versions of this classic gothic poem. Choices include watching this poem, nicely enhanced with music and voice-over, or reading this poem to oneself. Here the experience is heightened by the use of sound effects nicely placed throughout. Be sure to keep an eye out for hidden faces that appear and disappear among the illustrations. A version in HD is also available.

From the time this famous narrative poem was first written in 1845, many versions have been made available to the fans of Edgar Allen Poe. Here, I found both the experiences of “listening” as well as “reading” this application to be nicely stylized and good choices for anyone who is looking to be exposed to this gothic tale, as the illustrations further the experience and are extremely well done, as is the music and narration. Although the narrator speaks a little fast at times for my taste, the sound of his voice works very well to create an eerie, dark quality as do all the elements of this application.

I also very much enjoy the section of this app where one can read to oneself. Here, there are sound effects like doors creaking, wind blowing or noises from the raven itself. Although these sounds are sometimes a little on-the-nose, I find that they do add a lot to the experience and I appreciated being a little startled when the raven squawked for the first time. The words are delivered at the bottom of the screen and are easy to read – one phrase at a time, but it does to some degree take away from the original paragraph structure intended by Poe.

I think this would be a good application for students as well as Poe fans. The illustrations, music and narration make it a very worthwhile version of this classic poem.

Art, By Age Range, By App Feature, For Parents, High School +, Middle School, Primary School, Reading, Reviews, Social, Stories

Auryn Ink is an interesting app for iPad which simulates watercolor painting, geared to those with an intermediate to high skill level. There are a multitude of options artists can utilize that will bring this experience as close to really painting with watercolors that one can get without paints and paper, my favorites being how the colors blend and overlap like one would find while working with water colors, as well as how gravity affects the paint, having it run if the iPad is tilted. Other options include selecting canvases with different textures which will affect how the paint is applied in terms of paint flow and brush strokes. There is control over bristle patterns and brush strokes as well as the ability to wet and re-wet the canvas at will, and It is always nice to see undo and erase buttons in drawing or painting apps, something not possible to do when painting in real life.

I found that the interface of this app could be easier, but with some practice it became simpler to navigate. I think artists will appreciate this app when it is not convenient to set up paper and watercolors, especially while traveling and it is nice that one can email finished pieces, but I would also like to be able to save a painting as to go back and finish at another time and the resolution could also be better. This app is also not very sensitive, sometimes having to go over an area more than once for the brush stroke to register. I do think this would be enjoyed by artists who understand this apps limitations, enjoying the ability to paint anywhere they would like with no clean-up.

Art, By Age Range, By App Feature, Creativity, For Parents, High School +, Just For Fun, Middle School, Reviews

Treasure Island by Cyberia is an amazing adaptation of the classic Robert Louis Stevenson book for iPad, which does a really great job of incorporating many different elements together such as sound, animation, and interactions to make a wonderful interactive story.

I have really enjoyed this interactive storybook. This app showcases how iPads can bring books to life while still maintaining the reading experience. Although I do love a good narration to a story, I respect the choice of the developers to not have an option to listen to this book out loud. Geared to children nine years and up, this book is designed to be read either by themselves or with the help of a adult and would be a great choice in encouraging kids to read.

This book is full of beautiful illustrations combined seamlessly with interesting animated elements on many of the pages. Creative interactions are also included that, along with the animations, are never random or distracting but instead further the story. The use of sound is also wonderful here, which includes the sounds of both the sea as well as the “arg” of pirates as well as well-done music which creates great moments of suspense for the reader.

I can’t imagine a child not becoming completely drawn in after the first page or two. In fact, I wish I were a nine year old discovering this app for the first time. I can, however, imagine the period language seeming foreign to some young readers. If so, parents may want to help in the reading and share in the experience. I think this app can also be appreciated by older students as well, including teens and adults, as a great interactive story which has no age restrictions.

Thoughtfully abridged, parents will be happy to know that the style of language is maintained while making the story accessible to children and I really appreciate that there is a glossary of words included as well as a short biography of the author. I like the ease of the interface as well, swiping to turn pages and double tapping to raise a bar from the bottom of the page containing such options like a table of contents or a glossary as well as the option to turn off the sound and a general help button for instructions. It is also a nice feature that one can scroll through the contents option, looking for a specific page by viewing a small preview of each page – this working nicely as each page is unique looking. It is also nice that the app will open to the page you left off on, a very helpful for longer eBooks.

Cyberia has risen to the short list of developers I will be keeping a watchful eye on, hoping for another wonderful application from these thoughtful storytellers.

By Age Range, By App Feature, For Parents, High School +, Just For Fun, Middle School, Reading, Reviews, Stories

Gulliver’s Travels – Part I – Voyage to Lilliput very nicely brings the classic Jonathan Swift tale to the iPad with both abridged as well as unabridged versions, options include that include listening to this story or reading the full, original text by oneself.

I am very impressed with the way this application has brought Gulliver’s Travels to the iPad. I remember enjoying this book when I read it a long time ago in school, but I appreciate it even more now with the addition of beautiful illustrations peppered with moving animations that really bring the story to life, as well as an interesting musical score and sound effects. My favorite moment here is when Gulliver is first brought to the city, bound on a flat and moved by horses. The animation of this moment in the story combined with the use of music here is very captivating.

I like how the text being read appears on what looks like antiqued paper, both taking up the screen as well as appearing in the corner of the illustrated pages. The narration can also be turned off if one chooses to, but the narration is very effective here in telling the story and I enjoy listening to the narrator speak.

One also has the choice of reading the text in its full, unabridged form without narration. Here, all the text is shown as if it is printed on the antique paper like many pages of the abridged version. The illustrated pages remain as well, which I think is a nice touch. It would be nice if the app had a way of bookmarking the page that one may be reading in case called away before completing the story or numbers could be added to pages themselves to make it easier to look for the last page read. Luckily, there is a section which makes finding a specific page easier, allowing the reader to view a small preview of each page with the option of jumping to the page in question, but if you stop reading on a text page the small view of each page is less helpful in finding your spot. Page numbers are added to the preview window for the original version, but without page numbers in the story itself it is still difficult to find the place you left off, an issue because one may not be able to read the full 121 pages in one sitting, especially if one is reading to a child with a short attention span.

All in all, I think this app would be an excellent choice not just for those studying Jonathan Swift in school, but for anyone who enjoys a great story. I hope more beautifully crafted books like this from Inverted Pear are created, especially the other books in this series.

By Age Range, By App Feature, Creativity, For Parents, High School +, Just For Fun, Middle School, Preschool, Primary School, Reading, Reviews, Social, Stories