Word Wheel is a word matching game with a few twists. The game starts with a choice: everyday words or animal words. Then the child flicks a slot machine like wheel until it selects an image of a hat, car, doll, egg, etc. Once the image is selected, a male voice narrates the word. Next to this is a second wheel which contains the word spelled out. When the child selects the right word, the wheel locks, and the narrator again says and then spells the word.

A settings button becomes accessible after 3 clicks. Settings include a range of tweaks for parents wanting to customize the difficulty level to the child. For “Easy”, suggested for 2 and up, a semitransparent picture matching the selected image appears behind the word. For “Medium”, suggested for ages 2 and up, the background colors of the matching pair are the same. For advanced, aged 4 and up, no hint is given. A “switch wheel” option is also given, which enables the child to match word to picture instead of the reverse.

The most interesting setting is the creation of custom words with custom images. I was able to create a word with my son’s name, load a picture for it, and record myself saying it. I could not, however, figure out how to get it to display in the game.

I seriously question the utility of this game for the pre-literate set; my two-and-a-half year old showed no interest, and my 4-year old tired quickly of the game

By Age Range, By App Feature, Primary School, Reading, Reviews, Toddlers