Bottom Line: Fun app for children (and adults) that mixes creative car building with racetrack driving.
In Build Cars with Edward and Arthur, an app developed by PlayWithMotion, Edward the Alligator and Arthur the Turtle work in an auto-shop that is stocked with all the parts your child will use to build his or her very own automobile.
Starting with just the bare-bones framework of a car, the child will need to add an engine, seats, tires, and parts of the body to the car. Once built, the child can take their car for a test drive on the track by dragging it along the track with their finger – very easy! Along the way, stars can be collected. The more stars the child collects, the more new parts for their car they can purchase. Stars are also needed to unlock new tracks for the child to test drive on, and each new track adds a level of difficulty to the course.
This app does a great job of combining creativity and mechanics. The child can be uber-creative while building their cars as some of the options for seating include a regular car seat, a park bench, and a toilet seat. The child can choose to build a “matching” car with the back, middle, and front all being parts of a police car or a sports car, for example, or they can mix and match. The possibilities for car design are endless.
While on the track, however, the child will begin to realize that certain designs may not work out so well when driving. For example, the child may run into some muddy slick spots, and if they don’t have the right tires, they might get stuck. Also, different engines will allow them to go faster on certain tracks. The child will therefore learn about cause and effect and need to redesign their car for better results. Very cool.
The app could do a better job at explaining this feature, however, with some short text when selecting each part or on a basic instruction page/tutorial. Otherwise, I think the potential learning opportunities are going to get lost on most kids. It is mentioned in the iTunes description.
The app actually has no instructions, visual or otherwise, at all, which is generally not a good idea.
The graphics in this game are high quality. In the garage, there is a great 3D effect when putting together a car. The track is an overhead view, but still great quality – you can even see the shadows of the rocks and plants as you drive around the track.
One thing you may want to watch out for: the iTunes description states that this app is not currently working on the original iPad, but that it is working fine on the iPad 2 and 3 as well as on iPhone 3Gs and above. But later in the description it says that this app is available for iPads and iPhone 4 and above.
We tested it on an iPad first generation and it worked fine, so it seems just like a bit that needs to be cleaned up in iTunes.
Build Cars with Edward and Arthur is definitely worth a look.
***
If you would like to purchase Build Cars with Edward and Arthur ($1.99 for the iPad and iPhone) please support Smart Apps for Kids by using this link button:
This review was completed by Allison Kelly, who has been a teacher for 14 years. smartappsforkids.com was paid a priority-review fee to complete this review in an expedited manner.
Comments