Bottom Line: The folks at Seven Academy have made my day. Crazy Gears is an app that opens up a world of play revolving around gears and pulleys and problem solving. It’s a free-play app about how things work together! Your kids will put their creative problem-solving skills to use the moment they start playing Crazy Gears.
This brand new app is 50 percent off until April 9.
If you’d like to download Crazy Gears (iPad/iPhone, $1.99 regular price, currently $0.99 through April 9), please use this handy link so they’ll know who sent you.
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No ads, no in-app purchases, external links hidden in parent section
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The goal of Crazy Gears is to use gears and ropes and pulleys to “pull” yourself to the next level. There are no rules about how it has to be done, and there are no real instructions about how to make it happen. That lack of rigid instruction gives your child the freedom to be creative and find new and inventive ways to make things work.
We gave this app a trial by fire at my house. I loaded it on both iPads, handed one to each of my kids, and said “figure it out.” They tried to ask me questions, but I held my ground. I wanted to see if my own children possessed the problem solving-skills they needed to advance from one level to the next. After a teeny bit of whining about needing help, they both settled down and realized that with a little bit of thought and imagination they could indeed figure it out. It wasn’t long until they were connecting ropes to gears and pulling themselves from one level to the next. They started comparing their solutions with each other, and it was really interesting to see how differently their brains work.
After they both had the hang of things, I confiscated one of the iPads to give Crazy Gears a whirl myself. Things started off simply enough. Attach a rope to the bracket on the wall, wrap it around a pulley, and hook it to a gear. If you’ve done things correctly, the gear will pull the rope taut and then will pull the wall across to take you to the next level. Finding a workable solution yields an immediate reward.
As you progress, the levels increase in difficulty. The number of elements involved in each solution grows with each level. Kids must start incorporating multiple gears together with ropes, pulleys, and keys to find the optimal way to move the wall. As more parts become available, children are able to get more creative to find a way to make things work. Sometimes the goal can be reached without using all of the pieces (my kids challenged each other to see who could move on using the least pieces).
With more than 60 levels, there is enough challenging play to keep kids engaged and active for many gaming sessions. Progress is held in memory, so little players don’t have to start over each time.
What I liked:
- Children are encouraged to use creative problem solving to reach their goals.
- The app is visually very engaging, with bright colors and interesting shapes and textures.
- The gameplay itself is smooth and seamless, a benchmark of a quality app.
What I might change:
- On many of the levels, I wish that the placement of the gears (or other mechanisms, depending on the level) was farther away from the wall being pulled. Sometimes things were so close that kids really don’t get to visualize how their solution worked before it is done and the wall is sliding over.
- I think it would be useful if there were an available option to turn on that would show solutions or give hints when kids get stuck. This option could be hidden in the protected parent section so that kids couldn’t use it as a crutch, but it would alleviate frustration that could occur when there is a problem that they just cannot figure out.
Overall, this is an app that I am excited about playing with my kids. Even though there are a couple of areas that have room for improvement, I’m calling this one of our new Top Picks with a good, solid 4 ½ star rating.
*****
Kelli is literally counting the minutes until spring break. SmartAppsForKids.com was paid a priority review fee to complete this review in an expedited manner.
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