Bottom line: My Town: Cinema is the newest offering from our friends at My Town Games LTD. Your kiddo can explore movies from the filming process to the projection room right down to settling into a seat to watch the completed films. Pop some popcorn and join the fun!
If you’d like to purchase My Town: Cinema ($2.99, iPad/iPhone), please use the handy little link we’ve prepared for you.
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No ads, no in-app purchases, external links to developer’s other apps
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Do you have a budding Spielberg or Scorsese in your family? If so, My Town: Cinema is lets them explore the world of film making (and watching). Whether they want to direct films, design costumes, or simply run the concession stand, the latest My Town app has them covered. They can purchase snacks and settle into a darkened theater to watch one of ten My Town films.
My Town: Cinema works with the same type of mechanics as the other virtual play apps in the My Town collection. There is a wide variety of characters available to make sure that you have all of the actors you need for your films or to staff your theater. As characters are moved from scene to scene they retain their costuming, so you just might see the cowardly lion selling popcorn.
There are several areas for your child to enjoy:
Studio - This is the production stage where the movies are filmed. This is where the magic happens, folks!
- Costume & Make-up Room - What movie studio is complete without a fully stocked make-up room? Plus find the costumes you need - from princess to pirate to martian and more!
- Projection room - Make sure the show goes on by keeping those movie reels loaded.
- Concession stand –Pick out your movie and buy your ticket. Don't forget the popcorn as you head into the show!
- Theater – After you've chosen one of ten movies, take a seat and watch the show!
Watch this app in action here:
What I liked:
- As always, I love stress-free, free play apps that encourage children to use their imaginations.
- It's been a little while since I have tried a new My Town app. I noticed that there are some new features like being able to change each character's expression. That was fun.
What I liked less:
- One of my arguments in the past has been that you couldn't put any costume on any character if it wasn't the "correct" gender. Well, this only appears to be changed half way. I could put any outfit I wanted onto the women, but I still couldn't dress a man in a ball gown. Not very creative.
- I found that the pre-made films were incredibly stilted. I understand that they were made using the app and shouldn't be expected to be live action, but the dialogue itself was awkward and uninteresting. What would be really cool would be if users were actually given an option to create their own short films.
- As with previous My Town apps I have used, I still had difficulty making things "stick" sometimes. There are occasions where the target area is very small.
Overall, My Town: Cinema will blend into the My Town collection just fine. I’m glad to see that they are continuing to add unique locations in their town. 4 stars.
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Kelli's kids are already counting the days until Christmas. Smart Apps for Kids was paid a fee to review this app in a priority manner.
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