When I Grow Up, iphone game for little ones
December 18, 2009 8:27 AM Subscribe
When I Grow Up, iphone game for little ones
A follow up to our previous preschooler iPhone game. We got some great feedback from MeFi last time, so would love to see how this one goes over. Some thoughts on games for toddlers and some promo codes inside as well.
We (the pair of us who made this) decided to take a different tack this time around since we wanted to do a twist on the "Dressup" game. It's less overtly educational and a lot more silly than our previous game. When I Grow Up is about exploring different roles and combinations of outfits, toys, and backgrounds. It's gone over real well with our test team (a couple of 3 year olds we have on the payroll).
As an aside, I know some folks take issue with screen media for kids of this age. I can appreciate that, but we really design these games at 10 minute activities for when parents are in a jam (in the line at the grocery star, in the car, airports, etc).
The first game (Lunchbox) was a really great experience for us. Apple featured the game and we got a lot of attention and cool feedback from parents. Of course, there's always a lot of haters who expect the world for 99 cents, but that's the app store for you!
Here's a few promo codes to get the game for free (first come, first serve) since I never end up using all these things anyway:
NPF3N4EMHMXR
474N43LWM3M7
R9FYPP9MW4FJ
A follow up to our previous preschooler iPhone game. We got some great feedback from MeFi last time, so would love to see how this one goes over. Some thoughts on games for toddlers and some promo codes inside as well.
We (the pair of us who made this) decided to take a different tack this time around since we wanted to do a twist on the "Dressup" game. It's less overtly educational and a lot more silly than our previous game. When I Grow Up is about exploring different roles and combinations of outfits, toys, and backgrounds. It's gone over real well with our test team (a couple of 3 year olds we have on the payroll).
As an aside, I know some folks take issue with screen media for kids of this age. I can appreciate that, but we really design these games at 10 minute activities for when parents are in a jam (in the line at the grocery star, in the car, airports, etc).
The first game (Lunchbox) was a really great experience for us. Apple featured the game and we got a lot of attention and cool feedback from parents. Of course, there's always a lot of haters who expect the world for 99 cents, but that's the app store for you!
Here's a few promo codes to get the game for free (first come, first serve) since I never end up using all these things anyway:
NPF3N4EMHMXR
474N43LWM3M7
R9FYPP9MW4FJ
awesome, bought! Can't wait to show it to my daughter. Lunchbox is still one of her favorite titles. And as an aside, folks who take issue with screen media for preschoolers can suck it. Protecting kids from the future is nutty; they're going to be living there!
posted by ulotrichous at 12:31 PM on December 18, 2009
posted by ulotrichous at 12:31 PM on December 18, 2009
My 4 year old daughter loves Lunchbox (and the 6 year old plays it occasionally too). It is still being used long after other apps have been forgotten! Will buy this one.
posted by lucydriving at 8:45 PM on December 20, 2009
posted by lucydriving at 8:45 PM on December 20, 2009
I installed it on my iPod this morning and my son (~3.5yo, big fan of Lunchbox still) had a great 10 minutes. I was bustling about getting ready for work so I didn't really pay much attention to the game itself. I've no problems letting glowing boxes babysit my child for a few minutes at a time.
You need an RSS feed, either at monkeypreschool.com or thup.com. My son enjoys Lunchbox (and now When I Grow Up it seems) so much that I will buy any game you release for at least the next three years (our second is due late January and I bet will be just as big a fan). And I'll be checking out the rest of your games for myself.
posted by cCranium at 7:00 AM on December 24, 2009
You need an RSS feed, either at monkeypreschool.com or thup.com. My son enjoys Lunchbox (and now When I Grow Up it seems) so much that I will buy any game you release for at least the next three years (our second is due late January and I bet will be just as big a fan). And I'll be checking out the rest of your games for myself.
posted by cCranium at 7:00 AM on December 24, 2009
I know it's been awhile, but my daughter absolutely loves When I Grow Up and she plays it a lot. All the content in this game is just so well-done, the gameplay flows really nicely and it's a great fit for preschoolers. If you ever do an update, here are some things I might change:
It would be really great if the stickers were persistent, or even if just the last 20 stickers were persistent. I needed to use my phone, but my daughter didn't want to exit the app because she "would lose all her stickers!" Rewards known to be ephemeral are much less valuable than things you get to keep, and digital kids understand the value of digital possessions!
I also think you could do a little more dev and add a mode that gives the kids a task. That would make parents feel that the app was less of a toy, and give the kids more of a sense of accomplishment than just 'I made it through again'. I'd do this by having some of the monkeys they can choose from having a little thought bubble showing that means that they have an idea, and when you choose that monkey, it's like in Lunchbox... "This monkey wants to be a Builder! What should he wear?" or "This monkey wants to wear a space helmet!" or "This monkey wants to be a Dancer Diver Cowboy!" etc. etc. Kids love helping the monkeys in Lunchbox, and alternating between play and tasks makes for a good attitude towards learning. Letting them choose whether they want to help a monkey or dress a monkey keeps them in control of whether or not they're doing a task.
I hope you guys keep going with this. It's a great brand and a very polished title. Rocket's suggestions for the next title are "Monkey Preschool Art Table" or "Monkey Preschool Noisy Room" although I told her that not all preschools have a noisy room and a quiet room like hers does. If you make Monkey Preschool Noisy Room, it should just feature all the monkeys running around and screaming and throwing toys and tying each other up with jumpropes and crashing cosy coupes into towers of cardboard bricks.
posted by ulotrichous at 11:37 AM on January 15, 2010
It would be really great if the stickers were persistent, or even if just the last 20 stickers were persistent. I needed to use my phone, but my daughter didn't want to exit the app because she "would lose all her stickers!" Rewards known to be ephemeral are much less valuable than things you get to keep, and digital kids understand the value of digital possessions!
I also think you could do a little more dev and add a mode that gives the kids a task. That would make parents feel that the app was less of a toy, and give the kids more of a sense of accomplishment than just 'I made it through again'. I'd do this by having some of the monkeys they can choose from having a little thought bubble showing that means that they have an idea, and when you choose that monkey, it's like in Lunchbox... "This monkey wants to be a Builder! What should he wear?" or "This monkey wants to wear a space helmet!" or "This monkey wants to be a Dancer Diver Cowboy!" etc. etc. Kids love helping the monkeys in Lunchbox, and alternating between play and tasks makes for a good attitude towards learning. Letting them choose whether they want to help a monkey or dress a monkey keeps them in control of whether or not they're doing a task.
I hope you guys keep going with this. It's a great brand and a very polished title. Rocket's suggestions for the next title are "Monkey Preschool Art Table" or "Monkey Preschool Noisy Room" although I told her that not all preschools have a noisy room and a quiet room like hers does. If you make Monkey Preschool Noisy Room, it should just feature all the monkeys running around and screaming and throwing toys and tying each other up with jumpropes and crashing cosy coupes into towers of cardboard bricks.
posted by ulotrichous at 11:37 AM on January 15, 2010
I haven't tried this one but your Monkey Math app is a favorite.
posted by Dansaman at 2:57 AM on June 22, 2013
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