| GIGGLE GHOSTS By Busy Bee Studios Cost: $0.99 |
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Giggle Ghosts is the second outing for Busy Bee Studios, the makers of Zoo Train, which I consider one of that absolute best, must-have apps of the past year. It is an interactive iPad app that shows the same attention to detail and dedication to making quality apps that Zoo Train showed. The app itself encourages children to practice counting, their fine motor skills and even gives them early physics concepts and skills. The beauty of the app is it does all this, without forcing it and doing it beautifully with their sharp graphics and animation.
The basis of the app is the user must “bounce” ghosts off musical chimneys as they travel across the screen. The app has four levels and at the end of each level, you must put the ghosts you helped travel across the screen into a ghost house for a party. The levels increase in difficulty, including obstacles and requiring the ghost to bounce off the chimneys multiple times to get across the screen. The app itself is not difficult to figure out and encourages the counting and other skills without the child realizing it. It’s really an educational app but doesn’t feel like one.
BONUS: As an extra, non-technical bonus to help entertain your children, Busy Bee Studios offers Busy Bee Printables for Giggle Ghost and Zoo Train. Expanding the enjoyment of the games’ characters beyond the iPad itself.
Why I like it
Just like I said above, it’s an educational app but doesn’t feel like one, and the older my kids get, the more I’m expecting them to react to those more than the ones that inundate them with a certain skill or skill set. Just like Zoo Train, the art and animation are sharp, crisp, and just pleasant to look at. Abby took right to it, picked up the concepts of the game, and laugh and had a ball bouncing the ghosts. I feel I really need to praise Busy Bee Studios because unlike some studios that try to kick out as many apps as they can, ignoring quality and concentrating on quantity, Busy Bee Studios concentrate on quality, and it truly shows. The quality of their apps, and the fact they take the extra time to create printables based on their games, shows that they’re in this for the right reasons, their hearts are truly in it. I can’t wait for their next app! My only gripe with the app itself is how short it is. Four levels seem a little on the low scale, and the app would really benefit from having a few more, but I also understand that this app has mainly a Halloween feel to it rather than a year-round, anytime app feel. I can tell you this though, Halloween, Christmas, or Arbor Day, it doesn’t matter, Giggle Ghosts is going to remain on my iPad for the long haul.
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