Bottom Line: Simple, fun and worth a look, but with some inconsistencies and a lack of directions and feedback.
Trunky Fish Game, by UpsideDown Games, aims to teach young children color, letter, and number recognition. There are five different games in the app: Classic, Color Hunt, Number Hunt, Letter Hunt, and The Big Hunt.
Each game is set up to play the same way: A giant pool holds eight fish. The child's job is to catch the requested type of fish and place them in a bucket. For example, in Color Hunt, the player will be asked to collect a red fish and they need to touch-and-drag a red fish into the bucket. In The Big Hunt, the child is asked to fish for a combination of colors, letters, and numbers.
Each game can be played by one or two players. The app can be downloaded to an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, but if you want to play a 2-player game, the iPad is the only way to go. The screen is just too small on the other devices for two children to play at the same time.
Each game has a timer in the upper right corner of the screen that counts down to the end of the round. The player is given a star rating at the end of each round and the more fish they catch, the higher the rating.
The games in this app are simple, and children can challenge themselves by trying to catch more fish in order to earn more stars.
One issue, however, is that there are no visual, verbal or audio instructions. Yes, the games are simple but some instruction would greatly assist the target age, instead of the child having to figure it out through trial-and-error. For example, the child can only pull fish into the bucket when their mouths are open.
Also, silver and gold fish will occasionally appear in the pool. The player can pull them into the bucket, even though they do not have the correct color, letter, or number and they provide extra points.
It would also be helpful to early learners if the app did more to instruct children when they've made an incorrect choice. For example, if the target is a yellow fish and the child presses a red fish, it would be far better if the app would say "That's a red fish. We're trying to catch yellow fish." or something of that sort.
In Number Hunt, the child is asked to locate numbers from 1-10. Children at this age need to have a strong understanding of numbers up to ten, so I appreciate that this game deals exclusively with those numbers. However, in the final game, “The Big Hunt,” which combines all of the previous games, the numbers the child is being asked to retrieve are above ten. Since this game is meant to be a review of all of the things the child has learned and practiced in the previous games, there needs to be consistency.
Overall, Trunky Fish Game is a solid app. The graphics are fun and colorful and the app includes colors, numbers and letters. It certainly would merit a higher rating with better feedback and instructions.
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This review was written by Allison Kelly, a teacher of 14 years. smartappsforkids.com was paid a priority-review fee to complete this review in an expedited manner.