A couple of years ago we developed a small game for iPad and iPhone. In a way, it is something completely different from what we usually do, mainly because both graphics and interfaces are aimed at young children, but at the same time we could use a lot of the knowledge we already have.
We did this as a development project internally, both to learn more about native app development when it was still relatively new, but also because there were not enough simple and good children's games without advertising.
There are a lot of children's games on the App Store. There are also almost as many bad children's games filled to the brim with advertising, in-app-purchases and links to Facebook and Twitter.
When we started talking about making a game adapted for children, we agreed that in that case it would be without advertising, not have any IAP, and be free from links to external resources such as Facebook and Twitter.
The plan was to make a well-polished and fairly simple game that lasts a long time. The result was a game with 24 fun animals on adventure. First off are two different "games-in-games".
We have also tried to make an interface that contains as little text as possible, both because children have much easier to absorb symbols and images but also to make the game more international.
Both the number of pieces in the puzzle and the number of cards in the memo game can be set to suit the player. You can also turn on / off both rotation and puzzle help as well as timing to give the game an additional dimension where you also try to beat your best time.
We think that the game is mainly coming to life on an iPad, so we have put a little extra effort into customizing the app for iPad. It also means that you can choose to play with more cards in memo and have more puzzle pieces in the puzzle.
If you turn on the rotation and remove the puzzle help, 48 pieces will reach quite a distance up the ages. If you then add some puzzle pictures you can customize the game even for the slightly older children.
You can buy the game from the App Store if you – or your kids – want to try it out.