My then 8-year-old daughter asked Santa for a Nintendo 3DS last year. I asked why, when we already have the Wii, an iPad and a pair of iPhones with apps galore loaded onto each of them. Why did she/we need yet another device? She said she wanted something of her own, something with more *involved* games. Fair enough. Santa delivered. And nearly three months later, that purple metallic console sits in its snazzy case collecting dust. The iPad? Oh that still gets much love, and one of the main reasons why lately is the new LeapFrog My Robot Friend app which is 100% more fun than 75% of the DS games Santa brought too (including LEGO Batman 2
My Robot Friend is part puzzle, and part gigantic evolving math problem. Albeit, a gigantic math problem with dance moves, rad costumes, and a laser gun. So yeah, pretty much the coolest kind of math ever. The progressive gameplay pits your charming Alpha-1 robot against the cheese-gobbling Mr. Fat Cat as you go from room to room dodging the plotting feline’s minions in an effort to get at the overflowing treasure chests. But instead of merely running past the baddies to capture the prizes, Alpha-1’s movement is all pre-planned by your child. Your lil’ gamer does this by aligning a series of staccato movements — forward, backward, facing directionally, shooting the laser/freeze/shrink guns, etc. — then pressing go and watching the robot observe all of his instructions. Make a mistake? No worries, just undo and rearrange the movement cards to try again. There is no hard failure here. Instead, your child is afforded unlimited efforts to keep reworking to discover each problem’s unique and highly visual solution. Brilliant.
What you’ll find is this:
- Your child will embrace the challenge of thinking many steps ahead to devise the proper plan to get from points A to B using a number of movements forward and back, turning 360 degrees, and when to utilize the cartoon weaponry their robot friend will accumulate as he progresses through the many levels of the game.
- Your child will find Alpha-1 absolutely hilarious! His endearing smile, funny actions, and ridiculous dance moves are beyond adorable.
- Your child will love playing choreographer in the mini-games section, putting together a series of dance moves to make Alpha-1 get his groove on in a disco dance party. The Bear occasionally will attempt to mimic these dance moves, but refuses my wish to video her doing so. This is your loss, trust me!
Watch a couple of Vine videos showing my oldest daughter playing My Robot Friend:
- Here is the close-up instant replay of the Ice Cubed level.
- Here she is arranging a series of movements on the previous level.
LeapFrog’s My Robot Friend iOS app was an instant winner from the very first play, and is easily one of the most well-executed, content-robust, and enjoyable apps we have ever played together as a family because the fun is hilarious while the learning and skill development the app is providing your child is super innocuous. If you’ve ever wondered how to teach children problem solving and thinking ahead skills in a subtle way, then I fully encourage you to download this terrific app, it is worth every penny of its $3.99 price tag.
I was selected for this opportunity by Clever Girls Collective but the content and opinions expressed above are all my own, and are honest & unbiased as always. To learn more about the app, visit here #CleverRobotFriend #spon
