Village Gamer

Following the great success of “I Learn With Poko: Seasons and Weather! HD,” Tribal Nova has released the iPhone version of this top ranking educational app. The iPad version has been selected by Apple as “New and Noteworthy” or “Staff favorites” in the U.S and 15 other countries. Users and reviewers have also given the game rave reviews bringing the app to the top position of the Games-Educational and Games-Kids charts in Australia as well as a top 10 positions in the U.S., Canada and the UK.

I Learn With Poko: Seasons and Weather! is an educational game that lets children 3 to 7 years old learn many key concepts about the weather in various seasons, how to dress and what activities to do depending on the weather… while having tons of fun! Produced by the developers behind the award winning PBS KIDS PLAY! and CBC Wonderworld online learning programs, this app is the first app available on iPhone in the groundbreaking iLearnWith educational program, which is designed to help kids get ready for school, one app at a time.

“Seasons and Weather is one of the most important Science subjects taught to children in Pre-k and Kindergarten, yet there are no games for young children covering the subject in the app store. We are happy to fulfill this need and are committed to developing a comprehensive educational program in which each app will address a specific subject in the curriculum. We have another nine apps currently in development covering various skills in math, literacy, science and foreign languages,” says Pierre Le Lann, co-founder of Tribal Nova.

This app is based on National Standards and has been developed with child developmental psychologists and educators. The game has three levels, increasing in complexity, details and subject covered. Moreover, each level contains a mechanism that adjusts the difficulty based on the child’s success rate. These elements combined enable the game to meet children’s developmental needs regardless if they are 3 or 7 years old.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrMprG-AEYQ]

The game contains many ways for children to learn about seasons and weather: finding certain weather conditions such as clouds or snow to help Beebee find pictures for her photo album; or spotting clothes that do not fit the weather to help Poko take a perfect picture; or guessing what activities Poko did certain days of the week based on the weather and the month of the year.

Educational content, rich graphics and audio, fun game mechanics and a high production budget really set this app apart to deliver both learning and fun to families.

“We have developed over 100 online educational games for young children over the past 5 years. We are very excited to apply our expertise to touch screens, and are confident we can develop some of the best kids apps in the app store with truly educational content and great gameplay,” says Guillaume Aniorte, Tribal Nova’s other co-founder.

A couple of weeks ago I had the unique chance to sit down with Inspirado Games CEO Rick Davidson and chat about his company’s latest game, Gardenmind.

Gardenmind is a Facebook social game in which players grow plants in their virtual garden, with each plant being associated to a different game mode. Some plants are word games while others are perception games, with more games and plants offered as the player continues to play through Gardenmind. People who enjoy challenging their brains and playing puzzles will enjoy this game.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zz25LK1jjI]

The other awesome thing about Gardenmind is that it is a meaningful game; besides learning and challenging their brains players can also contribute to a cause they would like to support. One example of this is with trees like the New Zealand silver fern. If players buy the tree a percentage of the cost goes to support quake relief in Christchurch and players are rewarded with a kiwi to walk around their garden.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XThRc07hXE]

Inspirado Games works with the World Wildlife Fund to support the organization’s causes around the world and Gardenmind was recently nominated for a Canadian Video Game Award for best social game.

When we sat down we talked about how long Inspirado has been around, why they are doing what they are and why they thought they would make this game. We also chat about gaming and the growth of the industry in Vancouver. It was a great chatting with Rick and I hope you enjoy the videos.

Twisted Majic

As the title says, Proof of Concept Interactive has launched their first title on Nokia’s Ovi Store. Available for $2.99, Assert Yourself is an eLearning app designed to help people build their confidence and skills. According to the POC blog, Assert Yourself teaches communication, self-worth, presentation and body language. Job hunting, speaking with managers, and of course the dreaded job interview, bring all of these skills together. A candidate needs to project confidence, keep their composure, and stay assertive.

Studio owner Marcel Barker, in talking about the new app, stated that “As we developed our course material we came to realize how relevant it was to finding work, and so a late change we made to the app was to add a module on job interview skills.”

Now the studio hopes to be able to partner with various government agencies in order to provide those out of work with free access to the app, hopefully improving upon their skills and helping them to be successful in their search for employment.

From the App’s description, the first course for Assert Yourself is Assertiveness Skills and Self-Confidence, a full-featured assertiveness training course. Assert Yourself is a fully-featured course which includes lessons on communications skills, presentations, SMART goal setting, and workplace bullying. Assert Yourself boasts a strategy of “28 days to a new you”. The course includes daily exercises tailored to the ten course modules, as well as a daily “Mirror Checklist” for daily assertiveness and self-confidence goals. For front-camera enabled smartphones, Assert Yourself also provides an “on-the-go bathroom mirror” for quick facial and body language practice or to prepare before an important presentation. The exercises range from demonstrative videos to interactive quizzes to using the device’s microphone to practice speaking clearly and professionally.

Digital Leisure Inc. has announced the launch of Word Searcher III. The follow up to DSiWare hits Word Searcher and Word Searcher II, designed for Nintendo’s DSiWare™ service, Word Searcher III is rated E for Everyone and is available today in North America on DSiWare for 500 Nintendo DSi Points™.

You’ll need a sharp eye and a quick mind to complete these 100 themed word search puzzles. Word Searcher 3 contains fun words from multiple categories including Astronomy, Currency and Rivers. Packed with a huge assortment of subjects to choose from, there’s sure to be a puzzle anyone will enjoy. Help improve your vocabulary, memory and problem-solving skills with these addicting puzzles. Keep track of, and try to beat your own play through times again and again as words are scrambled every time you play. Get your thinking cap on and conquer all 100 today.

Loud Crow Interactive has released another timeless classic children’s story for iOS mobile devices. PopOut! The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin is the next installment in the studio’s PopOut! series of unique interactive digital books. As with its debut title  PopOut! The Tale of Peter Rabbit, The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin is another beautiful digital rendition of a classic bedtime story is now available in the App Store.

Children can interact with this mischievous tale of a quirky squirrel as it comes to life, encouraging young readers to to pull tabs, spin wheels, and activate spring-mounted story elements. The art, music, and interactive experience were all delicately composed to honor and enliven Beatrix Potter’s original 1903 work.

The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin Features:

• Touch and drag objects to make them “spring” to life or tilt to watch them slide and move
• Objects that literally PopOut! of the page to delight you and your family
• Beautiful vocal performance, music, and sound effects will immerse you in the story
• “Read to Me” mode with word highlighting to help improve reading skills
• Read it Yourself and learn individual words spoken with the tap of a finger
• Over 50 pages of authentic text and illustrations with realistic page turning interactions just like the original hardcover book

The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin is rated 4+ and is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad devices running iOS 3.2 or later. This App sells for $2.99 for the iPhone or iPod Touch versions or $4.99 for the iPad version.

zinc Roe Games invite you and your children to play alongside Stella and Sam and their dog Fred as they spend a night camping out in their backyard. In Backyard At Twilight, young readers can look for bugs in the tent, discover constellations among the stars and learn about shapes with the fireflies. From the makers of the award-winning Tickle Tap Apps, the Stella and Sam Interactive Adventures combine stunning animation with three elegantly-designed activities.

Stella: “The night Giant is coming Sam. I think I can hear his big footsteps coming over the meadow.”
Sam: “I can too!”

The Stella and Sam Apps are based on the television show and the bestselling picture book series by Marie-Louise Gay. Over one million copies of Stella and Sam books have been translated into fifteen languages,  and are loved by children all over the world.

Each Stella and Sam Adventure is rated 4+ and is Compatible with iPads running iOS 4.2 or later. Backyard At Twilight features beautiful fullscreen animation with support for English and French. The story includes three fun and simple games along with quick navigation by both chapter and game.

The Stella and Sam apps are produced by zinc Roe Productions Inc. with the participation of Radical Sheep, the Bell Fund and the Canada Media Fund.

Toronto game developer Alexander Shapovalov has announced the release of iPhone game Aliens Attack Deluxe. Available now for 99 cents USD, the game is compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Rated 4+, Aliens Attack Deluxe requires iOS 3.0 or later.

Aliens Attack Deluxe has a simple concept and game play is easy to understand. Aliens have arrived and attacking Earth is their prime objective. The user must protect the planet using laser cannons. The game resembles 1980’s Missile Command game, but with better graphics and a variation on actual game play. To shoot down the aliens, players tap the screen to fire the cannon and knock the invaders out of the sky and earn money for your defensive efforts.

For the wee folk in your house, Wrinkled Pants Software, Ltd. has released it’s debut title, My Word! Reader – Are Bees Smart, or What? for iPads with iOS 3.2 or later. Available now for $4.99 USD, My Word! Reader – Are Bees Smart, or What? is a ground breaking app for the iPad based on sound educational and literacy theory that is designed to improve literacy skills in underachieving students.

This app will be an essential tool for literacy learning for education and home markets. Simple to use, but sophisticated in design, it incorporates word analysis, phonics, writing skills, word recognition, comprehension and spelling in a series of dynamic, engaging, and delightful “word games” that are rooted in the easy-to-read, but sophisticated story, Are Bees Smart, or What?

“My Word! Reader provides a resource for teachers to use with underachieving students, thus allowing them more time for other demanding instructional tasks,” said Dr. Selma Wassermann, CEO of Wrinkled Pants.

The application is designed to be self-instructional – giving the student control over the learning process. The “Bees” story features an interactive experience on the iPad with 6 learning games designed to engage the reader and develop basic literacy skills and comprehension.  Wrinkled Pants Software intends to release more titles in the My Word! Reader series on an ongoing basis.

Renegade Citizen has released Infinity Control, a game that casts players as new recruits for the Federation of International Space Marines. You begin your career on Earth, where you learn the basics of game play, managing incoming craft while avoiding collisions with orbiting satellites. Once you’ve mastered these skills, you will move on to help scientific researchers maneuver craft around the dense asteroids of Saturn. The random spawning of black holes adds even more challenge to your flying skills as you move up the career ladder through 40 ranks – from young recruit to skilled veteran.

Infinity Control is comprised of 3 incredible worlds built in high resolution retina graphics accompanied by a dynamic orchestral score. The game also features a stats screen along with full Openfient and GameCenter integration with Leaderboards and Achievements. Infinity Control is available now on iTunes for 99 cents USD and is rated 4+. It is compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad running iOS 3.0 or later.

A team of four Game Design students at Vancouver Film School have released the school’s first iPad game to be available on iTunes. Faine’s Melody was developed by Sharai Grant, Steven Martin, Christopher Ellington and Michel McBride-Charpentier as a way to experience the game mechanics and overcome the challenges they presented as the team worked towards their goal. The result was a fun and unique puzzle adventure that makes imaginative use of all of the touch controls available for iPad interaction. This initial release is a presentation build and is free to download. Faine’s Melody is rated 4+ and is compatible with iPads running iOS 3.2 or later. Watch the trailer for a close up look at the innovative game play of Faine’s Melody.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3HZxulBuFc]

A group of university students in BC have developed and released a colourful and challenging math game for mobile iOS. BeanNcounters by Think At The Park offers 8 levels of difficulty ranging from Grade 1 to PhD, a Daily Challenge and a Leader Board for the mathematically gifted, which I am not. The estimated time to get through each level is around the 1 or 2 minute mark, but they do admit that the more difficult puzzles could take longer. BeanNcounters is available now for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad for $1.99 USD. It requires iOS 3.0 or later and is rated 4+. There will also be a version for Android, but a release date has not yet been announced.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hM60wP-q5g]

The development group also has two fundraising activities tied to the game. For every game purchased, they will donate 10 cents to Water.org, a charity ensuring sanitation and fresh drinking water for developing countries. The other contest is directed at various university clubs. For a one year period, each club has a special purchase code that they can give to fellow students, family and friends. Those people then enter the code when they buy the game, and this code translates into 50 cents for the club whose code is used. The contest seems easy to understand, but not easy to explain, so here’s the video explanation directly from the developers:

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvYIyai_WYg]

Peace Point Entertainment Group launched their latest mobile app. SuperBodies is an app that matches science and art through cutting-edge computer-generated imagery to explore athleticism of the human body. With the SuperBodies mobile experience, audiences navigate through the body to observe first-hand the effects, reactions and stressors endured by world-class athletes.

With cutting-edge 3D animation and original video, the SuperBodies mobile app allows users in a game play format to peel away the human skin, revealing what truly happens on the inside when star athletes perform. Choose from gymnastics, badminton, boxing, volleyball, 100m dash and swimming. Explore how highly-tuned bodies cope with such physically shocking tribulations as a knockout punch, a blow to the ribs or fierce muscle tear. See what happens to the circulatory, skeletal, muscular, nervous and respiratory systems, each rendered with vibrant computer graphic animations that appear to probe the human bodies’ intricate mazes.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_klYDou5xo]

Showcasing summer sports in advance of the 2012 Summer Games, each athletic activity is teased apart in compelling short videos featuring the charismatic Greg Wells, Ph.D., a scientist and physiologist who works with elite athletes.  Dr. Wells is familiar to audiences as the SuperBodies TV host for Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium, regular contributor on CTV’s Canada AM, and medical analyst for ABC News Olympic coverage.  SuperBodies will be a staple feature during the Consortium’s coverage of London 2012.

With Dr. Wells as a guide, the hand held device acts as a camera pod that lets you fly through the body in any direction to see how an athlete’s skeleton, muscles and nerves perform as they compete in top level sports. The user navigates through the body of the world’s greatest athletes by dragging a finger or tilting the device.  Tap the screen once to view the athlete’s vital signs (heart rate, temperature and breaths per minute).  Tap twice to select a sport.

“SuperBodies makes complex physiology fascinating and easy to understand,” said Les Tomlin, CEO of Peace Point Entertainment Group, which produces the SuperBodies properties, including the Gemini Award-winning television documentary and segments for Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium during its multiplatform coverage of Vancouver 2010. “From an adrenaline rush to a world record victory, we expose fascinating extremes from inside the human body, making biomedical mysteries accessible to everybody.”

The anatomically precise SuperBodies mirrors cutting edge research in the field of exercise medicine, which tests, trains and heals the human body. “SuperBodies shows people why top athletes are amazing and what makes them different from you and me,” said Dr. Wells. “Kids who see how mind-blowing we are on the inside, and who understand our human potential, may be more likely to participate in sports and take care of their health.”

Superbodies is produced with the participation of Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium and the Bell Broadcast & New Media Fund and is available now in HD for the iPad, iPhone 4 and the latest gen iPod Touch for $3.99 USD as well as non-HD for older iPhone and iPod touch devices for just $1.99 USD.

Tactica Interactive, creators of the Tiga Talk Speech Therapy game have launched a contest with a 4G iPod Touch as the top prize.  The contest is open to anyone aged 15 and up (void in Quebec), and will feature 9 bi-weekly Tiga Talk prize packs on top of the Grand Prize:

Grand Prize Draw: One (1) Grand Prize draw will be made at 1 pm on Friday September 2, 2011. The Grand Prize winner will be randomly selected among the entries and the name of each winning entry will be declared the potential winner.

Bi-Weekly Prize Draws: Nine (9) Weekly Prize draws will be made every second Friday starting May 6th, 2011. Each of the Weekly Prize winners will be randomly selected among the entries and the name of each winning entry will be declared the potential winner.

All you have to do to win is talk about Tiga Talk by using the form or links on the Contest Info Page to share Tiga Talk with your friends on Twitter, Facebook or Tumblr, or show them your  own Tiga Talk blog, YouTube video or other way you are spreading the good word about Tiga Talk. Please refer to the Contest Rules for full entry and prize details.

Tiga Talk, the companion game to APTN’s television show by the same name, is currently on sale for $1.99 USD in the iTunes App Store, and was developed with licensed speech and language pathologists. Tiga Talk is a fun way for children to develop speech sounds through playful voice-controlled games that can improve speech clarity, articulation, and instill confidence. The app is for parents and speech therapists working with toddlers and children with language delays, as well as any parent looking to give their child a head start in early language development.

Children learn fundamental phonetic sounds, that are the building blocks of language, as they play 23 fun voice controlled games on an imaginative adventure with Tiga and friends. Game play rewards are based entirely on participation, not accuracy, so the child is constantly getting positive feedback as long as they are trying to make sounds.

Game activities include piloting a boat, helicopter, hot air balloon, race car, train, submarine, and even flying a rocket ship to visit the moon. Players can pop balloons to reveal clues to guide them on their adventure as well as knock over obstacles that lay in their path, including towers of tires, ice blocks, hay bales, crates, logs or even moon rocks.

Before each game children are introduced to a new phonetic sound by game characters. They are shown a cartoon image representing the sound and are encouraged to try saying the sound aloud. The app listens to make sure they’re verbally participating and congratulates them if they are and showers them with friendly encouragement if they aren’t.

Tiga Talk’s other features include:

• Voice controlled games encourage kids to speak clearly
• Game play based on actual speech therapy sessions
• Beautifully vibrant graphics and a variety fun learning games designed to engage young children
• Entertaining cartoon characters deliver lots of positive feedback
• An exciting interactive story adventure
• Licensed speech therapists selected the apps 23 core phonetic sounds
• Audio and video hints help demonstrate the correct way to make language sounds
• A sound meter to measure voice volume levels
• Track progress and earn gold stars the more you play
• Children are able to practice specific sounds and games
• So easy to play young children can even use it by themselves

Here are just some of the benefits to be gained with Tiga Talk:

• A great way for all kids to get a head start on language development
• Kids learn to pronounce sounds more accurately including syllables, letters, and letter combinations
• Help your child improve coordination and strength of speech muscles
• Children learn through sound repetition and imitation
• Children differentiate between sounds they hear and create a broader base vocabulary
• Improve communication between the child’s brain and the body through visual and auditory aids
• Improve childhood communication with peers and adults
• Instill a sense of pride and confidence in your child

Tiga Talk is rated 4+ and is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch (2nd, 3rd and 4th gen) and iPad. It requires iOS 4.1 or later. Tiga Talk is developed with the financial support of the Bell Fund.