My Fashion Studio
© 2008 Ubisoft, Inc.
Designed to appeal to girls, this one-player simulation for the Nintendo DS lets you assume the role of a young, ambitious New York fashion designer, trying to move from intern to studio owner. In order to advance in the game (progress saved automatically), you must make clothing items, one step at a time. To make a shirt, you must first cut the fabric by tracing around a pattern very carefully. If you go outside the lines, you are marked for errors. Too many errors means you won't move to the next level. After you cut, you must stretch and iron the fabric, using different tools, and then stitch the hems, again by tracing along marked lines. There's also a button sewing tool, that shows you how buttons are stitched onto a blouse. The game does a nice job of teaching you the different steps involved in making a dress. While the dimensions are fictional, the basic idea of how a pleated skirt is made, by folding and ironing, is well illustrated. There are a few wrinkles to this program, however. The creativity is limited to multiple-choice selections, and matching colors to clothing items is confusing. There's also not much choice in the models. Also, it isn't always clear exactly why you are penalized at the end of a project. There's also a lot of dialog reading; both a strength and a weakness. As you become more famous, your designs will be featured in magazines, and you get closer to owning your own studio. All in all, this is a good game to borrow at the very least. Made by Creative Patterns and 505 Games for Ubisoft.
$30, Nintendo DS
Teaches: sewing, reading, following directions, fine motor coordination
CTR Rating: 86%