Tipping Point Adventure Game

$1.99, iPad

Teaches: logic, deductive reasoning, reading comprehension

CTR Rating: 94%

CTR Review

This is a five chapter science-fiction adventure that starts with a view of a modern-day living room out in present time in your living room, when you intercept a cryptic message. Things start getting interesting when a Flamingo steps out of your TV and eats one of your potato chips. After you figure out your cell phone and remote, you learn that your TV has become a time machine. Nice touches include the use of vintage early TV footage as you flip through channels. You wake up on a deserted island, in a jungle tree house and outer space. In the story, a father and son team were on the verge of making history when their technology unexpectedly summoned something from out of this world, and you are now at the center of the discovery that changes everything. Features include the ability to save 5 player profiles, for which your progress is bookmarked automatically. An in-game hint system is very helpful, letting you determine how many clues you need. Content includes five chapters of puzzles, some of which incorporate fun retro elements, such as an Atari 800 computer, cassette tapes, and some of the first electronic toys. Weaknesses -- while testers greatly appreciated the hint system, the navigation icons are hard to see. You spend a lot of time jabbing at the screen trying to go back to the next screen. Reading is required to use the clues, and some of the puzzles are HARD. Cory, age 18, took three days to get to the forth chapter... there's enough content for an entire weekend if you don't use the clues. This is a gimmick-free app -- with no ads, commercial content or in-app purchases. Tipping point comes from Dan Russell-Pinson (creator of Stack the States). It is proof that games like "Myst" can work well on a tablet.