Toca Builders
© 2013 Toca Boca
See also Toca Blocks. Block play comes to your iPad, with the help of six playful anthropomorphic machines -- the builders -- and a 60 by 60 square grid. The entire experience makes it fun to freely experiment with 3D building on a touch screen. Building on a 3D grid has been tried unsuccessfully many times in the past, but never this easily. The clever machines manage to keep things light, and they're fun to test. You start with a 60 by 60 grid that appears to float on corkboard. Each machine has a specific function. There's a crab-like crane that can stack blocks up to six high, a paint canon, a lifter and a block smasher. There are no rules, and the blocks never fall down unless you want them to. Each machine has it's own set of controls, that comes with a gentle learning curve that presents just the right type of challenge for a young child. The crane has a toggle switch introducing the mechanics of left, right, and choosing colors from a palette and camera angles... all useful skills for general tablet use; and perhaps operating a back hoe someday. As they experiment, children learn spatial thinking -- how to turn the crane just right to put a block on top of a tree, or next to another. Projects are automatically saved, and can be edited -- there are no social features. The building area is a 60 x 60 grid, with structures up to 6 blocks tall. Need to know: You can't adjust the background music, and the blocks don't allow for a lot of detail. In addition, it is less than easy to undo an accidental block placement -- the only way to get rid of a block is to use the smashing tool. But the tradeoff for the lack of features is the simplicity, which is why Toca Builders works so well.
$0.99, iPhone, iPad, Android
Teaches: creativity, spatial relations, fine motor skills
CTR Rating: 92%