Mia – The Happy Helper
© 2014 Kutoka Interactive
Beautifully illustrated but limited by too much narration that can't be skipped, this app represents the debut of Mia the Mouse on a multi-touch screen. We reviewed the first Mia app nearly 15 years ago, on a CD-ROM. We reviewed all the content in the the free version. The app is free to download, but you are prompted to purchase the full version in order to get additional content (five additional scenes and four sets of content). In the story, Mia is asked to do errands for the General Store. You help by counting berries, shooting pollen spores, sorting, reproducing a melody on a small piano, and finding hidden objects in a scene. Features include two levels of difficulty, and the ability to toggle background music off. Playing the free version doesn’t mean your child won’t be able to see the end of the game. The additional content offered with the in-app purchase is located in the middle of the app, which provides four groups of questions, five additional scenes, a phonics activity (sound/letter, letter/image), an activity to help children understand how to decode symbols and counting games. The bottom line? While the characters are well designed and the illustrations top notch, the interactive design is overly scripted, which limits what children can do (it's like a teacher that talks too much, and can't be interrupted). We'd love to see this content used in a way that fosters child exploration. Update 1/21/2015 the instructions are only presented the first time.
$2.99, iPad, Android
Teaches: logic, matching, counting
CTR Rating: 74%