Toca Mystery House
© 2018 Toca Boca
This cause-and-effect experience is fascinating to explore, because everything you see does something. Using taps and swipes, you can look around and experiment to see what happens. You can mix ingredients to make a ball, to toss at a dancer, who reacts to the background music with different moves and effects. There's a set of tubes that let you suck up slime from kitchen, and a magical spiral staircase that lets you play with the phases of the moon. The elevator is very cool... leading to your very own pet creature. Some of the doors open to reveal some rather intense (but always kind and playful) monsters, of the "Where the Wild Things Are" variety. This type of "safe edginess" makes this app appealing, but potentially scary for some preschoolers. Need to know. Explore this app together with a friend or your child -- every screen supports multi-touch. The easy-to-use interface makes this an excellent starter app. Note that there will be both an iOS and an Android version.
$2.99, iPad, iPhone, Android
Teaches: logic, spatial relations
CTR Rating: 94%