As a parent I can’t help but compare how things were for my kids when they were younger to life as we know it for children today. Back when my kids were little there were plenty of computer games that you could purchase software for and download it on your computer to enjoy. My kids enjoyed a few games but not many. Back then computer games were not cheap.
Fast forward to today. Now you can download an insane number of games made with children in mind instantly on your computer, tablet or smartphone. In addition, instead of spending $30-$50 for a game you can download games for free or a nominal fee.
Even though my kids are older, I still like to keep up on current trends in children’s toys and games, including gaming apps. I work with children from infants up to middle school. It’s nice to know a thing or two about these subjects to talk to kids with as well as their parents.
I recently had the opportunity to try out a new gaming application called Safari Tales™. The app is from Kuato Studios, world-leading developer in learning-through-games.
Following in the fossilized footsteps of award-winning Dino Tales™, children join five baby animal friends as they explore a vast African Savannah teeming with wildlife, mini games to master and artifacts and relics to discover and collect. Throughout their in-game adventures, kids learn countless facts and figures about the various environments, their inhabitants and items they encounter on their way, building knowledge and enhancing reading skills.
Safari Tales further feeds inquisitive minds through an adaptive gaming engine built around Apple’s SIRI technology. Curious kids are encouraged to construct over a thousand different questions to ask their in-game guide, Darwin, who will supply intelligent and fact-filled answers, aiding literacy skills in sentence structure, reading and creative thought.
At the end of each play session, Safari Tales uses patented technology to convert children’s adventures, discoveries and achievements into an incredible interactive storybook. Each new tale can be saved and stored to be read over and again with parents and loved ones, strengthening literacy, reasoning and inquiry skills.
I download the app for free in order to do this review. The app sells for $3.99.
The game is pretty easy to maneuver, even for young children.
You start off the game with a cute baby elephant name Eshe. You move the elephant around by pressing on a direction “button” on the screen.
You can do a variety of things including gathering “stickers” and going on “quests.” Along the way you are able to do things like change the appearance of your animal, ask questions of the game’s “host,” Darwin and more.
I did a lot of walking around the game to check out the different things you’ll find in the jungle. I also went on the quest to find specific things, like the baby tiger, which was my first quest.
The scenery is really nice with flowing water and big, beautiful flowers. My favorite part was the area where the baby tiger was (off hand I can’t remember the exact name of the location). There were steep cliffs, narrow passage ways and surprises along the way. Take for example the first cave my elephant went to explore. I saw yellow eyes glowing inside of it, so I thought that was where the tiger was hiding. It turns out it was a bat cave! As soon as my elephant stepped inside dozens of bats flew out. Oh my!
In another area of the jungle there is a fun water slide your animal can slide down. It is kind of cool because it has a 3D like effect to it.
I enjoyed the water slide so much that I made my elephant ride it twice. LOL!
I took a screen shot (below) but it’s hard to make out that its the slide. The white “sparkles” are sprays of water and the blue/green color in the middle is the water.
There are a lot of things you can do including letting your animal stop for a drink and finding food for it to eat. The game will tell you if the food is not appropriate for the animals (for example, the baby elephant wouldn’t eat a big piece of meat).
I think kids will have a lot of fun exploring the jungle while on a quest to find the various animals.
Another fun thing kids will enjoy is changing up the look and color of their animal. There is a section on the game that allows you to change the pattern on their skin as well as their color. I changed my elephant to a green pattern.
While playing the game I came across an animal band. Each animal made a different sound and together they made great music. That was fun to play with for a while.
As you can see from my screen shot (below) the animals are pretty realistic too.
There is also an option to ask the game’s host, Darwin, questions about the animals found in the game. One question I asked him is where can you find giraffe bones.
Each time you spin a wheel, you can choose a different word and create a new question for Darwin to answer
I’ve played with this game off and on and I have yet to discover all that it can do. I can see this bringing hours of enjoyment to your child, most especially if they enjoy animals and enjoy interactive games. This is exactly what Kuato Studio had in mind when creating this colorful game.
“Kuato Studio’s goal is guilt-free gaming. With Safari Tales and Dino Tales, our aim has been to harness the power of engagement that kids have with really good games and use it to enhance literacy and learning,” said Kris Turvey, Creative Director at Kuato Studios. “Our games allow children to explore beautiful worlds packed full of adventure, while fueling their imagination to produce creative interactive storybooks that can be read with mom or dad.”
Aimed at children aged between four and ten, SAFARI TALES has been developed in conjunction with pupils and teachers, to ensure that content is age-appropriate and game play fun. “Feedback from both kids and adults is invaluable for us as a studio,” said David Miller, award-winning teacher and now Director of Learning at Kuato Studios. “This participation in the development allows us to pinpoint particular opportunities where the child’s engagement with the game play, their creativity and performance peak, producing the perfect learning experience.”
I neglected to mention that the game has enjoyable music and realistic sounds to accompany it.
One of the best features of this game is that your child’s adventure can be turned into a virtual storybook that they can read and enjoy after they are done playing the game. I think this would be a fun thing to do at bedtime – have your child create their own bedtime story using the app.
As a mom I enjoy anything that helps promote literacy and the love of reading. I think most kids would be super excited to create their own storybook and have the opportunity to read it afterwards – even read it to their parents.
Safari Tales is so much more than just a game – it’s a fun, interactive way to learn too.
Safari Tales also has a parent section that allows parents to make the game “pin-restricted.” In addition it allows parents to set the reading age and control the game length ensuring that your child only plays for as long as you want them to.
In addition you can set notices to notify you when new creative artwork is produced in the game, allowing parents to monitor their child’s learning and share in their creativity.
Check out this brief video clip that gives a sneak peak inside the game.
As a parent I think my kids would have enjoyed this game if they were younger. After giving it a test drive I would be happy with my kids playing this game. I think they could learn a lot from it. I appreciate learning games over those whose main purpose is to destroy things or blow things up.
It’s a cute game. The graphics are not overly realistic, but for the age demographics this game was created for they will certainly appreciate it.
Safari Tales is available on bot iOS and Android platforms. You can find the game on iTunes, Google Play and Amazon.
Join in on the adventure at www.SafariTalesGame.com.
For more information please visit www.KuatoStudios.com. You can also follow @KuatoStudios on Facebook and Twitter.
Kimberly
*I received a free download code in order to do this review. Although compensated the opinions expressed are entirely my own (unless otherwise noted) and not influenced in any way.
