As a parent I am always working to make my kids happy while at the same time hoping that the happiness I bring them includes a bit of learning and discovery. One thing that is great about the iPhone and iPad is that the apps developed on them are often fun and educational. “Tales of Pirates” is one such app.
Tales of Pirates starts off by telling you a quick story about a group of pirates that lost their map on one of the three islands they visited and that they need help retracing their steps so they can follow the map to their treasure. The first island starts with a very easy task of removing items from the sand, and from there the tasks got more difficult and engaging.
My 6 year old son saw me playing Tales of Pirates and quickly distracted me so he could take the iphone and test out this new game himself. After a few minutes he decided that he wanted test the game out on a bit larger screen so we downloaded it and started to play it on the iPad.
Interestingly enough, a few minutes later my 9 year old daughter came, saw Tales of Pirates, and immediately picked up the iphone and started to play it. While they were playing they started to compete to see who could finish the game first. After 45 mins they still hadn’t finished.
Tales of Pirates is $1.99 and I would recommended it to anyone who likes educational game apps for their kids. The game progresses through 3 levels and includes a wide variety of tasks. The easiest tasks were at the beginning and from there the the tasks get more difficult. Some of the types of tasks and mini games include:
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Memory
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Mazes
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Logic
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Fine motor skills games
The game includes colors that are bright and very engaging. The little pop up stories in-between stops on the pirate’s trail were perfect for my 6 year old working on his reading aloud. Before each level there is a simple description of that to do on the level or how the task is performed. Even though the game might be considered very elementary by some, I enjoyed tinkering with it before the kids got to it. There are no drawbacks from what I saw. The 1.99 was well spent and I am looking at the other apps available by the developers. The kids are happy and that makes me a happy parent.
