Bottom Line: Worth a look at its price if it sounds like something your child would enjoy.
Make the Face is a simple app where children drag-and-drop different parts of a face (and hats, etc.) to match a preset image, such as a policewoman or Santa Claus, or they can start from scratch and make their own faces.
The app starts with the child selecting from one of 12 faces or a blank face with a question mark on it. If a preset is chosen, the child starts with a blank face and must drag-and-drop all of the appropriate parts of that face (eyes, nose, mouth, hair, hat, etc.) from a group of items. An image of the target face is shown.
There is some cognitive and hand-eye work to do as the parts of the app are presented in a random way, presented at different angles. The item flips to the correct presentation when dragged to the appropriate spot, however. Also, there are often only slight differences between the items presented.
Each character has their own opening sound effect/music and there is a musical/verbal congratulations when each face is completed. There are no animations.
If the blank template is chosen, the child can use their creativity to make their own faces from the available parts. Skin color can also be adjusted in the blank template.
The addition of setting/difficulty adjustment, so that the items can be presented in a more organized, straight-forward way, would be helpful to ensure children at a younger development level are not intimidated by the matching game. For most toddlers, I think it would have to be a play-together app.
I'm not a big fan of some of the preset face selections as they seem a bit old-fashioned, including a Mexican guy in a sombrero, a Native American in headdress, and an old-West sheriff character, but there's nothing too offensive. The images and music just seem like something out of a game from the '50s.
The only setting in the app is to turn the music on and off but there is a setting outside of the app, in the iPad setting menu, to change the language from English to German to Greek.
The interface is easy to use and there are no in-apps or ads or external links to social media or other.
Make the Face is a decent app at its price (99 cents) but there's nothing really exceptional about it. Take a look if it sounds like something your child will enjoy.
****
If you would like to purchase Make the Face please use the links provided. Thanks for your support!
iPad ($0.99): U.S. Canada Europe Australia
This review was written by Ron Engel, who also blogs at theworldaccordingtoe.com. smartappsforkids.com was paid a priority-review fee to complete this review in an expedited manner.
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