Peekaboo Forest Review

Peekaboo Forest is a universal app as well as being the third in a lovely series of apps by Night and Day Studios - which teaches children about animals, the sounds they make, as well as their habitats.

This new app is different from the first two apps in which animals are hiding behind a barn door or in tall grass, these objects grabbing the child's attention with the movement and the tapping of the barn or rustling of the grass. They are wonderful prompts to see what animals are playing peek-a-boo and making their animal sounds. These apps are perfect first apps for babies and toddlers and may be among the first apps downloaded for young family members.

Here, Peekaboo Forest has incorporated drawings from famed mid-century artist Charley Harper, whose style of illustration is known as “minimal realism.” This best describes the look of this application as well. This app is very sophisticated-looking, using muted earth tones that one would find in a forest, but these drawings are not without whimsy. All the animals are simply beautiful and in a style that is sure to please adults, and I am happy to say that my son loves these images as well.

Different from the first two apps, these animals hide behind trees or other objects, peeking out just slightly to be found by the player with a very nice realistic scale used, making for a very interesting visual effect when one comes across a particularly large or small animal. Unlike the first two apps which have one animal per page and no question of where to find each animal, Peekaboo Forest has many animals hiding in and around various things found in nature and you need to keep your eyes peeled looking for their movements, hearing the animal's noises once they are found instead of hearing the sounds first to guess who the animal is like in the first two apps. Peekaboo Forest is more of a true peek-a-boo game to the viewer and more challenging than its predecessors, but nonetheless still captivating to my three year old son.

I also like how the different seasons are shown here, with their own introductory screen and musical theme. This app, however, opens up directly into “winter,” but it would be nice if “winter” too had its own introduction as well, as I think splitting this app up into seasons makes a lot of sense.

My son really enjoys this app and I am glad. The musical theme is wonderful as is the amazing art work. This app may appeal more to a older toddler or preschooler and I think that it is nice that this series has grown with the kids who were babies when Peekaboo Barn was first introduced and now may be ready for a more sophisticated app. I can’t wait to see what Night and Day Studios comes out with next; they have an excellent track record!