Eddy’s Number Party! HD Review

Eddy’s Number Party! HD is a fun and engaging iPad application which teaches beginning math concepts such as counting and number matching as well as sharpening children’s memory and listening skills.

Help celebrate Eddy the Dog’s birthday by inviting his friends and supplying the party with presents, balloons and other decorations as each section of this app completed brings young players one step closer to throwing a wonderful party for their friends.

My son really enjoys this app. He was instantly engaged the moment he began playing this game as he loves the idea of helping put on a dogcentric birthday party. The basic look of this app is wonderful, bight and colorful. The quality of the animation used here is quite high and work seamlessly with the included interactions.

A variety of math activities are included, such as in level one where players count balloons, matching this number to the dog wearing the correct number on its collar. Level two has players match the number found on a collar to the number on a present to take to the party. Correctly select, pull down and let go as the package sits on a catapult of sorts and will be hurled over the fence to a dog waiting to catch this gift to bring to the party. This is my son's favorite area of this app as he really enjoys watching the spring being pulled back as he prepares to send this present over the fence, having compared this section to the gameplay in the app Angry Birds. To an adult, this correlation may be slim, but I appreciate where my son is coming from in his comparison.

Level 3 consists of players matching bugs or caterpillars both with corresponding number as well as the same amount of dots. Later, this game is played "memory” style as the number values are face down, and one must remember where the corresponding number and leaves with the same amount of dots can be found in the interest of making matches. Be it helping the bugs bring flowers to the party, or finding hidden presents under the leaves in the “memory" style game, it is nice that these sections have children playing against a snail who could win these rounds if the answers are incorrect too many times, but if this happens, children will simply be given the chance to re-play these games later.

Throughout these levels, shorter mini-games are used to break up these activities, such as “Hat Swap,” a variety of three card monty, as one looks for the ladybug hiding under a party hat as the hats move about the screen, as well as “Bark counting,” where a dog who has lost her collar tells players what number she is missing by listening to and counting her barks. I like how here, when the correct collar is chosen, this friendly dog thanks the player by coming close to the screen of the iPad and presumably the player as well, a nice touch. “Finger Counting” is also included where one must match the correct number to the number of fingers the dog is holding up to get back this dog’s collar as well. Stickers are also used through this game to keep kids motivated.

Adults will appreciate the lengthy section just for them that goes over the different levels of this app, and reports on how well the player is progressing through these sections and how to reinforce what is being learned in everyday life. Information on cognitive development and neuroscience research is also included as it pertains to this app in this thoughtfully written section.

There is a lot I really like about this app, but both my husband and I think it takes forever to progress throughout these levels, although my son does not complain about this. These activities, although cute, charming and fun, become monotonous for us adults as the same tasks are focused on over and over again well beyond the point of simply trying to keep kids' attention. I encourage the developers to let parents decide how many rounds of the same game need to be finished before moving on. It is great that one can pick up from where this app was previously left off, but it would be wonderful to have the information of multiple players saved so this app could be enjoyed by different children in different stages of this application, and I think some kids may want the option off choosing specific games as well.

Even without these changes made, my son loves playing with Eddy’s Number Party. The level of difficulty is perfect for my first year pre-schooler who is already expressing an aptitude in math, and we love the friendly narration which nicely explains and will later prompt children if help is needed how to play these levels, making this app very intuitive for young players without needing help from adults. I think kids will really enjoy this app. Parents will feel good about the obvious educational content provided, but it would be nice to be able to possibly choose what sections to explore and how long these levels last before moving on to other actives.