National Geographic has just released a new bundle of educational apps for iOS, aimed at young children.

The bundle, Look & Learn: Animals Vol. 1, includes Animal Bounce, Animal Match and Animal Words. Each title encourages children to discover more about the natural world through some great animal sounds and age-appropriate games. Throughout, the kind of photography we’ve all come to expect from National Geographic continues the beguiling theme.

Animal Bounce is focused on learning animal names and sounds, while Animal Match involves matching the animal to its shape. Animal Words teaches name recognition and basic alphabet skills. Each should be great fun for little ones.

The app is optimized for the new iPad but works just as well for iPhone and iPod Touch. It’s all designed to tie in well with the National Geographic learning books series for preschoolers.

Look & Learn: Animals Vol. 1 is out now, priced at $2.99. It’s an Universal app.

$2.99

Look & Learn: Animals Vol. 1

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2012-05-09 :: Category: Education

Tiny Firemen is an adorable game that encourages kids to collaborate with their parents, thus encouraging sociable behavior.

This wouldn’t be much fun if it were implemented in an obvious and unexciting way. Fortunately, Tiny Firemen makes teamwork great fun. Players take the role of a fireman team of Cat & Dog with one player controlling the firetruck while the other sprays the water, making for an enjoyable collaborative effort.

12 different animals require saving in Can Town but Tiny Firemen promises to be a frustration-free experience keeping young children happy throughout. As the screenshots show, it’s a cute game to look at, reminiscent of kids’ picture books, and there’s a great classical piano based musical score.

Tiny Firemen is out now priced at $2.99 for an Universal build. There’s also a free version for trying the game out with the option to unlock the full game via an in-app purchase.

FREE!

Tiny Fireman: Rescue Animal Friends with Cat and Dog's Fire Truck

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2012-04-04 :: Category: Games

$2.99

Tiny Fireman

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2011-12-18 :: Category: Games

Some might call it the circle of life, other will call it the food chain, NomNom Combo calls it a game. In this new “king of the jungle” matching game, players match animals together and then match the prey animals with the predators in return for in-game currency. This obviously isn’t a typical matching game. Honestly, how many matching games out there have a problem with blocks eating other blocks? In NomNom Combo, players aren’t just focused on making matches, they are also concerned with making matches in a way that will keep their predator’s bellies full.

Players start each game by placing animals like flies and frogs as tiles on the game board. If a player places a fly next to a frog it will run in the opposite direction until it hits the edge of the board. If the fly is placed in such a way that it can’t run, or runs into another frog, then it is eaten by the frog and the player is awarded a certain number of coins. However, placing three flies close together will turn them into a mouse, making it impossible for a frog to eat. To eat the mouse the player must match three frogs and make a snake. Three mice turn into a rabbit, three snakes turn into an eagle continuing through sheep, manatees, wolves, and so on through various predator and prey combos. Though not quite evolutionarily sound, this progression to larger animals is what makes the game more puzzle-like than other matching games.

Players can’t just place animals on the board randomly making matches. At the start of each game they are awarded a certain number of random animals to place. They’ll need to plan out their placements so they can “evolve” the biggest predators and prey in tandem and in placements where the predator can eventually get at the prey. Coins are awarded for each prey animal that is eaten and these coins are used to buy more animals to place, continuing the game.

NomNom Combo is certainly a unique matching puzzle game. It’s both fun to play and challenging to master. The balance between matching and strategy makes the game a great choice for players looking for a challenge.

Note: NomNom Combo is currently only available in the Canadian App Store and will get a wider release later this quarter.

Plenty of people love playing social games and similar numbers enjoy caring for a virtual pet. How about combining the two? That’s what LoadComplete decided to do with Bumping Bears and they’ve even added a real life socializing element.

Bumping Bears gives players the chance to adopt bears to play and raise on their own donut planet located in the wider bear galaxy. Players can care for up to 3 bears at once, encouraging them towards one of over 70 bear professions while dressing them from a choice of over 100,000 unique outfit combinations.

The player can then partake in quests, missions and minigames to help their bear improve in their chosen profession.

For the social gamer, players can find other like minded souls using geolocation, then bump their phones together to make their bears date and mate. It’s all very cute and lovable but not essential to progression.

Bumping Bears is out now and it’s an Universal app.

FREE!

Bumping Bears

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2011-10-27 :: Category: Games

Wait for one new Zynga game and two come bouncing along, just like a cuddly animal would. Note the tenuous link? Yup, Zynga’s new title is all about taking care of exotic and zany animals in a zoo.

Dream Zoo is another first for Zynga. Their first zoo themed game to be exact, presumably ensuring that casual gamers with all types of interests will be hooked by at least one Zynga game at some time. Interestingly, it’s also the first Zynga title to offer bonuses and in-game rewards based upon playing in multiple different locations.

Players are given the opportunity to breed and collect thousands of different animal varieties in a way that’s bound to hook ‘gotta catch em all’ style addicts. A selection of mini-games give the player the chance to pet and tend to their animals with feeding and washing games simple yet fun to play.

All manners of animals are catered for from aardvarks to zebras. Going on safari enables players to discover these different species while also having plenty of fun along the way! Players can even breed different animals together to create all new and unique types of creatures. Along the way, players can also collect up other items on safari, thus boosting their zoo’s looks or finances. Once everything is arranged just how the player wants it, they can take photos of their animals to show off to others.

We all know and love what Zynga has to offer the freemium gaming world and it looks like the magic has transferred to the world of zoo keeping in Dream Zoo. Like other Zynga titles, it’s a free app with plenty of in-app purchase based options. Fortunately, it’s not essential to progression, it just speeds things up a little.

For those looking for a new free to play fix, Dream Zoo is out now.

FREE!

Dream Zoo

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2011-11-22 :: Category: Games

I never get to visit zoos as often as I like as my nearest zoo is over an hour’s drive away. Throw in the expense of visiting and it’s just not as frequent as I’d like.

It’s a similar problem for the likes of my young cousins who don’t get to see animals anywhere often enough other than through the internet or books. Pocket Zoo HD won’t whisk anyone physically to a zoo but it does the next best thing by offering over 30+ live animal cams so that users can see creatures from all over the world.

Animals available to view include amongst others the cuddly penguin, the majestic tiger, the quirky meerkat and the fearsome killer whale. Pocket Zoo isn’t just about live cameras either with over 200 wildlife videos included as well as a virtual zoo with series of original animal illustrations. A string of facts are also included to educate young animal fans as well as real animal sounds.

Pocket Zoo HD looks like an ideal app to while away some time alongside younger relatives. It’s out now for the iPad, priced at $3.99.

$2.99

Pocket Zoo HD ™ with Live Animal Cams

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2011-07-18 :: Category: Education