Buildo Rescue Sticker Book Review

Buildo Rescue Sticker Book is a fun creative universal app that certain kids will enjoy.

In the past, I have come across many a sticker app consisting of a princess or dress-up theme. I enjoy these apps and have no issues sharing these applications with my son, even though they may seem “girly” to some by their nature.

Because of this, it is a nice change to be reviewing this app as it contains rescue-related stickers, some with a lot of implied action, because in preschool my son always passes over the fairy dress-up area at school for the construction and fireman dress-up gear every time, and this app offers something different among sticker apps.

This application consists of four scenes: fire and water rescue, as well as police and medical motifs each including a lot of fun characters, rescue vehicles and other nice details that add to the richness of each section.

These sticker choices are cartoony in nature and a lot of fun to look at. I like how some stickers are created to make characters seem like they are hanging from windows in a burning building or boats sinking into the ocean, and each scene has an abundance of choices to choose from, giving players many options to fill their screens with.

Intuitive to use, simply drag stickers from the top scroll bar, adding them to the scene’s background. Do note that one can scroll the backdrop as well, giving players a lot of space to create elaborate scenes.

It is especially nice that one can drag these stickers around the screen with a moving effect that is rather smooth, and it is wonderful that multiple fingers can be moving objects or characters at once, allowing children to really interact with the scenes they create, making this a nice choice for multiple players without any little pieces to loose as would be the case with a couple of kids playing this action figures.

Double clicking on these stickers will flip them, creating the mirror image of these stickers to work with, and one can re-size by pinching or spreading fingers. Rotating these stickers is also an option. These stickers can be used an infinite number of times - good for making an army out of a single character sticker or a fleet of sail boats if one wishes.

For many, the best part about this app is the sounds used throughout, from the ambient sounds used in the backgrounds, such as the beeping of medical machinery and distant talking found in hospital settings, to the waves and wind or city street sounds found throughout the sea, fire, and police rescue sections.

Each of these stickers has individual sounds of their own as well that can be heard each time one drags a selection and again with every tap. This includes all the vehicles found within as well as the tools used, such as walkie-talkies, fire extinguishers, bull horns and even the medical equipment found in the hospital setting.

Even small, yet important details are also included, such as the crackling of flames that one can add to burning buildings or boats on fire - an element my husband especially enjoyed.

It is also fun and interesting how each character found within this app “talks” as this app is language neutral, allowing children who speak any language to understand what is being uttered in an emotional sense, much like the way the Swedish Chef communicates on the Muppet Show.

Unfortunately, my son finds many of these sirens, loud vehicle noises and other sounds overwhelming and did not enjoy this application as much as my husband does because of how loud this app can get.

The opening music is rather overwhelming at times as well, incorporating these emergency vehicle sounds for effect - something that did turn off my son who had to be coaxed into exploring this app the first time. My boy did have a lot of fun watching daddy enjoy this app but still complains about the aggressive sounds when I have this app opened up for review purposes.

I do not find the loud, highly stimulating sounds that my son did not enjoy to be a flaw in this application, as I can imagine other children will really enjoy these bells and whistles a great deal. For the right child, this app could be a great, creative choice that may aid children in storytelling or role-playing.

The simple choice would be to mute the volume on our iPad for my son so he could enjoy these stickers without feeling uncomfortable or overwhelmed. Although this would solve the problem, my son enjoys the fun sounds of the characters and the quitter, ambient sounds used throughout, so muting is not the perfect solution.

Included is a parent’s section thoughtfully written about how to help children get the most out of this app. It would be wonderful if one could control the volume of each sticker as well, giving parents the choice to silence some sounds or allow them to play at only half volume without interfering with other noises.

As of now, this is an app that our son is a little weary of. For what it is worth, my husband got a real kick out of this application. My son does not like to play with loud toys either, so this is a purely personal preference on his part. I am sure that the right child will really appreciate this application just the way it is and will greatly enjoy all the loud sounds this app has to offer.