Casper Scare School - Costume Closet Review

Posted by Amy Solomon on October 28th, 2011
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad

Casper Scare School - Costume Closet is a cute and fun universal memory app based on the characters from Casper’s Scare School computer-animated film and TV series and is a very nice choice of app for the Halloween season.


There are many game apps in the iTunes store dedicated to enhancing children’s short term memory. Typically these apps are styled after the game known as “Memory” or “Concentration” and involve the turning over of cards in order to make pairs, remembering where corresponding matches have been seen as cards are turned over. Although this style of game is fun and has merit, it is nice to see an alternative that has a memory focus as well.


Here, players are asked to choose a card which is revealed to contain a specific costume found on the other side. Kids are asked to remember the specific elements of this costume and then are asked to choose these elements from corresponding possible multiple choices. This game is easy at first but nicely gets more difficult as this game progresses and the details become more specific as well as increasing the selection of costume answers to choose from.


A dress-up section is also available where kids can dress up Casper and two other friends, Ra the mummy, and Martha the zombie girl into the various costumes found within the quiz, unlocking each costume after one has played the corresponding round of costume memory, allowing more and more costume elements to choose from as these memory quizzes progress. It is also nice that while dressing up these characters, one can also background image and color schemes as well as save the creations to share later.


I really enjoy this app. It is nice that 15 costumes are included, giving this application good variety, and that although some spooky characters are included like a werewolf or vampire, these images are never too intense or scary, except for possibly those most sensitive and that many non-creepy characters exist as well.

The look of this app is bright and colorful in general, and there are some nice elements that engage, keeping these games suspenseful and players motivated without being too intense a memory game. I enjoy a cartoony purple swirl used to draw the player into these quizzes in a fun, hypnotic way, reminiscent of an image used during one season's opening credits of the Twilight Zone, as well as Casper counting up from one to ten, prompting the player to focus his attention on these costume details. Although a certain amount of time is given to answer these questions, it is nice that if time runs out or three wrong answers are chosen, the player is simply given a second chance to study the costume in question, making the level of difficulty appropriate for those preschool age and up.


Because 15 costumes are included here, it is understandable that one may not be able to finish all of these mini-games in one sitting, so it is nice that the costume puzzles that have already been solved here have been turned over to reveal the character in question, marking them as having been solved and keeping their costume parts unlocked in the dress-up section. I do find it odd, however, that after these cards have been flipped face up, this game cannot be reset, even when all these costume mini-games have been completed.

One can still choose a favorite character to replay the corresponding quiz, but it is far more appealing to choose from a selection of cards face down and be surprised by which character one is choosing, especially if this app is being shared among multiple children. For this reason, it would be nice if the option were available to save multiple children’s information individually, as well as the option to re-set these cards.


Having said this, Casper Scare School - Costume Closet is a very nice choice for a Halloween app as well as a good choice for those looking for a memory app that will provide adults and children a unique experience.

I am impressed how much this app compels the player to focus and remember details, and even then I got a few answers wrong myself as sometimes I try to multitask and lose focus. This app has reminded me to try to slow down, and I think that there are nice benefits that kids will gain from playing with this app as well.

iPhone Screenshots

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Casper Scare School - Costume Closet screenshot 1 Casper Scare School - Costume Closet screenshot 2 Casper Scare School - Costume Closet screenshot 3 Casper Scare School - Costume Closet screenshot 4

iPad Screenshots

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Casper Scare School - Costume Closet screenshot 5 Casper Scare School - Costume Closet screenshot 6 Casper Scare School - Costume Closet screenshot 7 Casper Scare School - Costume Closet screenshot 8
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