Blaze and the Monster Machines HD
Price: $6.99
Version Reviewed: 1.2
App Reviewed on: iPad 3
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Recently I became aggravated with my son, now seven years old, as he was spending much of his screen time on a free app that he convinced my husband to download. With the use of a physics engine and the sharpening of fine motor skills, this new app is not mindless, but I was tired of my son downloading additional content and trying to collect gems to obtain new characters. Because of this, I announced that he was done with this app for now and instead he was going to help me test a new application racing monster trucks. My boy became silent and looked at me, then asked, “Can I add ramps to the tracks?” After explaining that yes, he could add ramps, loop-de-loops, corkscrews, and more in the building mode, a big smile washed over his face. I have not seen my boy play the free app since being introduced to Nickelodeon’s Blaze and the Monster Machines HD - an app that allows children to both build as well as race monster trucks to their hearts' desire.
Within these courses, science terms like “force” are explored as children push through barrels, "adhesion" as one tried to avoid gum or honey that would make one stick to the track if not using the chains found on the driving area to be used for added traction, or the use of magnets that will attract hubcaps to be used to fill in the “blazing speed meter” and allowing an increase in speed for a short period of time. With fifteen levels included in each of these areas, children will see many STEM concepts at work - be it gaining trajectory from driving over ramps or avoiding the pitfalls of cheating cars who create their own sticky obstacles to avoid, all of which creates dynamic courses that children will enjoy racing through.
Children will have a chance to add details to their course that they will experience firsthand while driving, including the ability to add two different loops, arrows for acceleration, hubcaps, magnets, and ramps or different angles, as well as obstacles such as water puddles to slide in, gum to get stuck, and boxes and barrels to crash through. I really enjoy the thought process children will go through as they create tracks that will give them an advantage in these races, which at first seemed to me like promoting bad sportsmanship as one loads up the course with the chance to boost one’s speed - an issue I no longer have as the player’s car is by its nature slower than the other two in the race, so children will need to design tracks that will give them a competitive edge as they race for trophies and bragging rights.
Based on a Nickelodeon show of the same name, Blaze and the Monster Machines HD will suit fans as well as well as newcomers. And although my son and I have not seen an episode, this has not stopped him for being fully engaged by this app. I would like to make note that the current price of $6.99 for the iPad version seems quite high for a child's application, especially with this app not being universal with a separate iPhone version available, which makes the price the only hesitation I have in recommending this application to all families with young children. I do see this app becoming more popular with a more affordable price tag, a change I would love to see in the future.