New Marbles For Marble Math

We've been so deeply entrenched in the final stages of production on our latest kids app, Drive About: Number Neighborhood, that I almost forgot to mention a nice update to the award-winning Marble Math family.

We're set to release new Marble Math and Marble Math Junior app versions this week, adding new marbles to both games.

Now you can earn zebra, leopard, chameleon, parrot, python, peacock, cow and butterfly marbles.

Keep your eye out for the updates in the App Store this Thursday.

And stay tuned for a special Marble Math promotion this App Friday.

A Winning App Icon

A big and beautiful Drive About: Number Neighborhood app icon

You voted and we listened.

It is with great pleasure that I now introduce the winner of the Drive About: Number Neighborhood app icon challenge.

You also told us we absolutely had to find a way to get some numbers into the art so we made some adjustments.

Drive icon at standard viewing sizes

We really like icon and we're grateful for your help.

Today, we're making some last minute tweaks before shipping the game for beta testing.

If all goes well, we'll release the app in about a month.

You can sign up for our newsletter and we'll keep you informed as we get closer to launch.

Deciding On The App Icon...

We really liked this icon but the sheep looks like a hostage

We've reached a critical decision point in the app design process and we need your help.
It's a graphic designers ultimate challenge - how to sell your app in a single image that may be reduced to something that is smaller than a postage stamp, in a sea of miniature postage stamps.

When reduced, the sheep looks less scared but he also looks less like a sheep - too many details are lost

We've got a lot to say about our new early learning app, Drive About: Number Neighborhood, but we can't say it all in the icon - that's what your app description and screenshots are for.

Option 1A has a rolling country feel

1B adds a city vibe in place of the mountains

Do we focus on the driving, and emphasize the quality of the app in a rich illustration (1A and B)?

Option 2A - sometimes less is more

Or, do we simplify and go with a strong profile and underline the math (2A and B)?

2B - color makes the numbers more playful - but harder to read at a smaller size

Which icon would entice you to find out more about the app?

We want to make a decision in the next couple of days so let us know what you think and we'll share the winner with you next week.

Making Kids Apps (And Setting a Launch Date) Is Hard Work

Kid testing can take your app in new and exciting directions

You may think that making “toddler” apps is easy. I mean, really how hard can it be to to whip up some shiny things to catch the eye and sprinkle some ABC’s and 123’s into the app so you can slap an educational label on it? And that’s exactly why the App Store Kids category is so crowded with apps for ages 5 and under. For some developers, the illusion of a low cost entry point to the educational market is a big draw. But quality is not something that is easily achieved and kids are smarter than you think. The competition for your toddlers attention is fierce and that is exactly why it is takes lots of effort to make an app that stands out from the pack.

We toil, we toss, we turn, we sweat, we fret, we struggle, we test, we test some more, we change things (important things that we love), we analyze and we test some more - in short, we work really, really hard on every app we make so that kids will get something they want to play and adults get something they don’t mind paying for. This takes lots of time.

We spent the last year developing Mystery Math Town and Mystery Math Museum (grades 1-3) and client apps like World’s Worst Pet and Door 24 (grades 4-8) but for our next app we wanted to get back to our Alien Buddies roots and create something for preschoolers. Jim and I both have little kids at home (3 and 4 years old) and we wanted to make something for them. We also wanted to develop an app that could be localized for play in different parts of the world... and we wanted kids to be able to play it on tablets and phones for iOS and Android. We settled on a driving game where the child can explore a variety of landscapes in different vehicles and encounter early learning math activities along their journey. We started making Drive About: Number Neighborhood in December 2013.

There were lots of Skype meetings with each of us working from home during our winter snow days to decide on the app specifications and Lis went to work on look and feel. We set a target launch date of late April.

Our testing process begins with a pretty close internal circle until we approve the concept and then we work on things until we feel it’s in a good position to share with family and friends. We observe play and  record feedback and we go back to the drawing board to make improvements before the next round of testing. When we feel the app is ready to share with folks on the “outside”, we distribute it to our wider network of parents, teachers and kids. This Beta app review is a big moment in the development process and the user feedback we collect can shape the app in ways we never might have guessed. From this point we formulate a revised development plan to add the finishing touches for a final round of development.

(Cough) Remember our original April target date?

We just finished our internal family testing and it turns out kids don’t think like we do, so we’ve got work to do to make the game right for them. Today we’re aiming for an early June Drive About launch but who knows what direction the Beta observations will take us...

The only sure thing I can tell you is we’ll keep working until we get it right.

A New Kids App! (With Extra Sprinkles)

Can you spot the new app?

With the one year anniversary of  Mystery Math Town right around the corner, I’m happy to announce a new early learning app we’re working on.

It’s called Drive About: Number Neighborhood.

As you may guess, the game gives the 5 and under crowd a license to cruise (and some basic math skills practice along the way).

We were hoping to launch sometime in April but it’s becoming increasingly clear that that just isn’t going to happen.

In the world of client contract work, we’d never let a deadline slip.

But when it comes to our apps, we just can’t resist the extra sprinkles syndrome that would stop a client on a budget in their tracks.

We can’t help ourselves because the extra sprinkles are exactly what make our apps special.

In the world of client work, we like to spec things pretty tightly up front to limit surprises downstream.

We do the exact opposite with our apps. Our own process tends to be more of a creative free-for-all.

Have you ever seen a bunch of little kids in a bouncy castle? That’s kind of our approach.

Once we know which bouncy castle we’re aiming for we dive right in.

If we spend all of our time refining specs, we’d never get to the best part which is making stuff.

And adding sprinkles.

The bottom line - making kids apps should be fun.

Drive About: Number Neighborhood will be ready for beta testing in April.

Let us know if you want to join the testing team.

You can also sign up for our newsletter and we’ll make sure you don’t miss anything.

Burn All Kids Apps!

Maybe you've seen the Cris Rowan call to ban handheld devices for all kids under 12 in the Huffington Post recently.

It's hysterical.

We much prefer the level-headed rebuttal by David Kleeman.

But if you look at the shares on the page, it can't be denied - hysteria sells.

Hysterical

Reasonable

I was skyping with Lis in Australia last night, talking about our new app in development, and I think we may have hit upon a new educational paradigm.

What we're proposing is revolutionary.

The more hysterical, the better.

Let's scare kids smart.

If you get the answer wrong, the cute animal GETS IT!

I can see the series titles now:

Scared Smart: Identifying Shapes and Patterns

Followed by…

Scared Smart: Addition and Subtraction

Of course, I'm joking.

We like kids and animals too much to scare them.

2014 Parents' Choice Award Winners - Mobile Apps

We're really pleased to announce that our Mystery Math Museum app won a Parents' Choice Award.

While perusing the list of 2014 winners, we were also pleasantly surprised to see that World's Worst Pet, the app we developed for Curriculum Associates, also won.

From the Parents' Choice Foundation:

As a Parents’ Choice Award® winner, you’re a member of a very select group. Fewer than 20% of the products submitted to the Parents’ Choice Awards program receive any level of commendation. It’s an honor that doesn’t come easily; you should be very proud of your achievement.

Indeed we are!