App review: Roxie’s A-maze-ing Vacation Adventure

Last week, I was asked to review a new iPad app for children. Roxie’s A-maze-ing Vacation Adventure was developed by OCG Studios. Available for EUR3.99 on iTunes, Roxie’s A-maze-ing Vacation Adventure is a little pricier than most of the children’s games that we have. This game is like Where’s Wally and a maze exploration game in one. Drawn by Roxie Munro, this game really reminds me of her Mazeways or Mazescapes! books.

It is aimed at four-to-eight year olds, but we discovered that its appeal is far broader. Now obviously Little Man is too young to test out an app aimed at four-to-eight year olds for us. But luckily we had a four year old visitor last weekend. Mister C is four and a quarter actually! We had a lot of fun testing this app with him.

There are two main tasks that you have to carry out to complete this game. First you have to find several objects on each screen – animals, vehicles, numbers, and letters. It’s not easy! The letter H might be cunningly disguised as a building or the number 3 might be hidden on the side of a truck.

This was one part of the game that Little Man was able to get involved with as well. He was very excited when we were looking for an ice-cream truck. But it’s possible he thought we were offering him ice-cream!

The second task that you must complete is to explore the screens, first by car, then on foot, and later by various modes of transport, including a canoe! You move about the screen finding pieces of a star as you go. You must find all the pieces of a star on each screen. Mister C got a bit frustrated with this part of the game. To be honest, I think it’s too difficult for a four year old to manoeuvre around the screens. I found it quite hard myself at times. The game wasn’t always responsive enough when you were trying to move about.

Also, if you are travelling by car, you must obey the rules of the road – so you can’t go the wrong way down a one way street, and you’re quickly stopped if you try to drive the wrong way around a roundabout. This was definitely frustrating for a four year old!

However, the detail in this game is really delightful, and although it might be too difficult for a four year old to play by himself, it’s a lot of fun to play together. There’s a real sense of accomplishment when you find everything on a screen! In fact, even though Mister C is no longer staying with us, Charlie and I played it again later in the week because we both enjoyed it!

Available here on iTunes: Roxie’s A-maze-ing Vacation Adventure

Disclaimer
I received a free copy of the Roxie’s A-maze-ing Vacation Adventure app to complete this review. However, I did not receive any other payment or compensation for completing this review. My opinions are entirely my own, and I always try my best to give an honest and unbiased report.