Parents' Guide to

Busy Water

By Mieke VanderBorght, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 6+

Solve and create puzzles that gush with STEM learning.

App iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad , Android Paid Education
Busy Water Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this app.

Community Reviews

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age 6+

Based on 1 parent review

Briana S.
Briana S. Adult
September 8, 2017
age 6+

Busy Water Review

Product: Busy Water Age Range: 6-8 Years Old Skills: Understanding cause and effect, refinement of fine motor skills, building cognitive agility and reasoning skills. The App I choose to play and observe is “Busy Water” by EDOKI ACADEMY. I do see how this came will help kids learn to build reasoning skills and learn about cause and effect. In the game, you have to move the pipes in the direction that will connect the one end (that has a fish and water) to the other end, to then get the fish and water to fall into the other end. As the levels go on there are other factors that get added. For example, there is a pipe that has three holes instead of two and there is a cork to stop up one of the holes. The child then has to decided where to place that pipe and which hole is needed to be stopped. The privacy of this app is taken seriously and there is no need to add any information at all into this app. Their app says they take the children’s privacy very seriously and are certified COPPA complaint by PRIVO. When I first started playing this game I was concerned and thought that it would be too easy even for a young kid. However as the levels have gone on, they get more and more complicated. There are components to this game that add on with each level. I feel that it is a very fun game that enhances the minds of children without them feeling that they are playing an education game. It is giving them opportunities to learn how to problem solve. If a teacher were to use this in the classroom, I would use it as a tool during some free time. I wouldn’t say it should be used as an everyday learning app that really “teaches” the kids a ton of knowledge. I feel that it would help kids build skills necessary for everyday skills. This game is also so fun that I think the kids would enjoy doing it as a game during free time. I think this game could also be used in the classroom as a break during exercises. If I were in a classroom, I would set up three (more challenging) learning activies for the students to do, and have this game as the 4th “station.” Then I’d have them break up and have a group for all four stations. I would have them rotate every five or ten minutes to practice the different activities and having this app as a station would give them a little mind break that they would view as fun but would still have an underlying motive. Having teacher guidance while using this app could be helpful to the kids because they will understand how to do some of the features that the game. Some levels require the phone or tablet to be tilted in the direction the fish needs to move. I think that at first kids could get confused or frustrated with this but once they get the hang of it I’m sure it would be a good learning experience
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Privacy Rating Warning

  • Unclear whether personal information is sold or rented to third parties.
  • Personal information is shared for third-party marketing.
  • Personalised advertising is displayed.
  • Data are collected by third-parties for their own purposes.
  • Unclear whether this product uses a user's information to track and target advertisements on other third-party websites or services.
  • Unclear whether this product creates and uses data profiles for personalised advertisements.
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What’s It About?

In the logical puzzle-solving game BUSY WATER, a tricky cat has unplugged Archie the fish's tank. Through over 100 levels, kids put together pipes, experiment with water in its various states, and use wheels, ropes, rotating planks, and gravity to direct Archie through various adventures until he's safely back in his aquarium. Since the tag line is "Think outside the tank," kids are encouraged to come up with original solutions and try new things, so they don't necessarily have to link pipes together to solve the puzzle. Play earns "algae," which kids can use to unlock special outfits for Archie. Though fewer attempts earn more algae, kids have unlimited chances to keep trying each level until they can pass it. The build mode allows kids to design their own levels and share them with friends through a special code.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (1 ):
Kids say: Not yet rated

There's a lot that encourages kids to discover, experiment, and stretch out their logical problem-solving skills in this set of reasoning puzzles that touch on engineering and other STEM concepts. Archie the fish is a great, kid-friendly protagonist whose adventures are accompanied by sweet graphics and realistic sound effects. In fact, the gasping noises Archie makes when out of water might freak out some kids. Except for the very earliest levels -- which are a little slow to build in complexity -- there are often multiple ways to solve each level, so while kids never "fail" a level, there's also room to improve or try something different. It can be frustrating when kids get stuck, and it would be nice to see some help or hints at some point, even if it's just a clue and not an answer. The build mode is especially interesting because it puts kids in the driver's seat and lets them experience gaming, logic, and reasoning from a completely different perspective and then share their creations with friends.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the real-life properties of the materials and tools represented in the game. Discuss and experiment with the states of water, and build water-transfer contraptions.

  • Help kids organize their problem-solving process by having them talk it though. Why are they arranging items in a certain way? What might be the next step? Why do moves need to happen in a certain order?

  • Work with your kids to create custom levels together, or make them independently and challenge each other to complete the level.

App Details

  • Devices: iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad , Android
  • Subjects: Science : engineering, gravity, motion, physics
  • Skills: Thinking & Reasoning : logic, problem solving, solving puzzles, strategy, thinking critically, Creativity : making new creations, Tech Skills : digital creation, using and applying technology
  • Pricing structure: Paid
  • Release date: July 25, 2016
  • Category: Education
  • Topics: STEM
  • Publisher: EDOKI ACADEMY
  • Version: 1.2
  • Minimum software requirements: Android 4.4 and up
  • Last updated: February 11, 2022

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