Clangers - Playtime Planet

The great graphics, sweetly knitted mouse-like characters, and the wonderfully gentle and comforting narration offer plenty of kid appeal, but the substance of the games is hit or miss. Many games do not seem to have clear purpose or logic, and some have no natural ending point. For example, in the peas game, kids drop peas in a basket, but the controls are a bit irregular, and once all the peas are in the basket, nothing happens; there's no more that kids can do until they tap the home button. Moving around items, such as the peas or the Skymoo on his endless flight, may be difficult for kids, because the movements are extremely sensitive to slight movements in sometimes strange ways. The best game, by far, is the music game in which kids can tap eight differently colored "egg bots" which play notes on the do-re-mi scale. Kids can experiment freely, or they can listen to a tune and try to recreate it step by step. Though there are several frustrating elements, there also are some fun games that kids will enjoy.