Parents' Guide to My City : Election day

There are lots of details for kids to explore in this open-ended virtual dollhouse, and the voting theme brings a unique set of possibilities for pretend play. My City : Election day's unique theme has potential for getting kids excited and involved in being active citizens in their community -- particularly if parents talk to their kids about the game. There are some fun ways for kids to interact with characters and items, such as printing a badge and using it to enter a building or choosing designs on campaign materials. Another area where My City : Election day stands out is the option to choose facial expressions showing a handful of different emotions. Yet, overall, as with most apps in this genre, kids can move characters and items around but they really don't interact with each other on screen in any meaningful way. Though there's a variety of gender, age, and skin tone in the character choices, it still seems that there's a slight imbalance in representations (for example, the "family portrait" in the mayor's office shows a standard white dad, mom, boy, and girl). Parents should be aware that the My City series includes a large number of themed apps, and there's a big push to purchase more, play more, and rate the app.