The City of Friends app by Rock Pocket AS is based on the popular children's series of the same name and is designed to help young children learn about the emergency services in a fun way. There are various mini games where you have to help the three characters from the series, Elphie the fireman, Ted the paramedic and Max the police officer to complete tasks which kids will enjoy while they learning all about the roles and what they involve.
When you load the app you can select from six different options. These include a matching game which features the various characters from City of Friends which is great for developing memory skills; a puzzle-like game where you help Ted the paramedic organize his first aid kit by dragging and dropping items into it which helps to improve fine motor skills; a flying game where you help Max the police officer fly his helicopter, avoiding obstacles and collecting things as you do; a quick reaction game where you have to help Elphie the fireman extinguish the fires in the windows of a burning building; an option where you can view the rewards you have unlocked which are TV series movie snippets and finally a chance to explore the three different emergency vehicles which is highly interactive and a fun way for kids to become familiar with each of them. There are different levels of difficulty to each of the mini games also which makes it suitable for ages from 2 to 6 years.
6 options to select from
Select difficulty level
When I asked Ben which game is his favorite he seemed to have trouble picking just one as he loves helping the "police man fly the helicopter" which I must say he is getting really good at, but he also enjoys extinguishing the fires with "fireman Elphie" and I have noticed his reactions have definitely improved since he first started playing it and he seems to be getting faster and faster at putting them out. Ben refers to the characters as the fireman Elephie, the Police man and Doctor Ted or sometime Medic Ted so he can clearly recognize the different roles.
Flying the Helicopter
Extinguishing fires with Fireman Elphie
The games are engaging and fun and the graphics are bright, colourful and familiar to any fans of the show. The app is well designed with "kid-friendly" controls and easy to select options. I also like the fact that you have the ability to mute the sound quickly and easily if required which comes in very handy at times especially if you are in public. The only thing which I would like to see different in this app is the inclusion of one enabled TV clip from the start when you select the option to view clips with the rest to be unlocked through play as I think this would work better, in particular for young kids who might take a little time to get good enough at playing the app to unlock them.City of Friends is available to download from the App Store for £1.49 and is compatible with both iPhone and iPad.
*Disclaimer: I received a promo code to download this app but this has in no way biased my opinion.
