Game : Two Dots

I think I downloaded Two Dots several months back. Probably when I just started living alone. Perhaps to occupy my extra free time. I finished Fieldrunners and Fieldrunners 2, so I need a new challenging level-based with decent graphic game.

I found Dots before but I wasn't really hooked with the game because :

1. It's a repetitive

2. No level, it's not getting any harder

3. It's time-based, so there is a time to complete one game and that's it.

But I liked it. I remember telling Aja to try it because the app was really simple and nice-looking. And months later, I checked App Store and found Two Dots, seeing that I enjoyed playing Dots before + it was free, so I gave it a try.  

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I enjoyed the game very much. 

1. Only 5 lives are given for free every day, and a live will be given every 20 minutes or so - or you can just buy lives but I never do that. So I waited every day after work to play the game, it became sort of like a routine. 

2. The first time I downloaded, there were 150 levels, so we can scroll the game to see all these beautiful background and animation along the way. I even found the designer, Owen Davey. I thought about print-screen everything, but it is just too long. So the second & third time I updated the app, I got more, up until 235 levels. 

3. It gets harder and sometimes I took a week to finish up 1 level. It's like an annoying puzzle and I'll get annoyed being stuck there. Yeap, it is every day's adventure.

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Just yesterday, I finally finished all 235 levels and I feel relieved :D 

I am now waiting for more updates with new levels *I hope. 

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App : Water Daily

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The facts stated :

60% of our body is water ,
70% of our brain is water,
and the lungs are nearly 90% water.

So as everyone knows, water plays a huge role in our body.
Do you drink water as much as needed?

Here is an app I used with a nice minimalist interface design to keep track of my daily water intake : Water Daily by particlemade.

1. Select your water amount : 2500ml (recommended for man) and 2000ml (recommended for woman) ,
2. Set your waking & sleeping time : to keep track of your time,
3. Allow notification : for people who don't drink as a habit - I don't need any reminder. Ha.
4. Check your daily drinking habits.
5. Shake your iPhone every time you drink 250ml water and it will automatically record it :

Nice one, huh?

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Travel : Melaka 3

Don't forget current gift-aways!

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Hello!

This is my final post on my Melaka trip, I promise! I took a lot of photos that I love and putting it up in my blog is one of the way to keep it fresh in my mind. It is like a public diary of my living years. I do go through my blog every now and then. Just to have a taste of my past and reminding myself on how much I grew up and learned these past years. It is also a way for me to share my stories with my families and people who care. 

I am not much of a people person - to be in real live situation and share my thoughts and stories. So this is how much I can participate with people.

I hope these picturous posts didn't take so much time to load, I've resized all of them and they load as fast as hummingbird's wings on my browser *at least most of the time, of course. 

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I drew this while waiting for my colleague to arrive.

This was taken when we just arrived at Johan Hotel

At Umbai, while waiting for Iftar time

I ate as much seafoods as I want !

In Jonker Streets' small shop

A' Famosa

Random photo of me, through the looking glass.

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Pictures were taken by using :

IPhone 4S + Instagram

I  hate watermarks, 

so please be informed that all this pictures are mine, 

thank you.

Apps : Young Kids & Mobile Apps

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Although I don't quite agree with kids under 12 to be engaged with game consoles and other devices, I am very much interested in how kids interact with those devices.

I got curious over how their brain processes it, how they familiarize certain patterns and steps, how they explore it. The fact that they can interact with those games even though they can't read, always fascinates me. 

Good mobile applications for kids don't even need instructions to explain the flow, because most kids don't read at a very young age and it is hard for them to focus on reading when they are too excited to play the game right away. *I remember skipping the conversation parts between players when I played Pokemon Red - teenage years. I bet that goes to everyone else too, except for curious-avid reader I suppose. 

I don't have a chance to be around young kids that much, so I suppose my finding's accuracy will be highly downgraded. At the lab, I usually watch Fayyadh explores my iPhone. I watch him trying games after games to meet his interest. Most of game apps are strategy or puzzle based so they are not quite suitable for a 5 year old. 

This writing is based on one of the good application I found interesting enough for young kids : Toca Doctor by TocaBoca & my humble observation. What I have in mind is a simple set of mini games to be completed that kids can relate to. I bought the app just because I was curious on how the full version will be, and how different each mini games will be - there is a lite version you can try, just type in "Toca Doctor Lite".

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Mobile Applications for Young Kids :

1. Interface.

Kids are attracted to simple, colourful interface.  I love the simplicity of it. It kind of reminds me of activity books I used to have when I was very young, back when there is no such thing as mobile application of course. 

2. Mini games

Kids are easily distracted, so a set of mini games might help them focus on each small task. In Toca Doctor, a player is required to examine a patient and solve simple fun puzzle. I played the whole set, it was super easy for me, but quite engaging. There are 21mini games to be completed.

eg : Broken bones need to be connected and bandaged or brush your teeth to kill the germs, clean up  wound and put a plaster and those simple stuffs. 

3. No instructions

The game is straight forward and simple. They point to each point that need to be inspected, and kids can solve it right away. I didn't even need to explain anything to him. 

4. Relate to real life

In this game, they ask you to be a doctor. In another game by tocaboca, called Toca House that let the player help 5 friends do chores at home : cleaning up, doing dishes, ironing, mowing the lawn in 19 mini games. It's easier for them to understand simple tasks when they can relate to it and much easier for us to explain.

eg : Why we need to clean the wound?
Because we need to avoid infection. 

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Ps :
Parents need to be aware of the type of games they let children play. Children are a bit like white canvas, parents are the artist with paints and brushes in their hand.

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It's amazing how technology is taking over the world.

I work as a conceptual designer for mobile application and during my free time, I explore the beautiful wonder of arts in current digital medium mainly in tablets and smart phones. One of my favorite topic is children's application. I'll share my finding here from time to time. Enjoy the geeky side of me ! :D - azreenchan