If I were review this game based solely on its description, it would have been less than favorable. Luckily, that's not what happened. From the moment I opened Avokiddo Emotions ($1.99), it put a smile on my face and I am a 28-year-old man. This app is fun, entertaining, and educational without ever feeling like anything other than a simple, silly game. I was sold, but I thought I should probably get a second opinion from my 3-year-old daughter.
As I showed her the game, she immediately snatched it out of my hands and began playing with it. She does not play many video games and is not exactly smartphone literate, but it was really easy for her to pick up and play with very little direction. As a result, I went without a phone for the next two hours while she explored the endless possibilities the game affords.
When you first open the game, you get a choice of three animals that will be your “pet” in a sense. These animals all have funny and interesting personalities, which makes the game just that much more entertaining. When you get into the game, there is a lever on the right-hand side that you can pull to get new items, while simultaneously dumping your old ones. Items include things like food, clothing, accessories, and electronics to experience all sorts of reactions from your chosen animal.
Beyond game play for the kids, there is an entire option menu that allows parents to customize the game to better suite their kids. Parents can decide how many toys get dropped each time. They can decide whether the in game pictures that their child takes are saved to the photo library or not. I found this out the hard way when I opened my pictures and found 20 pictures of a Zebra in a hat and sunglasses. One option I thought was really neat was that parents can choose only vegetarian food for their kids’ pet to eat. There are also options to gift the app, contact customer service, subscribe to the newsletter, or follow Avokiddo games all right from your app.
It is pretty much impossible to find anything wrong with this game. It was stable, did not kill battery life, and kept my child busy for entirely too long. Hopefully, Avokiddo will continue to produce game like this one that are educational without feeling like it. There are very few games that take up space on my iPhone, but this one is here to stay indefinitely. Avokiddo Emotions is kid tested and father approved.