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Cyberchase Shape Quest!
Pros: Leveling and strategic clues help the games appeal to students with a wider skill set.
Cons: Maneuvering the device over the game board can be difficult and awkward.
Bottom Line: Once kids get a hang of things, this app's puzzles will get them thinking creatively about shapes and spatial reasoning.
Teachers can use Cyberchase Shape Quest to challenge students who have already learned a bit about geometry. Before students play the AR game, teachers need to visit the PBS Kids website and print out a game board. Games are meant to be played individually and follow a specific path of increasing complexity. Because of that, they work best as an activity station for individual students on their own dedicated device if possible. Teachers can expand on the skills students use in the game through activities that touch on geometry vocabulary (shape names, angles, and so on) or spatial reasoning.
Cyberchase Shape Quest is a free app focused on shapes and starring characters from the PBS Kids show Cyberchase. It features three games -- including one that uses augmented reality -- that each touch on geometry and spatial reasoning. In Feed the Critter, players launch food to bounce off walls and obstacles and end in the hands of a hungry animal (like a game of billiards). In Hide and Seek, players identify shapes by different criteria such as name, number of sides, or right angles. In Patch the Path, students need a printed copy of a game board (available for download on the PBS Kids website), which they use to place their puzzle pod. A brief tutorial shows players how to move their device around to explore the game space and tap to pick up, drop, and rotate items. When they move on to the game, players choose and rotate shapes to plug in gaps in a path across the game board. As levels increase, players must combine shapes in more complex ways. Players earn stars and points and increase in levels as they solve puzzles and answer questions correctly.
Three very different games, each with lots of levels, give students ample practice with geometry, spatial reasoning, and problem-solving. Colorful graphics feel familiar to fans of the PBS Kids show Cyberchase and welcoming to kids who've never seen the show. The games stand out from others mostly due to thoughtful leveling, unique gameplay, and supports when students struggle with a level. Though instructions skillfully weave critical thinking and shapes lessons into the basic information students need to navigate the games, it helps if students know a bit about shapes. However, if they know too much, even the clever leveling may not be enough to provide students a challenge. The game that stands out as most unique is the augmented reality puzzle set, which is a nice approach to using shapes in a new and interesting way. Gameplay isn't always smooth, however, and kids may need a significant amount of practice to get the hang of it. Even after ample practice, play can still be a bit awkward.