Here are some app versions of games you probably enjoyed as a child, and they’re currently available for FREE!
Plunk! (5/5 stars, content appropriate for all ages but guidance suggested for in-app purchases, currently FREE) – From Amazon:
Inspired by handcrafted puzzles, each Plunk! level challenges you to navigate gorgeous marbles through a wooden labyrinth. Tilt your phone or tablet in all directions and use gravity to roll the marbles past holes and into their targets. The first levels will test your hand-eye coordination as you maneuver one marble around, between and sometimes over fiendishly placed holes. Afterward, the difficulty escalates as two, three, four, or more simultaneous marbles force you to come up with increasingly complex plans.
Built to sound and feel real, this game will remind you of time spent playing the classic wooden marble labyrinth in your childhood, but will take you further by offering level after level of intricate challenges. Feel free to either play at your own pace and unlock the levels one-by-one or race the clock and earn silver or gold awards by finishing quickly.
The individual levels in Plunk! vary from straightforward to truly brutal in difficulty. It is surprising how clever they can be – sometimes seeming impossible until you discover the trick. The game can be frustrating at times, but this level of challenge is always rewarded by the satisfaction it gives in completing each puzzle. No one likes being completely stumped though, so if you get stuck on a level that seems unsolvable, use a key to unlock the next one and move on. Players start with two keys and more can be earned in the game by winning enough gold awards or by purchasing them through Google Play. Once you have had more practice, don’t forget to return to the skipped levels and try them again!
Plunk! is a game that requires constant spatial thinking in order to guide the marbles safely to their targets. Numerous studies have shown that playing this type of game can provide lasting improvements in spatial reasoning, a skill which is important in everything from assembling furniture to solving complex problems through the use of graphs and diagrams. In education, for example, it has been shown that students with higher spatial reasoning skills are more likely to succeed in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics.
“A recent meta-analysis showed substantial improvements in spatial skill from a wide variety of interventions, including academic coursework, task-specific practice and playing computer games that require spatial thinking.” – Nora S. Newcombe, Professor of Psychology at Temple University
Whether you are playing for fun, to relax or to stretch your brain, Plunk! will keep you rolling for hours.
PLEASE NOTE: This app lets you purchase digital content using actual money. You can configure parental controls for in-app purchases, which will require your Amazon account password or a 4-digit PIN, by going to the Settings menu from within the Amazon Appstore.
Tangram Designer: Tangroid (5/5 stars, all ages, currently FREE) – From Amazon:
Download Tangroid Tangram Designer to play the ancient Chinese game tangrams – use all seven tans (pieces) to make proof of your “seven boards of skill”.
Browse the multiple screens and menus (rules, audio, sounds). Choose your own configuration (colors, patterns and transparency).
Solve the 46 original and traditional tangram puzzles included using the readily accessible tans while timing yourself. Bring it to the next level and get into the game – design, save and have your friends solve your very own tangram puzzles.