Frontier Heroes - A Planet H game from HISTORY
Frontier Heroes - A Planet H game from HISTORY gallery
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that Frontier Heroes walks kids through US History, from the Native Americans to the Colonies and Revolution and through the Gold Rush. The final time period, Land of the Free, requires a perfect score on every other mini-game to unlock -- which is pretty much impossible. There are no demos or examples of how to play the games, but brief instructions are given. For some games, that's enough. Others will require trial and error and multiple replays to figure out. The history is pretty sanitized, though there's minor violence with Davy Crockett fighting a bear and two railroad builders trying to outrun a train (and failing sometimes) and some shooting in some mini-games. As they complete some games, kids unlock DYKs -- short "Did You Know?" historical facts.What kids can learn
Impressive graphics and engaging animation entertain kids. Though the games are fun and can be replayed without limits, some are almost impossible to master, which might be frustrating.
Historical timeline and facts represent a mostly white male perspective of history, but kids can explore certain parts of American history and do further research to find out more details.
Kids can review the DYK facts they've collected through play, and the videos can be watched and re-watched at any time. The mini-games are introduced with very brief instructions and require some trial and error to figure out.
What's it about?
Mini-games replicate skills and events throughout US history, teaching a bit about history through interesting facts as kids play. They'll start in early American and must earn enough stars playing each game to unlock the next level. Each time period includes a short cartoon video about life in that time, and the games included show a bit of what life (or legend) was like. Games can be replayed to improve scores to help unlock other levels. Kids can review their DYK collection to review the historical facts they've learned.
Is it any good?
The cartoon graphics are impressive and fun, and the historical facts are high-interest and delivered in short, easy-to-remember bits. The voices and sound effects are well-done, too, and most of the games are quite fun. The problem is that some are just too hard -- maybe even impossible -- to master, and mastering them ALL is required to unlock the last time period. Kids can replay each game as often as necessary to improve scores, and the challenge becomes pretty addictive. Kids may lose interest before getting through all the history, but they'll learn a bit and have fun in the process.
Families can talk about...
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Families can talk about what is realistic in the games -- sawing a tree is really hard -- and what is not -- wrestling a bear.
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Ask kids which period of US History they find most interesting. If they could live in any time period, which would they choose?
App details
| Devices: | iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android, Kindle Fire, Windows Phone |
| Price: | $2.99 |
| Pricing structure: | Paid |
| Release date: | December 1, 2014 |
| Category: | Kids Games |
| Topics: | History |
| Size: | 97.90 MB |
| Publisher: | A&E Television Networks Mobile |
| Version: | 1.2.2 |
| Minimum software requirements: | iOS 7.0 or later |
