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Fregger’s Play: Learn to Code in 3D App Review

App Info

Price: Free

Overview

Fregger’s Play aims to introduce kids to coding by allowing them to create worlds and interact with different scenes. Kids can add natural elements, buildings, and characters, as well as create their own rules for the environment. The app also offers ideas for stories and main characters to help get kids started.

Features include:

Build your own world
Play with different characters
Make up creative stories
Come up with your own rules

Quality

When kids open the app, they’re shown a screen with a plus sign that allows them to create a new world. They also see a few pre-created worlds off to the side. Once kids opt to create their own world, all of the items they can add are laid out through a series of icons and image collections on the side of the screen. Once kids place an object, they can decide what it does and when it does it. The list of options is large and may be a little overwhelming for young kids. The app doesn’t offer a lot of instructions to help them figure out what to do. Also, while the images and other features seem to be of high quality, the app occasionally closes without warning.

Education

One way the app promotes education is by encouraging creativity in children. The app suggests storylines and main character descriptions to help kids as they build their worlds. Kids must also use logic and reasoning skills to figure out how to play and make objects move.

Entertainment

With so many options and few instructions, the app may prove frustrating for kids who want to access all of its features. Young kids may not actually utilize the coding components and will likely focus on just placing objects in their worlds without adding any functionality to them.

Value

The app is free to download. An in-app purchase allows kids to purchase items to use in the app. This is a one-time purchase and the app offers good value with or without it.

Child Friendliness

Information in the info section of the app takes kids out of the app to external websites. Kids can also send e-mails through the Contact Us link. Thankfully, all of this content is still appropriate for kids, but it would benefit the app to add a parental lock. Additionally, kids can purchase a set of items for the app through an in-app purchase.