Do Not Touch (by Nickelodeon) is a charming augmented reality (AR) app for kids that includes crazy 3D cartoon-style animations and fun mini-games for the little ones.
When you start the app and after scanning a surface, a green “Do Not Touch” will appear in front of you. Obviously, you shouldn’t listen to what’s written on the button and press it. I know it’s risky, but that’s what I did :).
Each time the user taps the button, either a cool 3D animation or a fun little mini-game appears.
This app was brought to you by Nickelodeon. Nickelodeon is an American basic cable and satellite television network launched on December 1, 1977, as the first cable channel for children. It’s not surprising that it’s app is also aimed at kids.
Among the animations and mini-games, you can find SpongeBob bubbles, Whack-a-Monsters (my favorite), Whoppee cushions, Fridge party, Chill goat, Scuba cat and more. I’ve read the app’s description on the app store, and it seems that Nick is planning to release more animations and mini-games to this app in the near future.
Overall, there are plenty of cool animations and interactive apps for kids to enjoy here, about 13 of them in the first release.
The cool thing about this app is that big green button. It ignites excitement and anticipation. It reminds me many other kid games that are built around pressing things and anticipating some sort of a response from the game. It’s much better like this than just creating a launch button for each game. After each animation or game, you have an option to replay it if you enjoy it or skip even in the middle to move on to the next one.
I really liked the funny animations and sounds. The animations and games look colorful and cheerful and I enjoy each one of them.
I especially liked the Whac-a-Monster mini-game, which is whack-a-mole type of game. The cool thing about this game is that you don’t need to click on the screen (smart in terms of usability, as this app is aimed at kids). The hammer moves automatically up and down, and all you have to do is to just move the iPhone/iPad around so it hits the mole on its head. It’s a good idea how to make whack-a-mole AR game better by the way, for me it felt better than tapping on the screen like other whack-a-mole augmented reality games that I’ve played like Whac-a-mole AR, Whack-a-mole AR!, and Whack AR!.
Conclusion
Do Not Touch is one of the more entertaining AR apps for kids. When I played with my niece, I noticed that she like changing games every few seconds. She doesn’t like playing a single game for a long time. I think that if she tried this app, she would like it. I don’t need to download like ten apps for her, I can just let her play this one and enjoy all those crazy and cool interactions.
It’s definitely one of my favorite kids’ apps that I’ve tried so far. It reminds me of AR Children’s Fun Box app because there are lots of stuff to play with. The app is lively, cheerful and entertaining. It’s easy to quickly switch from one activity to the other by just pressing a large button, which is obviously comfortable for kids. Same goes for the mini-games, they are simple and accessible for young children. The app is rated 4+ on the App Store just if you wondered.
Overall, I definitely recommend downloading it for your kids. The app is free in the App Store and also ad-free—Recommended!
Download Do Not Touch (by Nickelodeon) free from the App Store for iOS here.