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Off the Rails App Review

App Info

Price: $1.99

Overview

Off the Rail is an exciting app that let’s kids build and enjoy their very own roller coasters in a virtual environment. The fun is all in the on the fly building while they are riding the coaster. With varying difficulty levels and extras to add lots of interest to each coaster, this app is one that will have little creative minds going for hours. The controls take a bit of getting used to at first, but after a few tries players will easily be building amazing coasters that loop and swoop at high speeds.

Features include:

Mulit-player profiles
75 Game objectives
14 Vehicle types

Quality

The developers have done a great job creating an interesting and engaging app with great visuals for children to enjoy. With this being a roller coaster app there is naturally a lot of up and down motion along with the changing views as players move the device up and down to create their coaster and the developers have done a great job with the quality. The images are clear, the sound effects are a great bonus, and the animation included is well done.

Education

While this app is mostly an entertaining app it does have some educational bits to teach children about physics and how roller coasters work. There is a button in the top left corner of the main screen that provides information on how roller coasters work, what centripetal force is as well as other physics terms and concepts that might help in crafting the next coaster. This bit of information is awesome to have since it directly relates to what children are doing in the app and it makes for a much more educational app for sure.

Entertainment

There is no doubt children are going to love this app for all the coasters they get to build. With varying difficulty levels and the twists and turns they can add to their coaster, they can do anything. Throughout the building process there are various bubbles that have markers on them that add fun pieces to their coaster like having a chain coaster or adding a tunnel. There are also bubbles with $ on them that provide cash for players to use to upgrade their coaster vehicle.

Once the coaster is built, children can then save and name it so they can go back and ‘ride’ it again. This added feature is a great way to go back and revisit their favorite creations. Children will also have fun trying to beat each of the 75 game objectives that are listed. Everything from knocking all the seats off the ferris wheel to sticking their first landing is included.

Value

Priced at just under two dollars, this app is a great deal. Parents will certainly be happy with the price while kids will enjoy crafting and running a variety of roller coasters as they try to improve on their last creation. With 75 game objectives and endless play, this app is a great deal.

Child Friendliness

While the controls of this app take some getting used to at first, it would make things a bit easier to have a tutorial video to show children how to build as they play. It may take a few times of playing before players get used to the controls, but once they do they will have lots of fun crafting the perfect coaster that loops, swoops, and soars to new heights.