FARTON, THE EXPLORER FART

Expelled from Happy Bottom by a stomach cramp, an intrepid young fart explores the world—and beyond—in this breezy import.

As an active member of the Young Explorers Club, Farton sees in his expulsion a dream come true. His adventures range from saving a group of flowers by flying up the nose of a “parfumeur” to (briefly) joining a rock band of malign pollution clouds. After this, the small green puff meets Breeze, a girl fart, and together they float off to nonstop party time in the gassy rings of Saturn. Though the verbose text and simply drawn cartoon illustrations have a low-rent look, the design and interactive effects are unusually artful. Along with a slide-in menu on every screen with a strip index, separate volume adjustments for the sound effects and the rumptious background music, and an English/Spanish toggle, taps on many figures result in a truly impressive array of juicy blats and squelches. There are also squashable bugs, a customizable jam session, clouds that can be “blown” away and other reader-controlled features. Parents unsure of the educational value of this olfactory odyssey will doubtless be appeased by the scholarly introductory doctor’s note.

“Being a fart is so cool!” Farton concludes. Children will not be able to restrain their…applause.