GIGGLI BUILDS A SPACESHIP

In a distinctly rough-hewn app that ends, appropriately, by crashing, a green-haired child builds and blasts off in a cardboard rocket.

With help from screen tappers and tablet tilters, young Giggli acts on variably accurate astronomical information (“In space the ground is hard and covered in diamonds”) supplied by her older sib (or, possibly, parent). She picks appropriate clothing from multiple-choice wardrobes, gathers snacks and assembles a simple jigsaw rocket ship. Developer mobiDdiction offers toddler-pleasing explosions of tinkling stars for correct choices and a particularly dramatic tilt-controlled countdown—but not only does the app tend to freeze or black out if the screen is swiped too quickly, apparently by design, it unceremoniously shuts down immediately after Giggli’s liftoff. Furthermore, the page turns are activated by an inconsistent mix of swipes and taps, and the (optional) narration includes instructions and even phrases that are not in the printed text.

Eye-catching animations show promise, but multiple design and stability issues keep this on the launch pad.