Description
Hama universe has taken the children’s creative toy of Hama beads and turned it into an app. A creative app which children can play with on the go (without spilling all of the little beads and without needing an iron!).
Children explore Hama’s digital universe, where princes, pirates, princesses, elephants, dragons and parrots are waiting. Players select the ‘world’ they wish to enter (they can choose from Princess, circus or pirate) and are presented with a selection of empty peg plates. They can also select from simple shape peg plates.
Once the peg plate has been chosen, children need to select the coloured beads they wish to use and click on the pegs to place them. Once finished they select the iron and iron their design.
The finished creation is placed into their magical scene which they add to as they play; children can also take photographs of their finished pieces.
Tested on an iPad
What our testers said
“Woah! There’s loads of templates!!” – Girl, aged 8.5
“I want to play this forever!” – Girl, aged 6
“I love it!” – Boy, aged 9
What our experts think
Hama universe is a creative app which makes the transition from a physical toy to an on screen version. We really liked that it gave children patterns to follow and the way in which these patterns could then be transferred just like the ‘real-life’ hama beads. The app was a real hit with all of our testers and they all wanted to return to it after their first play.
The app was easy to use and the gameplay was intuitive. The children loved popping the hama beads onto the pegs and all worked out how to remove them if they placed the wrong one. They had to concentrate and persevere (especially if using on a smaller screen,) and use their fine motor skills if they were to place the beads on the correct pegs! The way in which the app showed them their mistakes when they clicked the iron, made it easy for the children to be successful.
Within each of the worlds there was a wide variety of templates (of differing levels of difficulty) meaning that the app is one that will last and hold children’s attention over numerous visits.
Skills developed
– Encourages children to match colours and follow patterns
– Requires children to concentrate
– Allows children to express themselves creatively
– Requires children to use their fine motor skills
