Hello everyone.

(I’m not sure of the right channel this is to be posted in, feel free to move it)

I have noticed a gap in the market for a mobile/tablet game for babies-2year olds.

I have been looking for a game for my daughter. She is 21months old. All I can find are shape sorting games. There is hundreds of them but no games that babies actually want to play.

Here is my idea that I’m putting out there for someone to make. Maybe it will make you rich too. I’d just like it made ASAP for my daughter before she’s old enough to make her own games xD

Babies only want to touch the screen and see something magical happen. I don’t know why all the games need to be educational and not just fun.

So with that in mind. A game that simply reacts with something crazy when the screen is pressed.

This is a list of simple ideas:

When they touch the screen it leaves a hand/finger prints that change colour. And melt of fizz away.
A bug moves over the screen that pops into fireworks when pressed.
A smiling face that appears and reacts to being pressed.
Mud on that face, or jam that they move around.
Drink that spills and the liquid can be moved around.
Cups that fill with liquid and over flow.

Really random colourful crazy things with no reason. Just interesting and not repetitive. And sounds, animal noises, pops n whistles.

The possibility’s are endless and I’m happy to give more ideas and feedback to anyone that wants to give this a try.

Things that it should block, like the screen swiping to close the program.
My daughter is constantly closing applications by mistake or pressing advertising that takes her off to an inappropriate add.
She will also try and use her finger while the palm of her hand is also resting on the screen and she can’t understand why what she’s trying to move won’t.
Also when she wants to use both hands at the same time she can’t.
The whole point it to work on their hand eye coordination and keep them interested for 5-10mins while I can use the toilet or empty the dishwasher or simply make a phone call.

Again if anyone wants to give this a try I’m happy to give more ideas.

I would call what you are describing a “toy”, not a “game”. My kids are now 7-9, but when they were very young they enjoyed toys made by Tocaboca. They aren't as random as what you describe, but I think fairly young kids can enjoy feeding a monster and observing the monster's reactions, or playing with crazy hairstyles. Give them a try.

@alvaro

https://tocaboca.com/​ this looks too advanced and it would have the same problems that i mentioned.

Toy, game, app, Art whatever you want to call it. she just wants to play with the same things that i do. shes playing shape sorting games now and a bug squashing game i found that is her favourite. it kept her happy for 10mins, well worth the £5 it cost me. all the reviews for the bug game are from parents like me who rate it 5 star. those guys must be printing money. its soo very simple, a bug runs on the screen and u splat it.. thats about it.. kids love it and parents pay for it.

Maybe one of the "antistress" games would fit what you're looking for.

My kids were a year older but I think the first games I let my kids play on my phone were a memory game, some kind of package of "educational" games for kids and a game called "Hey, that's my Fish".

I do agree that there's a gap in the market for early age games, or for that matter just younger kids. Even when you do find something appropriate, commercials can end up being an issue. Another problem that I found is that you have a great concept for a kids game but either the difficulty ramps up at a rate intended for older kids or they're expected to collect something in game to unlock stuff and they're not able to. Game design elements and monetization techniques that are common for games targeted at an older demographic just get problematic for young kids.

@kseh it has been scientifically proven that children that grow up using ipads and playing these game from an early age develop faster and do better at school. i watched a program about it, it was fascinating to see children the same age with totally different levels of abilities simply from playing these games at an early age,

-Stu- said:
children that grow up using ipads

I did a google search on that phrase and got more negatives than positives by far. But I'm not a scientist.

@fleabay one of the experiments i watched showed toddlers trying to use a pen to trace line drawings. the ones that had access to ipads could do the the task easily and the ones that hadn't couldn't. they found that areas of the brain that handle writing and focusing on things like that where more active and thus more likely to develop faster.

everything in moderation.

-Stu- said:
it has been scientifically proven that …

Even the famous marshmallow test isn't scientific proof that kids that pass will go on to do better.

-Stu- said:

@fleabay one of the experiments i watched showed toddlers trying to use a pen to trace line drawings. the ones that had access to ipads could do the the task easily and the ones that hadn't couldn't. they found that areas of the brain that handle writing and focusing on things like that where more active and thus more likely to develop faster.

everything in moderation.

Saying “everything in moderation" kinda over simplifies what you're dealing with here. Consider that if there's a price to pay for developing skills early that kids will learn anyway, it may not be worth it. The advice i would give is to give thoughtful consideration to everything your kid consumes and take nothing for granted.

I suppose the contentiousness of the whole games for young kids thing is part of why developers don't bother trying to persue that demographic.