Kids mobile games

Discover kids mobile games - what are they, where can you get them, and are they any good?

Yes indeed - the tide of technology now brings us yet another way to play, this time using our cell phones/mobile phones.

Blackberry mobile phones, Google Android phones, iPhones and more... kids certainly love these little gadgets, and more and more I'm seeing kids mobile games being played on mom or dad's phone or smart device.

So what's all the fuss about?

Let's take a look at some of the basics, and find out why mobile games for kids are suddenly making a big splash in the kids' games ocean!

What can you play kids mobile games on?

We'll split this into three categories:

• Candybar phones
  Your classic small mobile phone you use mainly to text and make calls.

• Smartphones and other smart devices
  Larger phones with touchscreens or keyboards - Blackberry phones, devices using the Google Android platform, the iPhone or iPod touch.

• Tablet computers
  The new generation of computer and internet mobility :)

Your classic candybar mobile phone or cell phone

My little Nokia mobile phone has internet access, too - so I can check the news, for example, although the display is very small and I can't get video or some pages to load.

I have a grand total of three games on this phone - Phantom Spider, a version of Snake, and Sudoku. There's hardly any memory on this phone though, so downloading games from my mobile phone provider never works!

Pros:

• These phones can be bought very cheaply.

• They're pretty tough - my phone falls onto the floor with amazing regularity, and it's still going strong.

• In my experience, kids mobile games on these phones are good for five or ten minutes kiddie entertainment when boredom strikes in a waiting room or when I'm trying on endless pairs of shoes in a store ;)

Cons:

• You might not have a great choice of games for younger kids from your mobile phone provider.

• These phones can be too small and fiddly for young kids to handle. They will probably have more fun playing on a toy phone.

Smartphones and other super smart mobile devices!

Here we're thinking of iPhone and its "phone-less" cousin the iPod touch, as well as BlackBerry mobile phones, Google Android phones such as the Nexus S or the incredible Samsung Galaxy Tab.

Pros:

• Massive choice of games, educational apps, and interactive software.

• Fantastic screen quality. Images and text are crystal clear. Larger screens mean that animation and interaction become a pleasure rather than a session of frustrated squinting.

• There's always a queue for the computer in my house after 7pm. So I just get out my iPod touch, check my email, test out a few apps, check the news or watch a YouTube vid.

Cons:

• You guessed it - these devices can be expensive. So you'll want to take great care of yours. If you're going to get into the world of kids mobile games, you need your children to be sitting down, calm, and not about to tuck into a sticky sandwich ;)

• They can be fragile. I thought long and hard about purchasing my iPod touch, as I am the butterfingers champion of Europe.

  My husband, a very careful guy, has cracked the screen of his iPhone. I can't tell you about other devices, but with these two, if you drop them, you risk cracking the screen very easily or worse.

Tablet computers

Check out this BlackBerry video about the upcoming PlayBook...
...now that really is mobile, this lady just pops the PlayBook in her purse - fab!

These tablets also a look a much better size for kids to work on. Check out the possibilities with the iPad:

Phew! Isn't technology wonderful? Let's come back to earth now and take a quick peek at the kinds of kids mobile games you can play on your classic ol' phone or a smartphone - or even your tablet!

What kind of games can you play?

You can download new games from your carrier, and they might be free or there may be a charge.

Checking out the iTunes store, you can find kid game apps for iPhone and iPod touch such as

• ABC Memory Match
• Toddler Flashcards...
• or Peekaboo Barn!

Carriers such as Verizon, T-Mobile, Bell, Sprint and so on provide downloadable games such as Mickey Mini Golf and Hannah Montana in Action, both from Disney. You can no doubt access info on these games from your phone, or check out the carrier websites where you can discover which games are available and whether they are compatible with your phone.

You can browse your favorite kid game websites, too, such as Disney itself, and see whether they have mobile games on offer, and where to go to get them - but not many of the sites I checked had kid mobile games available.