Type Defender Review

      Type Defender is a wonderful app geared at teaching children to learn how to type, spell and refine typing skills as a fun and engaging game. The graphics and music for the game are very appealing. The idea of the game is that there are a bunch of characters that find their way down the path to the castle (each at their own pace, some quite more quickly than others) and you must type the words they are holding in order to prevent them from getting to the castle. Creatures that you will meet are dogs, radishes, octopuses, chameleons and butterflies.

In the game you have three preset difficulty modes and then a custom mode where you can create your own word list to work on specific target words you want your child to type. In Easy there are 25 levels; Normal there are 50 levels and in Hard there are 50 levels; which equals 125 levels of fun! If you want to really challenge your child you can also work on the Express Challenge mode which is a variety of words from varying grade levels that will really show how many words your child knows and can master typing at a very quick pace. I found a few children liked to challenge themselves and laughed when they were done and then compared scores. I thought this was very productive to work.

A reward system worked into the game is as the children type the castle invaders away they earn gold coins that they are able to use at the end of each level to visit "Ye Olde Shoppe" where they can purchase items that will be helpful in their game. You can buy a snail to slow down your enemies and words, you can purchase the ability to change the words to easier ones and a variety of other helpful items.

Overall, I happen to love this app and tested it with a variety of children and adults alike to simulate multiple uses. Everyone did well with it. This was tested with children ages 4-30 (LOL). I also left the game as a "Reward Choice" game after a child was done with their work. Several children picked this game as a reward for finishing their work. I think this game is motivating and it has uses for little kids and big kids alike. Everyone can use practice working on their spelling and typing skills so I recommend everyone try this app! Educators and parents teaching spelling and typing skills, this is an app to use!

Improvements:

- Two beginners levels. This is a great program but if this is to be used children need to first know how to locate and identify letters as well as how to type them and knowing when to type them. A solution to this is to make a practice mode or to add two additional levels for beginners.

- First Level: Basic typing of letters A-Z

- Second Level: Typing letters A-Z around the castle maze to simulate a level.

Type Defender iTunes Link:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/type-defender/id566671838?mt=8

Price: $0.99