Endless Alphabet

Well I am impressed. I purchased full version within 15 minutes of trying it. Frustration free game play and learning for my 2.5 year old. That just hasn't happened using any other game we've tried. There's always sticking points where he would begin melting down because he couldn't figure out how to get past it. This one has none of that. Even if he's struggling with a letter he will keep trying till he gets it, then clap with the monsters when he gets it. It's a great little game!

I absolutely LOVE this app! I've downloaded the Learning Academy for my iPad, and the Endless Alphabet app for both my iPad and Android. It is helping my 3-year-old with Autism learn to read. He echoes the sound that the letters make and then says, "I'm a "insert letter matching the sound he's making." He also points out letters on signs and food boxes. Definitely worth it!

All of the "Endless..." games we've tried (Alphabet, Reader, Wordplay, and Numbers) try to appeal to both younger learners and older - honestly, not always successfully. However, Endless Alphabet is the best of the bunch for young learners, and in my opinion, well worth the money. The free trial version is entirely representative of the full game. This is how it works: a word appears on the screen (say Gargantuan). Each letter has a different appearance/color. When you pick it up, makes the sound that matches its position in that particular word (hard "G-G-G"s for gargantuan, but a soft "G" in some other words). The monsters run by and "knock off" and scramble the letters from the word. The child needs to place the letters back into their spots (in any order). When the letter is placed correctly, it makes its name sound ("Gee!"). Once the word is filled in, there's a cartoon illustrating the word, and the narrator speaks the definition. What this app does well for young learners - capital letter recognition matching, learning names of letters, teaching of basic consonant sounds - it does VERY VERY well. The animations of each letter, and the cute monster cartoons for the vocabulary words (more for older learners) keep the younger ones engaged. The adult that occasionally plays along may find it somewhat enjoyable too. :-) Our 3.5 was allowed to play it 2 times a week for 10-40 minutes each, and had a decent grasp of all of the above after 1 month, and a good grasp after 2 months. Now he calls out the letters (by their sounds) he sees in street signs and around the house. He loves the cartoons, but is not really picking up the vocabulary. That's all right - still worth it. The weaknesses of the game come from 1. the utter screwiness of the English language and 2. from trying to appeal to different ages. Note that Endless Wordplay and Reader do address some of these - but again, those apps also suffer from trying to appeal to different age groups, with their own issues. Perhaps as a separate app, "Alphabet - The Next Generation", focusing on both letters and phonics, and aimed just at younger learners, might be considered? (Similar to how there is Dragonbox Algebra 5+ and Dragonbox Algebra 12+?) 1. The letters can be dropped into the word in any order. It would help younger learners if the letters could only be dropped in left to right (similarly to a done in either Reader or Wordplay - can't remember which.) 2. Because words are long, they can have multiples of the same vowel, with different sounds. So in "BETWEEN", 2 letters make an "ee" sound and 1 makes a "eh" sound - but they can be dropped in anywhere. That's an issue with the language more than this game, and the only way I can see to fix it is to "stick" EE together so it would be dropped into the word as a unit. That would not work well here, as it would make the step of speaking the letter name confusing. Hence the suggestion for "Alphabet - the next generation" ;-) 3. Building on the above, combined sounds ("th/ph/ch/sh") could be taught if 2 letters could stick together. Same for combined vowels. Limitations aside, this is a well-thought through game, and we've paid for it twice (on both android and kindle). Recommend.