Chain of Thought: developed by Jay and Julie Bacal
It has been a while since I have reviewed an app. Yes, there has been a lot going on but that is not an excuse. I think the primary reason is lack of motivation. Then I opened this app that had been sitting on my iPad for many months and to my surprise it hooked me.
Chain of Thought is a fun and clever word game whose object is to segue one word into another to form a different meaning. The segued words are compound words or two word phrases. In the screen shot below, “mountain” would be correctly paired with “lion” that would correctly be paired with “king,” king with “bed,” and so on. Clues to the correct word selection are offered by tapping on the question mark. Clues can be used up and earned.
Points are given for words correctly combined and points subtracted for incorrect matches. Each game is also timed. Quick thinkers are rewarded with flashes of words like, “Incredible!!” Words of encouragement are offered when scores are not great. If words are incorrectly matched, the screen turns into an ominous storm with a thundercloud showing the number of points deducted. At the end of each game, players are given 0-5 stars based on one’s performance. Scores for each round, the number of hints left, the round being played, the game number for the rounds and the player’s total score are shown at the top of the screen.
The graphics on this app are fun, be they the colorful stardust for correct answers or the ominous thundercloud throwing out lightening for errors.
I would use this app with children ages 10+ to build vocabulary, help with the comprehension of commonly used/heard phrases, forming associations and reading skills. Aphasic adults, who are able to read, may find this a fun way to improve their associative and communication skills. I would also recommend this app for students who are learning English as a second language. When you are not using this in therapy, it is a fun game just to play.
Note: Since this app was not specifically developed for therapy, there is no database.
Ages: 10-adult
Rating: +++++
Developer website: bestdamnapps.com
Cost: Free for the Sunrise Level (comprised of five games). The seven other levels can be purchased for $3.99 or $.99 each.
