Makego For iOS Makes Your Toy Models Actually Go! [Review]

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makego.jpg

Makego is a cool new app that makes your kids’ real world creations come to life.

The two-dollar app comes with three virtual vehicles – a racing car, an ice cream truck, and a river boat. All you have to do is make one (out of Lego, paper, or anything else you can think of), plop your device inside, and run the app.

Here’s a video:

The app was developed by UK-based artist/designer Chris O’Shea, probably best known in these parts for his amusing Hand from Above street art installation.

I like Makego’s racing car best, because you can change the car color to match your building material, and swooshing the vehicle backwards and forwards makes the engine rev up. Vroom vroom. It even runs out of gas after a while. The ice cream truck is also lots of fun. You can ring the bell, serve customers with ices, and put money in the till.

It’s aimed at younger children and will certainly keep them entertained for a little while. If it’s your iPhone they’re playing with, it’s probably a good idea for you to stick around and supervise things – you might not want your iPhone, in racing car mode, attempting any loop-the-loop stunts in the back yard.

There’s easily two bucks worth of fun to be had here, but I can’t help wondering what might come with future updates. I’d love to see a way for the racing car to use an iPhone’s camera to see the road underneath, so you could draw an interactive road for it to drive down.

Daydreaming aside, if you have kids under 5, you should grab a copy of Makego and put it, them, and some Lego together in a room. The smiles will be worth every penny.

[xrr rating=90%]

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