Barbie™ Best Job Ever: Pastry Chef - Mattel

This review of Barbie™ Best Job Ever: Pastry Chef was completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 23 March 2017.

About the app

This section contains details about the app provided by an ACCM Reviewer.

ACCM review

This review of Barbie™ Best Job Ever: Pastry Chef contains the following information:

• The level to which the game was reviewed
• App description
• Reviewers comments
• In App purchasing
• Online information
• Gambling
• Advertising and product placement
• Gender stereotypes and sexual references
• Coarse language
• Game playing behaviour which may be of concern to some parents
• Other

The level to which the game was reviewed

The free version only allows the beginner pastry level to be played and access to two pastries. A gold star is earned for each completed order and Master Pastry chef level requires 8 stars to achieve. Only the free version was played as the paid version only provides access to more options in terms of cakes, appliances, decorations etc, rather than additional functionality

App description

This is an open ended interactive app where players can select an order for a cake or cupcakes to produce according to a recipe. Players can then use their forefinger to drag and drop ingredients, tip their device to pour liquids, mix ingredients and bake and decorate the cake. Actions at each stage are guided by the Pastry chef Barbie.

Reviewers comments

This app provides players with the opportunity to learn about ingredients and baking and use their own creative flair to decorate their creation. The limited offer of the free app means one of the add on packs or the complete bundle ($14.99) will need to be purchased to enjoy the full features of the game. Fine motor skills are required to drag and drop ingredients, mix and decorate cakes. There is opportunity to follow instructions and learn about sequencing as players are guided to mix dry ingredients first, then wet, pour into a tin etc. 

This app is highly stereotyped towards girls with pink scenes, accessories and all female, typically attractive characters. The Barbie pastry chef encourages the player with comments like “that’s totally amazing!/that looks delish!” as an ingredient is added. The player is then prompted to mix the ingredients with a spoon or electric mixer, but the electric mixer must be purchased as an add on. Advertising popups for additional functionality and other games are present throughout play which are problematic given the ease of purchase.

Younger players may find coordinating some of the movements challenging, such as when pouring the milk or cracking eggs. Many of these functions can appear to be unresponsive if not tapped in exactly the right place and appear to “hang”. Again, the player is given an option of a whisk or electric mixer (paid content) for the wet ingredients with the prompt “using the electric mixer will help speed things up!”. The game concludes with a photo of the completed cake and the award of a gold progress star. Due to the ease of purchase of in-app functionality, the constant advertising and the gender stereotypes parental guidance is recommended for children under 12.

In App purchasing

• $14.99 to get access to the full pastry bundle.
• Individual packs such as the Chef Tools pack, Barbie pack, Princess pack etc. cost $5.99 each.
• The pastry mania app costs $7.99.
• The free version is extremely limited in terms of cakes to bake, ingredients, appliances and decorations.

Throughout play, there is audible prompting to purchase the full bundle. Access to the app store is achieved by entering the corresponding figures of number names. This is easily achieved through trial and error and the player is immediately prompted to enter their Apple id (if device settings are set up this way) to purchase the full bundle.

Online information

Online information or personal details required to download, play or interact with the app include:

• access to the device camera
• access to photos/media/files
• receives data from the Internet
• the player is also prompted to accept the app sending notifications when first played
   

Gambling

At time of review, the reviewer found no simulated gambling content. If you discover simulated gambling content in this app, please contact us with the details so we can update our review.

Advertising and product placement

• There are regular pop ups ads throughout play, including ads for the full functionality app and other games made by the same developer.
  
  
  

Gender stereotypes and sexual references

• The game is clearly aimed at girls with pink surroundings and accessories and thin, attractive female characters. The stereotypical Barbie imagery is problematic for the messages it conveys to young girls that all girls should like pink and aspire to look like a Barbie doll.

Coarse language

• No coarse language

Game playing behaviour which may be of concern to some parents

• None noted

Other

N/A.

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