Duckie Deck Homemade Orchestra - Duckie Deck Development

This review of Duckie Deck Homemade Orchestra was completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 10 April 2017.

About the app

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

ACCM review

This review of Duckie Deck Homemade Orchestra 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

Not fully reviewed yet.

App description

This app encourages children to use their ingenuity by showing them how musical instruments can be made from commonplace household items like zippers, pot lids and bubble wrap and even body parts like hands and feet. Kids can either tap or swipe to explore the sounds individually or hear how the sounds can be used together to form an orchestra.

In explore mode, children can use their finger to tap a foot, swipe to tear a piece of paper or shake a bunch of keys to hear the sounds they can each generate. In play mode, players are presented with eight “instruments” at one time, which they can select by touching items once to start playing and again to stop it. Tapping on the arrow takes them to another selection of instruments. By choosing which instruments to play and when, children can conduct their own orchestra. In play mode, kids can become composers in their homemade orchestra and listen to music created by combining sounds.

Reviewers comments

This musical app encourages children to reconsider the ordinary everyday items around them and explore the different sounds they can make both individually and in combination with one another. Parents could discuss the sounds the objects make in terms of beat, rhythm, melody and harmony.

The apps interface means even young children may work out how everything works without assistance. However younger children may need some initial guidance on how to switch between play and explore mode and may occasionally find some of the instruments such as the zipper a little trickier to master as it is not always immediately touch responsive. Parental co-play would also provide learning opportunities to name and count individual objects, predict the sound they will make before tapping or swiping them and source similar and different objects in their own home to test out sounds in the real world.

In App purchasing

None found at time of review.

Online information

Once downloaded, the app does not require connectivity to play.

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

No advertising although the bottle which is blown to create a sound does resemble a Coca-Cola bottle (see image).

Gender stereotypes and sexual references

Nothing of concern.

Coarse language

No coarse language.

Game playing behaviour which may be of concern to some parents

None of concern.

Other

N/A.

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