Incredibox - So Far So Good

This review of Incredibox was completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 26 February 2019.

About the app

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

ACCM review

This review of Incredibox 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

Our Reviewer played the game for several hours, unlocking all themes. Also observed 8 year old son playing this app over several days.

App description

Incredibox lets players create and save their very own jazzy musical compositions. On screen there is a line of seven cool hipster dudes and underneath is a series of icons (for example, a hat, some sunglasses, a scarf etc). Each icon represents a specific sound element, such as a melody or beatboxing rhythm. Players can choose and drag an icon up to one of the dudes and he will start playing that sound element in a loop. You can drag, swap, change, pause and layer all the different sounds to create unique musical creations. There are six different themes that can be explored which have subtle variations in melody and rhythm types. Within each theme, once you have explored many different sound combinations, the game will unlock more visual features and show a short video clip animation that goes with your song.  Players can create their own ‘DJ name’, record and name their creations. Once they have recorded a song, other users of the app are able to listen to it and ‘heart’ it (voting for it by pressing a heart icon), or even share it with their friends. There is a top 50 chart for the top voted songs.

Reviewers comments

Incredibox is a quirky and fun way for children to explore how sounds can come together to create different depths of mood, atmosphere, and feeling. It provides a very simple and intuitive template for layering sound, rhythm and melody. This could be a useful introduction point for children who are showing interest in using more sophisticated music composition software (such as Garage Band etc). It does take a bit of exploring and experimenting for younger children to get the hang of this app, and they may benefit from co-playing with a parent to begin with; but it quickly becomes exciting and fun. The added feature of being able to record your creations and let other Incredibox users listen and vote on your songs (trying to make it into the top 50 chart!)  can be an incentive to create more interesting compositions, but it also introduces a competitive and quite addictive element to an otherwise harmless app. Parents should be aware that there are no parental locks to stop children from opening Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter directly from this app, so some supervision is required.  In the app itself, although there is the ability to listen and vote on other user’s creations, you are not able to make contact or message other users.

In App purchasing

• There is no In-App purchasing. 

Online information

There is some online connectivity, such as:

• Children can (without any parental lock) click on a tab called ‘Follow’ which directs them to the Incredibox Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube pages. This then opens those apps separately. 
• In the app itself, you can listen and vote on other user’s creations - however there is no function to make contact or message other users.

Gambling

 At the 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 is no pop-up advertising in the app. However, children can click on a link (without any parental lock) called ‘Visit the Shop’, which takes you out of the app and to the developer’s website. Here there is a variety of T-shirts, mugs, hats etc which are available to purchase.

Gender stereotypes and sexual references

• There are some mildly suggestive visual images and lyrics in the accompanying video animations. For example, in the clip for the theme ‘Little Miss’ there is a pair of big red open lips wearing lipstick, a red stiletto heel, some lipstick and bottles of champagne; with the accompanying lyrics “Oh Little Miss, don’t let me go if you want a kiss” (and breathy sounds).
• There is no gender stereotyping, but it would be nice if some of the cool hipster dudes were women, rather than all men.

Coarse language

• None noted, however parents should be aware that as users can create their own DJ names and song names there may be a possibility of coarse language being used and seen by your child.

Game playing behaviour which may be of concern to some parents

• Some children may find this game a little addictive when they get to the stage of creating and sharing their recorded songs; watching to see if people vote for their songs or if they make it into the top 50. 

Other

N/A.

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