Weigh the world

Weigh the world is essentially a collection of games that are designed to help you understand how much everyday items (and some not so everyday items) weigh. There are 5 different games that are all quite straightforward and generally entertaining. The ‘weights’ game places different objects on a set of balance scales and you have a variety of different weights to choose from to balance out the scale. 

 

You then move on to the ‘Compare’ section, which again uses a balancing scale, with different sets of objects on each side and you have to guess which side weighs more. The ‘Quiz’ Section shows an object with a multiple choice set of answers as to how much the object weighs. The ‘Sort’ section asks you to place object in ascending order of weight and the final section ‘Mix’ allows you to balance the whole range of weights and objects in the app, on some balancing scales. 

 

The idea of the app is great and really easy to use, there are however some slight issues with the game play that we feel could be improved. The objects are shown as silhouettes, drawn in only black. This means that some can be quite hard to distinguish. For instance, I was convinced that the Sydney Opera house, was actually some kind of water creature. Also, there is a picture of a satellite, that looks more like a Jellyfish! I think the app either needs more obvious picture, or simply to put the names of the objects above them, as it’s hard to guess the weight of something when you don’t know what it is. 

 

Smaller points include the fact that although the app is in English, the Sort section says ‘3 Von 5’, instead of ‘3 of 5’, to indicate which question number you’re on. 

 

The general look of the app is modern and eye catching. You can select between KG and Ounces, and you can also change the background colour. There are some ads for which have a parent ‘swipe’ system, which is fine, but unfortunately the ‘news’ section is simply also links to other apps. It’s not a major issue, but seems a bit misleading. 

 

On the whole, this is a good app, that is surprisingly addictive, and children will get a lot of use out of it. The price point at £1.49 is excellent value for money.  We do feel that with some small improvement, crucially around the clarity of the objects, this could go from being a good app to a great app. All in all, we’d still recommend a download, as it will give your child a good introduction to the weight of objects.