I was recently asked to review the “House of Twits” app for iPad and iPhone. As Lily is really into Roald Dahl at the moment, I jumped at the chance. Having read the BFG at school, Lily and I read together; James and the Giant Peach, Danny the Champion of the World and we are currently reading Matilda. We own the complete collection so I imagine we’ll be making our way through them all.

 

If you’re familiar with the story of “The Twits”, then you probably won’t be too shocked by the nature of this game. However if not then you should maybe look it up before downloading this app! The Twits are a husband and wife who are basically awful to each other. They play tricks on each other and are basically pretty mean. In the app you start off with Mrs Twit. You are taught how to poke her, take out her glass eye and tip her upside down. After that you play games with her whereby you make her eat awful things, wake her up and place her in the cupboard with mean parcels you receive in the hallway. With each act of trickery, you gain points and the more points you earn goes towards completing the level. At certain levels you gain access to different rooms and also to Mr Twit.

The app is aimed at 6-8 year olds and my youngest daughter Lily is 7. There was definitely a level of enjoyment for her and the games help with memory and speed, however as a parent I would be a little dubious as to the nature of the game. I do understand that it’s based on the Twits and their mean nature, but is it a good idea to be teaching our kids that being mean gains points and completes levels?