Written Android App Review
If you have ever read the children’s story, The Monster at the End of this Book, by Mark Smollin, featuring Grover from Sesame Street, you will quickly recognize the theme of this Android app. Remember Grover? The lovable little blue monster who starts out by claiming he is scared of monsters and begins begging the reader NOT to turn the page? Yeah, that book. Naturally, every time the reader turned the page, Grover would emphatically cry, “You turned the page!” The more pages the reader turned, the more frantic Grover got. He tried to stop us from turning the page, then he tried to reason with us: “Do you know that every time you turn another page…”. Next, Grover tried daring us to turn the page. Lastly, on the next to last page, he tried begging and pleading to NOT turn the page.
But what did the reader do?
Turned the page, of course.
Upon doing so, Grover realizes that HE was the monster all along. Silly Grover. However, this type of logic is what makes this app addicting and, of course, impossible to resist pushing that read button!
Gameplay
I’m not entirely certain ‘Gameplay’ is the right word, but for lack of a better description, this will have to do. This ‘game’ has only one purpose: to tell the player NOT to press the red button and to proceed to chastise the player for inevitably pushing the red button anyway. After all, what would be the point in not pushing the button? Human nature dictates that we do exactly the opposite of what we are told to do. We have to be taught to conform through a mixture of positive and negative reinforcement. In other words, this our opportunity to completely revel in our human nature by doing what we were explicitly told not to do! Genius, right? I agree.
Do Not Press the Red Button
While this game may seem pointless, it does provide about 10-15 minutes of rebellious fun. I was literally laughing out loud as I continued to press the red button and therefore continued to be insulted, put down, threatened and more. The app tried begging, scolding, and guilt tripping. It tried tricking me, using reverse psychology, and story telling. But I just kept pushing that button anyway. And you know what? It felt great to be bad. After all, it’s only a game, right? I’m allowed to be rebellious if it doesn’t really matter, aren’t I? Surprisingly, I actually felt a bit guilty. Darn my conformist training!
It was fun though, and I would do it again, even knowing what it says and that it will ultimately loop back to the beginning. This might be a fun app to show my friends though. And I could certainly see some psychologist using this app to do field research. Hmmm, maybe that is the whole point! Drats, now where did I put that aluminum hat?
For pure, psychological fun and for its rebellious nature, I award five stars for gameplay.
Design
I doubt this game could get any more simplistic, yet effective. The entire game is played inside a cardboard box with a big, red button. Occasionally, the app tries to trick you by changing the size, location and/or frequency of the red button. Naturally, this doesn’t work to keep the player from pressing the button, but it is amusing and keeps the game enticing. Even as simplistic as the them is, though, the graphics are well done and the box actually looks fairly realistic. The empty space around the button makes it even more irresistible. I don’t know how anyone could open this app and not push the button! I therefore award five stars for design.
Value
If you feel like exercising your rebellious streak without getting in trouble, I would highly recommend you get this app. Thankfully, it is free – bonus! Oh, and if you’re a ‘strictly by the rules’ kind of person, then you NEED this app. Really. Get it now. That’s an order! Even the most upstanding citizens need to just let loose and break a few rules sometimes. Try it – its liberating. I therefore award five stars for value.
Android Apps Review Details: Do Not Press the Red Button Android app is free. This app requires Android 2.1 and up. You may download Do Not Press the Red Button from the Amazon Appstore.
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