Review: Origami HD
Score:
70%
As the school summer holidays stretch out into the distance across the United Kingdom, parents might be looking for something to make the days pass a little bit quicker. As another long seven weeks come to a close in Edinburgh (this city runs about four weeks ahead of the rest of the country), can I recommend Origami HD?
Version Reviewed: 1.0.0.0
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This graphical how-to application from Nemo illustrates how to make a number of origami models from a single sheet of paper. That might seem a simple application for a mobile phone, but a quick glance in my "things that can be done during the holiday" box and I can see a number of origami books. Given how quickly my kids will borrow a smartphone to listen to songs from Horrible Histories, having Origami HD on there is actually a good move during the long summer holidays from school.
It's also one of the few times I'll let an application get away with stepping outside of the Windows Phone user interface guidelines - kids don't want a holistic approach to a smartphone that makes everything react the same, they just want to get to the information. No matter how it's laid out, they'll work out how to use it.
Which means the colourful borders and shaded graph paper background help to create a fun and welcoming look to the application. The instructions for each fold are clear, with lines showing the correct location for a fold, and arrows to help make that fold. The text also helps describe what is going on. All of this is clear, not at all Metro (or whatever we call it now), and perfectly pitched at a younger user.
I'll even forgive the use of comic sans as the main font.
After handing the application to whoever needs the distraction (and sometimes that means me), you'll have a list of origami models to choose from. The trial version lets you open the first eight models, and the remaining seven are available in the full version.
Instructions on making the models are pretty clear, although there are one or two moments when you are asked to make diagonal folds and you have to make a best guess as to where the fold will be (it's not always an edge to edge fold). The models are not immensely complicated, but for the intended market, I think the difficulty level on offer, from the ladybird and mouse to the grasshopper and penguin, is about right for the 8-12 year old origami-er.
I'm still not quite sure why the suffix 'HD' is attached to the title, but given the ability for this app to be a great day of distraction, I think that's worth the 79p.
Reviewed by Ewan Spence at