I have two kids, one 9, the other 7, and while both are stunning, terrific little individuals, both of them are exceptionally stubborn when it pertains to brushing their teeth. Ask if they d like to develop art or do amazing physical shit and even clean their spaces and make their beds and theyre all over it. Ask to perform a single two-minute piece of important day-to-day hygiene and its like I am killing them.
My partner and I have actually tried everything throughout the years to get and try around this. Certified electrical tooth brushes, a teeth-brushing timer on their Fitbits, (scrumptious) Minion tooth paste, rewards, penalties, you name it. Somehow though, this video game is the something that has managed to break their resistance, and has them not only brushing their teeth without a battle, but racing to do it, twice a day, every day.
In case you let the news of this game wash over– and I do not blame you, this is barely a game at all– Pokémon Smile is an app for iOS and Android designed particularly to do what Ive just explained, which is get kids brushing their teeth with more gusto than typical. It uses a front-facing cam to turn brushing into a game, imagining the bacteria thats inside a kids mouth and inquiring to brush real tough to get rid of it.
Theres also at least one Pokémon in your mouth at all times. Dont ask why.
Possibly you believed it would be easy to write/laugh this one off as a dumb gimmick, but for real: Pokémon Smile is among the most crucial computer game to have actually entered my home in years.
Heres a trailer so you can see it in action, and likewise understand that Im not making any of that up:
Pokémon Smile take advantage of this in several methods. The finest is maybe the method you can unlock stupid Pokémon hats that you can wear throughout gameplay, but theres likewise this cool feature where the video game takes four random pictures throughout a brushing session then, at the end, lets kids select one and cover it in unlockable stickers, then conserve and share the image.
While Im impressed that both kids are sticking rigorously to the prescribed two-minute timer (though this can be changed for younger kids), Im just as delighted that both are investing 5-10 minutes each night simply fucking around with all of this customisation stuff, since its ensuring theyre eager to be associated with whatever the video game uses, not just the brushing.
Its the brushing itself though that, as a moms and dad, Im certainly most amazed with. The secret to its magic is that it elegantly fudges the line between what its really doing and what the kids think its doing.
We worked out pretty quickly, after a couple of failed attempts at capturing Pokémon, that the video game was tracking how fast/hard the kids were brushing. Long as they kept up a good rate, the screen would reveal a random Pokémon trapped in germs have its bonds slowly broke away, while other germs on the kids teeth was being zapped off at the same time.
This “action” was shown in real-time in the centre of the screen, while off in the bottom right theres a display screen that informs kids to move the brush to various parts of the mouth, so that they brush all sides of every tooth, top to bottom, inside and out.
The game is tracking barely any of that. Its simply a front-facing phone camera, it has no method of informing whether my kids are brushing the leading or inside of their molars! Its got a rough idea of how quick their arms are moving, whichs about it.
I have two kids, one 9, the other 7, and while both are stunning, fantastic little individuals, both of them are extremely stubborn when it comes to brushing their teeth. In some way however, this video game is the one thing that has handled to break their resistance, and has them not only brushing their teeth without a battle, but racing to do it, two times a day, every day.
There are a few standard hooks to the game. And most importantly, at least from the feedback Ive got from my kids, is that you get all kinds of stuff every time you play, from getting the chance to “capture the Pokémon that youve rescued with your brushing to sticker labels to hats.
Its just a front-facing phone electronic camera, it has no method of informing whether my kids are brushing the leading or inside of their molars!
There are a couple of standard hooks to the game. Theres the primary “gameplay”, which involves brushing your teeth and having the electronic camera detect the speed at which youre doing it. There are accomplishments that are handed out for continuous usage of the app. And most importantly, at least from the feedback Ive received from my kids, is that you get all type of things every time you play, from getting the opportunity to “capture the Pokémon that youve saved with your brushing to stickers to hats.
I know this might sound incredibly trivial to anyone not a member of an accomplishments online forum or Steam card-trading group, but thats due to the fact that youre an adult who requests a bit more from their Pokémon entertainment.
My kids are far less critical, and they are very into this shit.
While each of those hooks sounds quite thin on its own, as a total benefits plan for doing something they usually dislike, its more than enough. I dont know if youve ever seen kids play with something like Facebook Messenger previously, but the capability to tinker their faces in real-time on a screen can keep them busy for hours.
My kids do not know that, and I sure as hell arent going to inform them. Theyve been raised on stuff like the Wii U and Switch, with their reasonably accurate gyroscopic controls, therefore in their minds a Pokémon app on my phone is doing the very same thing, and theyre staying with those standards like glue.
Weve been utilizing the app because launch, which is about two weeks, and their teeth are pristine. More significantly, weve gone from a home where teeth-brushing-time has actually been changed from a battleground to a leisure activity, and every early morning and night theyre yelling at my better half and I to borrow our phones so they can see who (and what) they can open that night.
I understand this wont last permanently, however it doesnt have to. The entire point of the app is to develop patterns and break down resistance to something thats simple and actually fast, and its certainly doing that, so if its taking some Pokémon stickers to get that through to them, then whatever, thats incredible.
