Dec
9
My friend Scott and I used to frequently commiserate over our miserable work commutes. We drove in opposite directions, but both of us had become all too intimately familiar with missed dinners, tense daycare pickup routines, and every square inch of the freeways between Seattle and the Eastside.
Then at around the same time last year we both took the heart-seizing leap of moving on from our office jobs. I went into freelancing, and he started his own business.
Scott’s company recently launched their first iOS game, called Tiny Tiger. Tiny Tiger is a $2.99 kid’s app for iPhone and iPad, and it’s freaking adorable. I bought it a couple days ago and both boys absolutely went nuts for it—I had predicted that it would be more appealing to Dylan, but they were both shrieking with laughter to the point where I had to turn off the game for a while because they were spitting all over my goddamned phone.
Kids can dress up a character (Tiger, Hippo, or Monkey), take photos of their creation, play a surprisingly-appealing-to-this-37-year-old game called “Poke-a-Nose,” or play hide and seek. The graphics are super cute, the games are silly and fun, and the whole thing is just wonderfully designed and awesome.
Actually, here, Scott’s daughter Sofia does a much better job of explaining Tiny Tiger:
(Could you die. I love Sofia.)
I wanted to tell you about Tiny Tiger because I truly think your kid will like it. I’m also just so thrilled about Scott’s new endeavor, and I wish him all the success in the world. If you love it, please share the word about Tiny Tiger, or leave a review on iTunes. Word of mouth is everything for small developers, and I know this game will be a big hit if enough people see it.
Thank you, friends.
Dec
7
Sometimes I’m pretty good at predicting which way the comments are going to go on my Stir articles, but I have to say, this one has exceeded my wildest expectations.
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That gym I’ve been going to has a bunch of family activities on the weekend, including a big sports court filled with inflatable things. We took the boys there last Sunday, and as soon as I saw the enormous towering balloon-slide I thought, there’s no way either of them are trying that. It must have been like 30 feet tall, no shit. I would have been intimated to slide down the damn thing.
Plus, you know, Riley. With the tentative, nervous-of-new-things thing. I figured we’d take a look at it and move on to the tamer jumpy castle or maybe the basketball area. some Ping-Pong balls around.
Well, damned if he didn’t get right in line, scale it like a pro without a single moment of hesitation, and come barreling down at lightning speed in order to shout, “THAT WAS SO AWESOME! CAN I DO IT AGAIN?”
After that, he coached his little brother into going, too. “Dylan, you go in front of me so I can make sure you’re okay. It’s a little scary but I promise you’ll have fun.”
Oh, you guys. Is it dumb to get teary-eyed over a huge garish inflatable slide punnishly labeled MOUNT RUSHMORE? Because I totally did.
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We started giving Riley an allowance recently, and I settled somewhat arbitrarily on the amount of $2 per week. For that he’s expected to clean his room, pick up toys in the living room, feed the cat, make sure the shop is picked up after he’s in there with his dad, and tidy his pens and crap from the kitchen table—otherwise I cruelly pocket the money and buy half a Starbucks.
I know there’s no one right answer, but I thought I’d ask you what your allowance strategy is. How did you decide when to start, how much to dole out, etc?
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