Launching tomorrow is a new game and educational, or edutainment, app by Marvel Entertainment and StoryToys called Marvel HQ. With an advanced look at a pre-launch version, I tested the games, educational value, and overall feel of the app. Designed for kids ages 4-7, containing fun and age-appropriate games, videos, creative activities, books, comics, and interactive elements, I found the Marvel HQ app fun, exciting, and a great value for kids at preschool and kindergarten age.
Marvel HQ is free, although a VIP pass can be purchased for $29.99/year, $24.99/6 months, or $4.99/month to unlock everything, as some content will require a subscription.
After a short animation, kids are offered five areas to “teleport” into via sling ring portals on the homepage — Read, Create, Play, Watch, and Meet. It’s easy to navigate to each section with the ability to move around via a handy menu at the top right of the screen when in each section.
Starting with Watch, this section features short clips in different categories. Those categories include LEGO shorts, drawing instruction (also found in the create section), Spidey and his Amazing Friends scenes, clips from Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, and some fun “Get to Know” clips of classic characters like Hulk, Black Widow, and Captain America. The video player lets you move forward or back 15 seconds and play or pause. There’s no timeline bar, so there’s no telling how long clips are, but they seem to be only a few minutes long max. The menu is pretty basic but easy enough to navigate.
The watch section features a variety of video types.
Credit: Marvel Entertainment
Create might be my favorite section in Marvel HQ, which allows kiddos to free draw on a blank page or color in drawings of heroes like Captain America, Iron Man, and Spider-Man. It was a little difficult to draw on a phone, but it’s the perfect size on a tablet. Drawing tools include a pencil, marker, highlighter, eraser, spray paint, fill, and a fill using fun patterns. There’s a decent range of colors with a slider to create different hues. Once done, kids can save their drawing, which appears on the selection screen when you move back to the main selection menu.
This menu features a few interactive elements like spilling a paint can that sends a robot to clean it up or turning off and on lights behind Iron Man.
The create opening menu has some fun interactive elements.
Credit: Marvel Entertainment
The Read section also features interactive elements in the menu with two areas to pick books to read. Kiddos have the option to pick different reading levels between Pre-1, 1, 2, and 3. Each book opens with a nice table with the book laid out before flapping open. The experience with the World of Reading books is similar to level readers with text and an image beside it. The other reading experience is more like a comic, with each panel taking up the screen.
The read section has a nice backdrop before opening the book.
Credit: Marvel Entertainment
Play is where kids have a few options for games. Once again, we get a scene with different interactive elements, like sending Mjolnir off into the sky or making Hulk try to solve a Rubix cube. There are three game options: puzzles, a racing kart game, and a Hulk coding game.
The puzzle section allows kids to pick 6, 12, and 24 pieces. It’s a fun way to do puzzles, with each piece snapping into place. If you hover a piece over another, they slide away making it easy even on a phone to complete the puzzles. There also seems to be a healthy amount of puzzle options featuring various characters.
The kart racing is rather basic, with three Spidey character options chasing Green Goblin down a street. The cart runs forward on the street with the ability to hop over things in the road, move left and right, or make a spin move. It’s so simple I’m not sure how fun this game will be over time, but it’s still cute as heck.
Finally, the Hulk coding game allows kids to move the Hulk via a maze to save some puppies Loki has kidnapped. It forces kiddos to think ahead as they pick each move from either up, down, right, or left and then click play to see if it was in the correct order. There are three levels, and the highest level, genius, required me to stop and think things through.
You can see the Hulk coding game on the right.
Credit: Marvel Entertainment
Marvel HQ’s last section is Meet which gives you a variety of heroes to learn more about. Each hero has basic traits, powers, and an origin story. Each section can be read, or have a narrator read it to you with a play button feature. There’s also a gallery section featuring the hero in various images from the comics and movies and a quiz section that drops some Marvel confetti if you get it right. It feels a little limited, but I’m sure more heroes will be added over time.
The meet section has a decent amount of hero options to explore.
Credit: Marvel Entertainment
Rounding out the app is a Parent Center if you click an icon at the top right on the home screen. This section gives parents information about the app, order subscriptions, and VIP passes, change the language (there are 12 languages total when I tested the app), set the English to US or UK spelling, and turn off the background music. There is also a FAQ section. It’s a nice informative area that requires you to enter your age to enter, potentially stopping kiddos from entering the menu.
Overall I’m pretty impressed with Marvel HQ. It’s a nice mix of fun and educational elements that should be a huge hit for younger kids ages 4 and 5. I could see six and seven-year-olds running out of things to do or finding some elements a little too easy, but the presentation makes learning fun and exciting.
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