JFK Challenge

From the dynamic, animated text of the president's speeches to the cartoon lines of the Apollo space suit, JFK Challenge evokes the visual style of the early 1960s but looks fresh and modern, too. The games are interesting and amusing, and between stages of each game, kids can learn key facts, like what each stage of the Saturn V rocket does. Since the app was created by the JFK Library, there's a clearly positive perspective on the president's time in office (the Cuban Missile Crisis and other tense moments aren't featured prominently), but the tone and content seem appropriate for the age range.

While the app features good content, gameplay won't necessarily promote learning. Users don't do much more than tap and tilt; even the very-brief Spanish lesson that starts the Peace Corps mission is a basic, low-consequence matching game. Learning isn't baked into these games, though they hint at larger insights about physics and social studies. Overall, this is an amusing tool for exploring President Kennedy's achievements and playing some related games along the way.