Awyse has created Talking Carl, one of the funniest apps we’ve seen in the App Store. It isn’t so much a game as it is a hilarious voice recorder that replays what you say in the voice of Carl, an adorable red, big-mouthed creature.
Talking Carl Pros:
- Hysterical
- Replay value
- Hard to put down
Talking Carl Cons:
- Inability to save Carl sessions
- Hard to put down!
As soon as the app is opened, Carl lets out a resounding scream. Then you are free to poke, tickle or talk to Carl. As you speak, he will listen intently until you’re done and then mock you in his nasally tone. You can even make Carl scream by poking him in the gut or the eyes. Although he strongly dislikes this, you can win back his heart by giving him a tickle. Quickly rub your finger across Carl to hear his hearty guffaw. Pinching in and out on the screen causes Carl to scream. The wider you pinch out, the louder he gets. He even grumbles if you haven’t played with him for a few seconds. When you finally find the strength to part with Carl by closing the app, he gives you a jolly “buh-bye!”.
This app is such a delight. Even though there are limits to his abilities, we found ourselves talking to Carl much longer than expected. Awyse has clearly made children the target audience for this app, but that doesn’t mean adults can’t enjoy playing with Carl. He is so well-made and everything about the app looks polished. He can easily pick up on what you’re saying, and it does a pretty good job of blocking out background noise. Awyse recommends using headphones for talking to Carl, but he can carry a pretty good conversation without them. One discovery we found was putting two iDevices together while simultaneously running the Talking Carl app. Hilarity inevitably ensues.
It’s hard to criticize Talking Carl, since he’s such good fun. However, we would love to see some additions to the app such as the ability to save some of our favorite Carl quips, and a possible Repeat option as well. This could give the ability to string particular phrases together while also allowing users to constantly add phrases to their Talking Carl library. It would also be nice to share our favorite Talking Carl moments with friends online, or even post them to Facebook or Twitter.
Do yourself a favor and talk to Carl. It is impossible to not smile as you poke and tickle him, and hearing your voice morphed into Carl’s will give you a laugh every time. If anything, this is a steal at only $.99 in the App Store and gets our 5-Dimple rating. Even if you don’t have kids, delight will be found with Talking Carl. If you do have kids, good luck getting your iDevice back.
