Toys: January 2006 Archives

Electroplankton for the Nintendo DS is my 8-year-old daughter's current favorite obsession. It's not a game. I would describe it as a music synthesizer with cool animation. It will record your voice or accept input from your stylus to produce wonderfully weird music.

Even though it's hard to explain exactly what Electroplankton is, the interface is so easy to use, and the results so immediate and pleasing, everyone I show it to becomes instantly charmed by it.

The one sad thing is that you can't save your favorite creations. That's too bad, because I think this could become a legitimate musical instrument. $34.99 on Amazon