My colleagues and I are big Sago Mini fans, and we're slowly working our way through the developer's entire oeuvre. Next up, an oldie but a goodie: Forest Flyer (2013; iOS and Android), another exploratory play app in the mold of Ocean Swimmer and Fairy Tales.

Choose a spring day or a wintry (vaguely Christmas-y) one to explore. Ring a bell on a cozy birdhouse and its cheery pink-and-red bird inhabitant appears. Drag your finger to fly the bird vertically and horizontally through an open-world forest setting. Regardless of season, the forest's color palette is inviting, its shapes simple and rounded. As the bird flies, flora and other fauna in the environment respond to its movement with simple animations: the fluff blows off dandelions, frogs croak up and down a musical scale, pinecones fall from a tree. The animations are enhanced by well-chosen, frequently funny sound effects with an unobtrusive background soundscape.



Pulsing starburst shapes indicate where to fly to initiate more extensive animated sequences. In one, the surprised bird breathes fire after eating a few berries. In another, it rights a fallen tree trunk, then flexes its bulging "biceps." The bird drums on the tops of toadstools, face-plants into a cupcake, and befriends other creatures, many of them characters from other Sago Mini apps making cameos. Returning to the same starburst-spot typically prompts a new animation.

Preschool-perfect humor — including burp/fart jokes and wacky incongruity — and wonder infuse these interactions. A few of the interactive opportunities are virtually the same in both settings; others have slight, seasonally appropriate differences. Jumping on a water pump handle in warm weather brings a few drops from the spout and then a thunderstorm (followed, of course, by a rainbow), while in wintertime, the same action results in icicles and a flurry of snowflakes.





Even with this overlap, there are plenty of unique vignettes to discover in each season. Another winner from Sago Mini.

Available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch (requires iOS 7.0 or later) and Android devices (requires Android 4.0.3 and up); free. Recommended for preschool users.