There’s something about working with raw clay and water in a ceramics setting that best represents the act of artistic creation. The Let’s create! Pottery HD ($4.99), developed by Infinite Dreams for the iPad, offers a digital replica of the pottery experience, succeeding in being both therapeutic and entertaining.
Once you load the application, you receive a nice “email” message from the developer thanking you for the purchase. In using this short, thankful message (which includes a link to their forums), Infinite Dreams opens up a relationship with all of its customers.
The process for creating ceramics is quite simple. Once you hit the ‘create’ button, shape your pottery as the potter’s wheel spins by pinching and dragging (vertically) the clay with touch controls, to the sounds of nature (mainly birds and other wildelife). Rest your fingers on the potential piece of pottery in order to expand it. The sound effects are so relaxing that I felt like falling asleep at the pottery wheel.
After the shape is complete, touch the ‘Firing’ button and confirm with the check-mark button. The rapid firing process leads to the design segment, in which you can add patterns and colors, both available for purchase in the game’s store. Don’t worry, you don’t have to spend real hard-earned dollars, only imaginary green you make off selling your pottery in the game’s auction. You can also email your creations to friends, a feature that comes with an automated (though customizable, of course) message and a picture of the pottery.
The selling feature is really interesting; this experience comes with crowd chatter and a bidding war over your precious creations. It’s a really great system, because using the coins from pottery sales result in better designs, courtesy of the in-app store, like Greek and Egyptian patterns.
The only complaint I have is that the clay body never falls apart, despite several attempts. This just reinforces the developer’s purpose. Pottery is all about creation, not destruction.
Other developers might try to copy this app, but none will come as close to mastering the digital pottery experience that is Let’s create! Pottery HD.
