How to play
Tap the top for toppings, the middle for frosting and the bottom for wrapper colour.
About Cupcake Decorator
Cupcake Decorator is a small, calm creative toy. There is one cupcake in the middle of the screen and three things you can change about it: the topping, the frosting and the wrapper. No timer, no score, no customers tapping their feet. You make a cupcake you like the look of, and then you make another.
How to play
The cupcake is divided into three zones. Tap the top part of the screen to change the topping. Tap the middle to change the colour of the frosting. Tap the bottom to change the wrapper. Each tap moves on to the next choice in the list, and when you reach the end it loops back to the beginning. A line of text at the top of the game reminds you which area does what.
That is all there is to it. Nothing can go wrong, and every tap makes something pretty happen.
What is in the kitchen
There are six toppings: a cherry, a strawberry, a gold star, a pink flower, a lollipop and a little cluster of blueberries.
The frosting comes in five soft colours: strawberry pink, vanilla cream, mint green, lilac and peach.
The wrapper has four bolder shades to set them off: raspberry pink, sky blue, turquoise and sunny yellow.
Six toppings, five frostings and four wrappers come to a hundred and twenty different cupcakes. That is more than it sounds, and it takes a good while to see them all.
Ideas for things to make
Give the game a little structure and it lasts much longer. Here are a few ways to play.
Match everything. Pink frosting, pink wrapper, strawberry on top. Then try the opposite and pick the three things that clash the most.
Make a cupcake for someone. What would a grandparent choose? What about a best friend, or the family dog? Children are very good at this, and usually have firm opinions.
Set a theme. A birthday cupcake, a summer cupcake, a cupcake for a football team in its colours, a cupcake for a rainy day.
Take turns. One person names three things, such as "mint, yellow, lollipop", and the other has to find them as quickly as possible.
Design on screen, then bake for real. If you are planning actual cupcakes for a party, this is an easy way to try out colour combinations before anyone opens the icing sugar.
Good for young players
Cupcake Decorator works well for small children because it only asks for a tap, and every tap is rewarded. There is no reading needed once the three zones are understood, nothing to lose and nothing that jumps out. It is a gentle way to practise colours and to talk about choices: which do you like best, and why?
It is also a pleasant change of pace for older players who have had enough of games that shout at them. Think of it as doodling.
Play it anywhere
The game runs in your browser on phones, tablets and computers. It is free, and there is nothing to download or sign up for. If you enjoy it, Dress Up Bear on this site works in the same tap-to-change way, with hats, shirts and fur colours instead of frosting.