We have many shapes and puzzled in our house, which is great. My only wish is that more of them (i.e. some) were in their original boxes, rather than down the back of the sofa / behind the radiator / half-buried in plant pots in the garden. Any app that can reduce the mess is right up our alley.

Shapes & Puzzles by Pirate Trio is the second piratical education app from developer Next is Great. I hadn’t spotted the first one (Love to Count by Pirate Trio), but it’s clear the trio in question are children dressed as pirates, rather than full-on Blackbeard types. Not scary, in other words.

Anyway, this second game is all about virtual shape puzzles: 200 on the iPad version and 180 on the iPhone version, although as a Universal app, you only pay once if you want both. The price is £1.99.

The app is aimed at 3-6 year-olds, with shapes to build cars, buildings, people, animals, plants and other things. There’s also a mode for younger users that teaches them the names of the shapes. It looks classy, too, with simple and stylish graphics.