Timberman - The Big Adventure

The retro-pixel look is fun, and the main character has a larger arsenal of moves than in some action games, but the lack of direction detracts from the experience. The story behind Timberman - The Big Adventure could be fleshed out more. Most of the story seems to be listed in the game's app store description -- and learning to play isn't as straightforward as it could be. Instead of a traditional tutorial, information on how to perform various actions periodically appears onscreen when kids start to play. But the small font makes them easy to miss. Getting used to all of the moves available can also take time. Kids aren't given much upfront direction about what their immediate goal is, so they may just end up wandering around the first level, trying to figure out how to complete it. That portion doesn't throw too many challenges at kids, but the action quickly amps up in subsequent levels, with surfaces that contain bright pink bushy plants that will zaps kids' lives if they touch them too often, ending the game.

The main character can perform a decent amount of moves, including a high jump, crawling when crouching close to the ground, and floating slowly to downward. After awhile, kids will likely stumble on some uses for those skills. They might chop down a tree that's in the way and find it creates a bridge when it falls, or discover they can punch their way through a wall to enter a new area. They'll also come across brief arcade-like games as they play, which involve actions like chopping down a series of tree branches. While the fights kids get in aren't overly graphic, they increase in frequency as kids advance in the game. Parents may not be crazy about that aspect -- and kids might not like being asked after every level to agree to watch an ad to continue. But without shelling out roughly $5 to circumvent that to keep playing Timberman - The Big Adventure, they'll have to sit through a lot of sales-related pauses.