Parents' Guide to Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Friends: Asian Elephants

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Friends: Asian Elephants is not a bad game by any means, but it is a strange one. It's fun to play with your elephant, learning the various signals you need to sketch out on the touchscreen in order to communicate to the animal to toot her trunk, stand up, or roll over. And it's also fun to purchase new outfits and dress up your elephant. Or to buy elephant toys that unlock mini games, such as a xylophone duel between you and the pachyderm. It's not nearly a much fun, though, to feed and clean your elephant, which has to be done pretty frequently. When it comes to performing, though, that's the really bizarre part. Instead of the different elephant stunts being tied to hand motions as was done with the playful interactions, they are connected to utterly random mini-games. For instance, to make the elephant hold up a sign, you have to play a matching memory game. To make her spin on a stool, you have to connect like-colored squares without crossing any of your lines. Some of these mini-games are fun and decent brainwork, but they have nothing to do with elephants.