Parents' Guide to Alchemy Stars: Aurora Blast

This app combines a role-playing element -- via an ongoing storyline players click through -- and a puzzle game, but repetitive gameplay holds the action back. In Alchemy Stars: Aurora Blast, players choose and move characters around a game board by tracing a route for them along squares that are the same color. Characters are aligned with the four colors on the grid -- Fire Aurorians, for example, will attack opponents on red tiles. The longer the corresponding path you draw for each character, the more damage you can typically cause to opponents. If players lose all their health points during the face-off, they'll lose the game. The characters each have certain abilities, such as converting four tiles that are in a cross formation to blue so players can move to nearby blue squares.

The game features quality graphics -- light shoots from characters during battles, and details like an Aurorian's hair swaying gently as they speak have been included. Some gameplay aspects, though, aren't quite as noteworthy. Character conversations seem drawn out at times. The storyline would advance much faster without someone pausing to give a one-word response or ellipses being shown, because clicking manually through the banter slows down the overall pace. Depending on where their enemies are situated and how colors are laid out on the board, your strategy choices may also be limited in games. While new characters that possess unique skills can be added to your potential roster, and different game elements are periodically introduced, the basic structure is generally the same, which can become boring. But, while there are ways to spend money while using the app, you can play for some time without feeling like you have to, and you won't be barraged with ads. Overall, you may not be indefinitely engrossed in Alchemy Stars: Aurora Blast -- but even if you don't keep coming back to it, it can be a fun experience for a while.