Best Fiends
Common Sense says
- iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android
- Free (with optional in-app purchases)
- Puzzle Games
Parents say
Kids say
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A lot or a little?
The parents' guide to what's in this app.
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that Best Fiends is a match-three game in the same vein as Candy Crush Saga. It also has the in-app purchase push of that game and offers plenty of opportunities to connect with Facebook to advance. If you play continuously and don't connect or purchase, there will be forced waiting periods for the "fiends" to recharge, which might frustrate some kids (and adults).
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User Reviews
- Parents say
- Kids say
Pointless scam of a game
Amazing Game!
What's it about?
In BEST FIENDS players attempt to match three or more similar items onscreen to meet varying goals for each level. Combinations result in damage points to slugs, which you must defeat to advance. Boards are littered with obstacles, which must be removed by matching an adjacent tile. Along the way, players can unlock characters who have different power-ups in the forms of explosives that take out adjacent squares as well as matching items.
Is it any good?
It's worth knowing before you go in that the team behind Best Fiends helped to create Angry Birds, Where's My Water, and Max Payne, so it shouldn't come as any surprise that this is an incredibly well-polished game, even if it is built around the very familiar match-three mechanic. Beyond the puzzle elements, though, there's a role-playing side -- one that's not especially detailed but that adds enough of a new spin to keep you addicted.
Leveling up your hero dung beetles, flies, and other insects proves to be fun, and the matching puzzles don't ramp up the difficulty at too extreme a pace. The downside is that, eventually, the game's frustrating timer element will force you either to pay up or walk away when you may not want to. That timer is the frustration factor for Best Fiends, as it takes what could have been a great game and makes it merely good.
Talk to your kids about ...
Families can talk about planning moves ahead instead of impulsively rushing into a decision. How does it help to pay attention and use some strategy in this game?
Discuss the importance of teamwork. How do the characters in the game work together?
App details
- Devices: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android
- Skills: Thinking & Reasoning: decision-making, deduction, logic, prediction, solving puzzles, strategy
Emotional Development: persevering - Price: Free (with optional in-app purchases)
- Pricing structure: Free
- Release date: February 17, 2015
- Category: Puzzle Games
- Size: 85.00 MB
- Publisher: Seriously
- Version: 1.2.0
- Minimum software requirements: iOS 7.0 or later
For kids who love strategy games
Our editors recommend
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.