Bloons Pop!

The gameplay is pretty intuitive -- and the thorough explanation and varied challenges presented gives lots of fun levels without many questions. Bloons Pop! does a good job of introducing new aspects as players advance levels, which helps keep things interesting. While gamers can potentially run out of lives and have to wait for some to replenish before they can play again, they can retry rounds that they can't successfully complete. Although the levels get increasingly more difficult, they're generally not impossible to beat. Players have some say in which monkey they use in moves, and can swipe their finger to adjust a dotted line to gauge the best option before aiming at balloons. Watching the monkeys strike items on the board can be entertaining -- some descend and pour acid on the balloons, for example, or freeze them. Gamers can also click on a button to speed the balloon removal portion up, though, if they don't want to sit through attacks.

The town construction element could be an incentive to keep trying to beat levels to earn currency for repairs. With new monkey-related abilities, Bloon goals, and other elements cropping up in new levels, though, the town aspect of the game can almost feel like an afterthought that you forget to return to so you can add buildings. Gamers don't technically have to buy things to play, but it's structured so purchases can make some aspects of playing easier. You'll earn Bloontonium as you play, but will need special containers to store it or you may lose it. You also may not earn the in-app currency that's needed to buy buildings very quickly, so making progress toward other stages of the game can take some time. In general, though, Bloons Pop! doesn't push players to make purchases too often, and if you want to completely ignore the building portion of the app, they could probably just focus on trying to beat the various game levels -- which should provide plenty of fun.