Draw Joust!

Kids get very little direction when they start playing -- or after, which can make the experience in this game a little confusing. No backstory or context is given to explain why you're fighting or where battles are taking place in Draw Joust!, and the way to earn points and even how to win is unclear. Kids' coin supply rises periodically during rounds, although they aren't told what amount is awarded for what actions. There's also no information about the ink, power, or health power-up options at the bottom of the screen, and spending coins on them doesn't really seem to have much of an effect during the following round.

Because kids have an ink limit and have to stop drawing when they often quickly run out, being able to sketch the vehicle they'll attack in really doesn't offer much of an advantage. Players also can't customize the other game elements, such as their vehicle's wheels, or choose or move their weapon. You can't, for instance, shoot the spear you're holding at someone -- you can only move your vehicle closer to your opponent with it outstretched, which makes a number of weapons cumbersome to use. Each round's winner and loser seems to sometimes be chosen arbitrarily, since you're never told how actions are scored, and the rounds generally don't differ much, making them feel repetitive. Without any way to advance to more challenging levels, kids may not be inspired to keep playing. The constant ads that bombard you, though, are probably the app's biggest detriment. Not only do banner ads appear on the screen during gameplay, commercials also pop up between almost every round, and they often require you to watch for a certain amount of time before you can click to the next screen. Repeatedly enduring them for a few seconds of Draw Joust! gameplay hardly seems worth it. Before long, kids may start to feel like they're spending much more time watching product plugs than actually playing.