Parents' Guide to Dumb Ways to Draw

Though it has a simple premise, this physics-based puzzle game gets increasingly challenging -- and thus more fun -- as it progresses. In Dumb Ways to Draw, you have to draw lines on the screen that fall in accordance with the rules of gravity. But your goal isn't to be neat or to draw well; it's to help a little bean person get from point A to point B safely. Along with drawing lines to create bridges and walkways, you also have to form barriers that will prevent things from falling down on your bean person's head. Do it well, and you'll be rewarded with coins and the chance to do it all over again in an even more complicated space. Fail, and your bean person will be splattered like it's been refried and served with two tacos on a Tuesday.

Suffice it to say, this physics-based puzzle game gets increasingly more complicated and dangerous, requiring you to retry levels repeatedly until you get it right. Which isn't a bother since the game is so clever; you'll appreciate the challenge -- assuming, of course, you have a basic knowledge of how gravity influences the movement of objects in a world, and you're willing to do some levels multiple times. This is why really little kids will find the later levels frustrating. But for older gamers who have a very basic knowledge of physics -- and the desire to help cute characters from going splat -- Dumb Ways to Draw is anything but dumb.