Lego Duplo Marvel

Some of this app's activities reinforce basic logic and other skills and positive traits such as responsibility and helping others -- but there aren't very many things for kids to do. In Lego Duplo Marvel's Captain America portion, for instance, kids can soap up and hose down cars at an outdoor car wash. They can also put colored items that are being thrown out into corresponding garbage bins, help a cat get out of a tree, and play a game that involves finding a path for the superhero to exit a maze. Kids can perform the tasks repeatedly, but because there's no next level to advance to or other clear endpoint in some, they may be confused about when they should move on to something else.

Even if they decide to, there may not be much else to do. Aside from those few activities, kids can drive Captain America around on a motorcycle to explore the setting, but you don't seem to be able to interact with the other people who are mulling around, and you can only go so far in either direction, whether you're riding or walking. The Captain America play pack is also the only part of the app that's free. The other sections are $4.99 to purchase. Parents can also buy access for a year to everything for $19.99 -- but there are only two other available play packs, involving Hulk and Spiderman. The app's activities are well-suited for preschool-age kids, and the graphics are top-notch -- bubbles from the soap you apply at the car wash quickly coat vehicles, the cat is perched in a multi-tiered Lego tree, and Captain America gleefully says "Yay!" and chuckles as he moves around. But even with all that charm, without more interactive content, Lego Duplo Marvel may not be able to keep kids engaged for very long.