Parents' Guide to Looney Tunes: World of Mayhem

Say what you will about modern weapons -- sometimes there's nothing more satisfying than a good old-fashioned safe falling out of the sky, hitting someone and leaving them seeing stars. At least, that the idea behind Looney Tunes: Worlds of Mayhem. The action RPG (role-playing game) does an amazing job of bringing all the slapstick humor of the classic Looney Tunes cartoons and adapting them into a zany mobile experience that's almost as much fun to watch as it is to play. The fighting, and especially the special moves, look like they could be scenes pulled straight from a modern remake of Merrie Melodies. It's silly fun, but with some light strategic elements, too. The key to winning battles, both in the campaign and in the player-versus-player battles, is paying attention to how the teams work together. Aside from class roles like support, fighter, etc., characters have specific relationships with one another, which can give them bonuses when teamed with or fighting against other toons.

As much fun as World of Mayhem is, though, the game does stumble somewhat into the pitfalls of certain free-to-play games. While it's easy to breeze through the initial stages and learn the ropes, once this initial grace period is over, things like energy and resources become extremely scarce. This is where the game pushes players hard to either spend money for in-game boosts or use one of the game's partnership offers to earn "free" gems. Of course, nothing in life is really free, and these offers usually require installing other unrelated apps, placing online orders, or signing up for subscription-based services. Naturally, you can skip these options and simply wait for things to recharge. Just be ready to wait a while and only play for a few minutes at a time. Still, if you're willing to take some time and you have the patience, Looney Tunes: World of Mayhem is a wacky bit of animated action that's a blast to play.