Parents' Guide to Sticky Bodies

This quirky game is easy to play, but a lack of instructions and a requirement of users to pay for access limits the enjoyment. Sticky Bodies features a whimsical design: The characters look almost like old-fashioned paper dolls, and point totals are tallied on a vintage cash register. As players progress, there are new obstacles that suddenly appear, such as hula hoops and boats, making the game more challenging. Despite a somewhat gruesome theme -- everyone falls toward the ground and eventually gets eaten -- the game keeps things light with chipper music, generally cheerful interactions, and a lack of blood or extreme panic as everyone cascades into a giant mouth.

Players don't need detailed instructions to figure out how to move and grab objects, so they should be able to get the hang of playing pretty quickly. There's no information about why players should collect coins, though -- or how you advance levels. Nor is there info on whether there's any advantage to replaying a round or moving on to the next one, which can make playing somewhat confusing. Presumably, filling the spaces earmarked for coins on the board shown at the start of rounds would propel you to the next level. But as you advance, you can get through a few rounds without seeing a single coin. It’s also kind of a letdown that around the time you've played a half-dozen or so times, you'll start seeing prompts to use the in-app currency you've earned to pay a toll so that you can travel to the next area of the map. Around this time, an offer to pay $3.99 to unlock the rest of the game also pops up. Without spending some cash, players may find they can still play Sticky Bodies -- but the action will slow down and start to feel repetitive as they struggle to find enough coins.