Parents' Guide to Toon Blast

This puzzle game offers a fun, enjoyable playing experience without subjecting players to most of the traditional free-to-play game issues. In Toon Blast, players don't have to pause to watch multiple ads or deal with other delays. They can even choose to skip the fanfare at the end of each round to move on to the next level faster. They face different, increasingly challenging goals as they progress -- at first, they just need to remove a particular amount of colored blocks in a given number of moves. Later on, players are asked to clear a certain number of balloons, ducks, and bubbles. They're also given different tools periodically to help them remove large amounts of blocks -- such as disco balls that shoot beams out toward random points, and a hammer that can clear an entire row -- which helps prevent the game from getting boring. While you can repeat rounds or pay to keep playing, you're typically given more than enough moves to finish before running out.

The animal characters that drive out in a camper at the beginning of the round seem somewhat random, because there's no info about how they tie into the game -- and they're mostly just shown in still images, celebrating after a round or posing individually next to their name. Their presence is a little confusing, but it doesn't significantly detract from the ability to continuously play without having to purchase or watch something. The biggest concern may be a kid's ability to converse with other users once they reach a certain level, but fortunately that can be feature can be removed in the app's settings. These minor problems aside, Toon Blast is a ball to play, and manages to be one of the best free-to-play experiences around.