TotemUp

Though it's a cool idea with some solid features, the overall experience needs a bit more guidance, skill levels, and feedback. On the upside, the background adapts to represent day and night, which is cool. Little ones will enjoy customizing each little monster and will have fun making the totem shake and watching it fall. The graphics are simple yet visually appealing. However, the game itself lacks entertainment value, and after building a few totems, kids may lose interest. There's little incentive for kids to keep playing, since there's little variety and there are no options for different levels of difficulty. Although visual directions appear through a guiding hand when the game launches, the purpose of the game won't be clear to little ones without the help of a grown-up. The guiding hand appears only once, offering no support for new players or when kids get stuck. Little ones learning about numbers would benefit from encouragement to read the numbers aloud. Audio cues to reinforce numbers would help kids make the connection between the dots on the eggs and the size of the creatures on the ladder. The idea of customizable little creatures to explore numbers and combinations of 10 is cool, but ultimately, TotemUp drops the ball with regards to entertainment and educational value.