Parents' Guide to Toy Blast

This simple match game is a lot of fun, which is only hampered by the push for players to constantly purchase items to help you keep playing failed levels. The game itself is pretty simple: Kids match colored cubes in horizontal or vertical patterns in a certain number of moves to meet a goal they've been given or to bring a toy trapped at the top of the board down to the bottom, freeing it for Amy, a little girl who appears on occasion, but isn't really directly referred to or explained. (A little more info on players' overall intent would make that more clear.) The graphics and game extras are fun: Fireworks explode when you finish a round, and you're occasionally given rockets, special cubes, and other items to help clear larger portions of the board. If a few seconds lapse in between moves, possible matches will jiggle to provide a clue, which can help players avoid getting stuck.

But if players fail to finish in the allotted number of moves, they'll be asked to spend 25 coins to buy five more moves. Since you're only given 25 to start with, and five moves don't last long, you may find that doesn't do much, unless you were extremely close to making all the necessary matches. If you instead need more moves to finish, you can make an in-app purchase and buy extra coins to extend playing time. Technically you don't have to; you can opt to end the game and just play until you finish the level. Time will eventually run out, and you won't be able to play again until your next life starts. The wait time isn't too bad -- some are as short as three and a half minutes -- but between pauses like lives running out and having to start games over after running out of moves, the playing experience may start to feel a little choppy. Overall, it's a fun game that's easy and interesting enough to be suitable for both young and older kids --but Toy Blast would be even more of a blast if kids didn't have to buy things for an uninterrupted playing experience.