Parents' Guide to Word Villas

While this app can be somewhat interesting with its attempt at including a story around its puzzles, the frequent ads and repetitive terms keep it from standing out. Word Villas is a unique take on crosswords. In a traditional crossword, players would use brief descriptions to determine which words fit in various spaces. But in this app, players enter words they've formed from several letters that are provided. The main objective in completing puzzles is to earn stars, which they need to complete the main character's home remodeling-related and other tasks. She may, for example, realize she needs a new couch, and checking that off her to-do list costs a star. If players haven't banked a bunch by playing consecutive word puzzle rounds, they'll need to earn some before the storyline can advance.

Although the puzzles get somewhat more challenging as you reach higher levels, if players get stuck, they can buy a letter clue, provided they have enough coins, or shuffle the order the letters are shown in for free, which may help inspire additional guesses. Generally, though, the words aren't overly complex. The choices used in some rounds could actually be a bit more creative -- seeing meat and meaty in one puzzle doesn't feel all that challenging, and words sometimes are repeated in later rounds. The character's tasks tend to be doled out one at a time, and since the puzzle rounds typically don't take too long to finish, things move at a decent pace -- until players start seeing ads after rounds a few levels in. The increased ad frequency really puts a damper on the fun at a point when you should be getting into the groove of playing. Users can pay $1.99 to remove them, although some parents may prefer kids use the app without incurring the expense. By contrast, kids may eventually get tired of having to wait to collect their earnings from each round to move on to the next step.