
They might chop down a tree that's in the way and find it creates a bridge when it falls, or discover they can punch their way through a wall to enter a new area.

After awhile, kids will likely stumble on some uses for those skills. The main character can perform a decent amount of moves, including a high jump, crawling when crouching close to the ground, and floating slowly to downward. That portion doesn't throw too many challenges at kids, but the action quickly amps up in subsequent levels, with surfaces that contain bright pink bushy plants that will zaps kids' lives if they touch them too often, ending the game. Kids aren't given much upfront direction about what their immediate goal is, so they may just end up wandering around the first level, trying to figure out how to complete it. Getting used to all of the moves available can also take time. But the small font makes them easy to miss. Instead of a traditional tutorial, information on how to perform various actions periodically appears onscreen when kids start to play. Most of the story seems to be listed in the game's app store description - and learning to play isn't as straightforward as it could be. The story behind Timberman - The Big Adventure could be fleshed out more. The retro-pixel look is fun, and the main character has a larger arsenal of moves than in some action games, but the lack of direction detracts from the experience. The main character, for instance, is rewarded for freeing animals he comes across that are in cages. There are some positive themes in the game, though. The ads are generally fairly lengthy and require kids to wait for them to cycle through two screens before they can click out of them.

To continue, they have to either buy that or click on a button indicating they agree to watch ads to keep playing - and will instantly be shown one.

After every level they can't complete, they'll be taken to a page offering them a $4.99 paid ad-free version of the app. Kids can try more than once to beat levels, but that ability comes at a price. Despite a somewhat rocky beginning, even without very detailed instructions, kids will probably be able to pick up the gameplay basics, although they may need to practice some of the jumping and other moves to become proficient at them. But the fighting and demise that other characters experience isn't gory characters essentially just collapse, even when pelted with an ax that boomerangs back and hits them twice. Kids fight random characters to the death - which seems fairly violent, considering they've just met. Parents need to know that Timberman - The Big Adventure is an action game for iOS devices.
