Frustrated with Kids games

[tabletnovice]

I am so frustrated with the majority the games I've installed for my grandchildren.

There are constant prompts for you to get another one of developer's free games. And the ads, ARGH!!

I don't mind the ads per se. I know those who develop free game apps need to be paid in some manner. But many of the ads are absolutely inappropriate, even though the intended audience of these games is young children . I've uninstalled almost every game because I don't want my grandchildren be subjected to garbage. And they all want updating like every other day. Even games I've purchased, screens and prompts appear urging you to buy additional features.

nag, Nag, NaG!

I bought one game for myself: Classic Words Plus. It let's me play in peace: no ads, no nags. Are there any games for young children that are nag and/or ad free. I don't care if I have to pay for them, the peace of mind will be worth it.

 

[1812dave]

free anything will generally require that u suffer thru ads. that's one reason i will no longer play scrabble. for iOS, you can pay for the ad-free version, but there is no paid version for Android. I pay for Pandora so that I don't have to suffer thru ads on that, too. You can pay, or you can watch ads. your choice.

 

[a1kemist]

Games are free because they want you to watch their advertising. Wait till you get ones with in game purchasing with real money, HAH!

People have to make their money somehow.

If you haven't checked, the amazon app store gives away a free paid app every day. Most of the time it's games, though.

 

[ChromeJob]

I've lost patience with amazon's FAOTD. A lof them are free for a reason -- they're crap no one's buying!

You have to read reviews before installation, other users will generally talk about ads, or the problem, or excessive in-game purchases.

Filter reviews based

- your device
- most recent version.

With these two' you can generally tell what's a ripoff.

 

[a1kemist]

I've lost patience with amazon's FAOTD. A lof them are free for a reason -- they're crap no one's buying!

I'm still hanging in with them. 99% of the time it's been crap games but when you see that 1%, it can be good. They gave away Splashtop v1 and audubon birds before. Both were ~$10 apps. (Splashtop v1 was given way before v2 was released, just FYI as it's left in the dust with v2 out now). I have iBirds Pro so was always on the fence about paying for audubon birds but when I saw it for FREE, I was hell yeah! So there are a few hits but mostly misses. I still prefer to see more utility and productivity than games.

 

[ChromeJob]

True... Moon Phase Pro was a good find. Very underrated app with excellent adherence to Google Android design standards ... and very good usability.

 

[henywatty]

Everyone on this post has discussed reasons why games are free, why they have ads, the quality of games etc. etc. Which, don't get me wrong, is a fantastic approach, but I will try take a more direct approach to the original question.

Here are three, free (sorry about the tongue twister!) games available for download on the Play store with no ads.

1. Angry Birds - We all know it and love it!

2. Jetpack Joyride - This is a fantastic game with loads of challenges and obstacles to keep the kids entertained for hours.

3. Temple Run - Your classic run and jump, fast-paced game, great fun.

Hope these help!

Sent from my Nexus 7 running Android Jelly Bean 4.1.2

 

[anon(924308)]

I don't have kids/grandkids so I haven't tested these apps, but maybe look up app lists on parenting websites:
20 Educational Android Apps for Kids I Best Apps for Kids - ParentMap
Kids games free Apps - Android
10 best free Android apps for kids | News | TechRadar
http://mashable.com/2012/04/27/kid-friendly-android-apps/
The Top 25 Android Apps for Kids of 2011 | Babble
Best Android apps for kids | Digital Trends
8 Awesome Android Apps To Keep Your Kids Entertained

I dl'ed 'where's my perry' during the .25 app sale, and it's actually pretty fun. for some apps, it's worth paying for the non-ad version.

 

[tabletnovice]

I don't have kids/grandkids so I haven't tested these apps, but maybe look up app lists on parenting websites:

This is extremely helpful. Thank you.

I've started looking at each of them and have found some very good apps. Will let my grandchildren try the free; if they like I will buy. Not everyone that sounded interesting is compatible with the Nexus 7, so I looked for something close. Even this grandmother will enjoy My Paper Planes.

 

[ChromeJob]

What's their ages, what kind of games do they like?

 

[tabletnovice]

What's their ages, what kind of games do they like?

Thanks for asking.

I don't know what they play when they are with my ex-son-in-law (who has an ipod) but when I was with them they liked:

Grandson: 9 years old

Bike race; Ski Safari, WaterBallons, Angry Birds
I recently downloaded: Angry Birds Space, Bad Piggies, Pocket Soccer and some eductional games;: States, Presidents, NASA, Hubble Space

Grand daughter: 5 years old

Coloring book-type apps, Clouds and Sheep; Dressing games (like paper dolls); some books. Some of these are the most egregious when it comes to in-your-face screens pushing you to download other games or buy this and that. Plus, there is no control for the type of ads that display including political and ads with links to trailers for, for example, gruesome murder and horror movies; sexually suggestive cartoon characters.

If you're a parent or grandparent, you really have to screen these things; thing is, they ads can be fine for days, then all of a sudden change for the worse. I haven't had the time to fully screen most of them.

 

[anon(847090)]

yesterday i was at my friends home watching Iowa state game and there was a 2 year old girl who really liked fruit ninja game on my phone.
try that. i hope u didnt miss the $0.25 promotion sales few weeks ago since many game you pay wont have any ads.
i bought fruit ninja on 0.10 sales even though there was a free version.

 

[ChromeJob]

My daughter really likes Osmos HD and other relaxing puzzle games. Cut the rope is a really highly rated one, too. I'm into Zen Bound 2 lately.

 

[Jaysus]

My Daughter's tablet has WiFi turned OFF at all times unless I am supervising. She is still too young to figure out how to turn it on.

 

[dextorboot]

Be careful with the "Where's My ___" games as they all have links to buy the other games/add ons in the series now. You can turn off purchasing or Wifi to stop purchasing though. Other than that they're well worth price. There's only 1 version I don't own.

Another good kids app is Kids Mode. No ads and lets you set what loaded apps they can launch and has other flash based apps they can play.

Another option is to email or leave bad ratings for apps that have inappropriate ads. Developers of kids apps are usually very good about removing the offending ads. Most of those games are running standard scripts for ads so there's no filter, but they can easily have them removed.

 

[tabletnovice]

My Daughter's tablet has WiFi turned OFF at all times unless I am supervising. She is still too young to figure out how to turn it on.

What a great suggestion. So obvious that it eluded me.

I shut WiFi off and tested a number of the games I've downloaded for the grandchildren. Other than a static filler-type ad from the developer, no ads feed into the game while playing. Thank you so much for this suggestion!

My grandchildren are not allowed to go into any of the settings or use any home page other than I've set up for them (or we set up together). Unless they're sick, they must use the tablet in the same room where I am. This works, thus far, at these ages.

You can turn off purchasing

Where/how do you turn off purchasing?!

 

[tabletnovice]

that's one reason i will no longer play scrabble.

Try Classic Words Plus. I think I paid $1.99. No adds or nag screens.

You can't play with others online, but you can play with another who's in the same room, or play against Droid. You can select levels of hardness. What I really like about it is that you can swipe a word, any word, a instantly get the definition. For the latter, you need an internet connection but it's not otherwise required for playing.

 

[anon(847090)]

Where/how do you turn off purchasing?!

if the wifi is disabled you obviously cant make a purchase.

but if you go to play store settings you can set pin for any purchases.

I enabled pin to make sure no one purchase app by accident

 

[ChromeJob]

Where/how do you turn off purchasing?!

Go into the Play store app, go into Settings. There's an option to set a required PIN to purchase, in app or in the Play store.

 

[mariasol]

I prefer to pay 1 dollar and get a clean experience for the kid. No ads, well designed as you are paying for it. I just dowloaded this one, simple, just what a kid expects

https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...details?id=com.kripa.babytouch&token=4WzF2yW4