Tiny Diggers – An iPad Construction Truck Game for Kids Age 2-5

I’ve never played a Dragon Quest title before, and I probably wouldn’t have considered this one except for the high reviews I saw on Gamespot and in a couple of gaming magazines. I’m so glad I got it – it’s lots of fun! I actually enjoyed all the puns.

My biggest complaint is that the game almost doesn’t use the stylus at all. Flinging Rocket (your slime) around would be a perfect task for the stylus, but it’s restricted to buttons. It’s easy to do with the buttons (unless you’re trying to go at an angle – then it’s a bit harder), but the stylus would be easy too.

It’s great to be able to choose who you want to fight with you in battle, but I do wish more slimes would fight! It’s mostly enemy species (bring back 30 to unlock one) that will fight with you. It’s also annoying that sometimes, any member of your crew will purposely pick up and launch another team member, especially if you’re low on ammo. You can also accidentally knock a team member into your cannons (or accidentally get knocked in yourself), so be sure to take turns at the cannons!

The game features a good mix of tank battles switching off with boss battles that you fight outside of the tank. You’ll be sticking to your tank – the Schleiman Tank – except in the unlockable Tank Masters mode, where you can choose from a bunch of tanks that you’ve fought before.

The graphics are adorable and the sound is great – it’s one of the few games that I don’t mind leaving the volume up on. There’s also plenty of play time – I’d echo the Gamespot review’s estimate of 10-15 hours, but that’s without getting all the monster statues and items. If you want a perfect game you can always try for that and get more playtime.