There is nothing too original about the Toon Blast mobile application, it very much sticks to the same formula as it’s very successful predecessor Toy Blast, but why fix what is not broken?
The creators have taken the popular color-matching puzzle idea and sprinkled it with a host of wonderful characters and graphics to produce a fun, easy and very moreish game.
Toon Blast is suitable for users of all ages, but is particularly angled towards kids due to the bright design and cartoon characters.
It is supported on Android and iOS and is available to download from the apple store and google play store.
So How Do You Play Toon Blast?
The app is really a series of puzzle games, which players have to complete in order to reach the next level. In each puzzle the screen fills with little colored cubes, and players have to tap on combos of matching colored cubes to blast them apart.
Two cubes count as a combo in Toon Blast, which is less than the usual ‘match-3’ rule and makes the game much easier than others like it. Players score points for every combo they blast, and new cubes fall from the top of the screen to refill the void.
And that’s it. It really is an incredibly simple game that anyone can master. Once a player reaches a certain number of points, having blasted enough color matching combos, the level is complete!
However, the speed and difficulty of the puzzles increases as the levels get higher. Players are challenged to reach their score target in as few moves as possible.
This means that a certain amount of strategy is needed because, by letting color combos build up you can create a bigger blast and gain more points in a single move.
The game also throws neat little rewards and challenges into the mix. On some levels you have to burst the balloons that drop down as well as the color matched cubes, and you can collect stars and coins as and when you spot them to add to your coin collection.
These coins can be used to buy extra lives, and quick cheats to help you progress through the ever more difficult puzzle levels.
What Makes Toon Blast Different?
The main reason why Toon Blast stands out from the many other apps like it is it’s quality. This app has been designed by expert app developers so that the puzzles run super smoothly without many glitches at all.
Plus it does so across a range of devices, so it works just as well on a tablet as it does on a small smartphone screen. You can also play the game both on and off-line. This is really brilliant if you have a long car journey ahead and need something to stop the kids from squabbling in the back seat.
TV was the old electronic babysitter, but Toon Blast is the new and improved model. It has an incredibly clear and easy-to-use interface that even youngsters can navigate on their own - so you won’t have to worry about helping them all the time.
What’s more, the world that the developers have created is very appealing. There are a host of fun cartoon characters including Bruno Bear, Wally Wolf and Cooper Cat, who are all aesthetically very cute and cuddly, and kids instantly seem to connect with them.
These characters are almost retro in style, and seem reminiscent of the old Looney Toon characters that many adults will remember. The locations for each level are equally appealing.
They colored cubes fall in front of themed backgrounds that range from rollercoasters, to candy stores, to outer space! You never know where the next level will take you and that adds to the fun.
And crucially, the music is cool and nostalgic. So many other color match apps have the most annoying and repetitive music that drives parents crazy as their kids try over and over to complete a certain level.
Luckily, the musical score on Toon Blast is gentle and jolly, and really does seem to hark back to the music of the early computer games that many parents will have loved.
Doesn’t Toon Blast Get Boring?
Due to the repetitive nature of the puzzles, you could be forgiven for thinking that Toon Blast would become samey and boring after the first five minutes. However, Kids absolutely love it and, if anything, the game is very addictive!
The act of tapping on the cubes and watching them blast apart is satisfying, and the sense of achievement you feel on completing a level is even better.
For this reason, the app can keep kids occupied for hours at a time, and it is therefore best to set time limits and clear boundaries before play begins because too much screen time is never a good thing.
However, short little sessions of play can be really relaxing for kids, who have so many stresses and pressures in their young lives. Toon Blast is a great way to switch off and have some quiet time, and is also a really handy bargaining chip if game time is awarded as a treat for good behavior.
The developers add 50 new levels every two weeks, which means that there are currently over 3000 levels on the app!
It is almost impossible to complete and therefore Toon Blast should be thought of more as continuous play, rather than a game with an end.
The updates are always exciting and often themed, and once you have downloaded the app you can have it in your back pocket and it will never stagnate or run out of content.
Although… for those dedicated few who do complete Toon Blast (and that really does take some dedication!) they become part of an elite Champions League and get to compete against other champions for trophies and prizes.
Can You Play with Others?
One of the best things about Toon Blast is that you get to connect up with other players and form teams. Within these teams you can share lives, which is really helpful as you progress to the harder levels.
It also means that the app has a brilliant interactive element that sets it apart from others like it. You can chat and interact with friends from school, or friends from around the world, and your team will compete against other teams of players, which adds a cool competitive drive to the game as well.
Players can link their accounts to their facebook profiles in order to save their progress and not have to start again every time they log in. This is great if you have spent ages on a certain level and have almost completed it but then have to leave the game for some reason.
It can be pretty frustrating to have to do all that hard work over again, so the ability to pick up where you left off is very handy.
Is Toon Blast Safe for Kids?
Many parents don’t like the idea of their kids being able to connect with other players from around the world, and certainly don’t want to link their child’s Toon Blast account to FaceBook.
Both these functions are optional, and you don’t have to do either, however it is rather annoying that the app sends constant reminders and pop-ups which tend to make children feel that they are missing out by not signing up.
And this leads on to the main downside of Toon Blast - in-app purchases. Although the app is free to download, and seemingly free to play, it does offer in-app purchases in the form of bonus points, extra lives, rewards and cheats that will help you to progress through the game.
Players can accrue all these things by playing, and can build up a collection of virtual coins to buy extra lives with, however, the games becomes increasingly difficult to the point of near impossible as it continues, and many times it seems that the only way to complete a level is to pay for a cheat.
These in-app purchases can be as cheap as $1.99, or cost hundreds of dollars, depending on what you buy! This makes the games unfair, and is very frustrating for younger players. It is not ideal for parents either, who know that lots of little payments add up!
It would be much better if the developers came up with a ‘kids mode’ function whereby these in-app purchases could be muted, but so far that is not the case.
One plus side is that the in-app purchases only tend to become necessary in the harder stages of the game, so for little ones who just enjoy pressing the fun cubes in the early levels it isn’t too much of a problem.
In Summary
Toon Blast is a blast! It is an incredibly simple yet effective puzzle game app that kids and adults both love. The graphics and design, as well as the technology involved are all top notch, and the developers add new levels all the time so it never grows old.
In fact, it is so good this app is addictive and so kids should set time limits before playing so as not to get too sucked in. The in-app purchases are a downside, but if you don’t give into them Toon Blast is a brilliant and fun way to unwind.
