Disney Build It: Frozen

$3.99, iPad, iPhone, Android, Kindle

Teaches: creativity, Disney characters

CTR Rating: 22%

CTR Review

Well intentioned but unresponsive and hard to use, this open-ended creativity uses a "paymium" model, meaning that you must pay to get a starter experience, and are then teased with additional content that is for sale. In addition it stretches the concept of "building," and suffers from some fundamental design flaws that can frustrate a child. The idea is to let you design your own Snow Globe by dragging and dropping items onto a grid-like frozen landscape. The actual "building" is not guided by your finger, rather it happens on autopilot leaving little room for creative input. The navigation makes you feel constrained, rather than free to create. Once a building is completed, you are rewarded with magical snowflakes that turn into random props like snowmen, trees and lakes. Placing items on the grid is a restrictive process -- there are times when you can't find room for an item, or when an item will move on it's own. When you've finished an area, you can fly over your city. Included for the $3.99 initial download are five locations the North Mountain, the Forest, Troll Valley, Arendelle Castle and the town of Arendelle. Extra content like Arendelle Castle, Town of Arendelle and Troll Valley is sold extra for up to $3.99 more. The bottom line? There are better ways to spend money.