My City: Home

$2.99, iPad, iPhone, Android

Teaches: language, creativity, spatial relations

CTR Rating: 92%

CTR Review

Part of a new series in the My Town Games apps. My City: Home is the first of a series of planned home-related apps that follows the now familiar Toca Life format, where just about any item can be moved around the the screen. Each future release will be compatible with others in the series, so that characters can move from one game to the other. While there are plenty of locations to visit (we counted 12), this app contains locked doors that serve as teasers for the additional apps. The app also include a prompt for a rating, and a random gift option is designed to keep children coming back every day using intermittent reinforcements. So, while this game is a "pay once & play forever" experience, there are some subtle hooks to note. We liked how you can change the emotions of the characters, and the multi-touch feature that makes it easy for two players to share. Some of the gates are locked behind the message "new game coming soon." Note to the publisher -- you shouldn't include locked options in this paid app without full disclosure.