Toon Blocks
© 2019 Marek Dobrowolski
This block-based cartoon editor offers a small collection of themes to build around ranging from undersea divers to dinosaurs and characters from different regions and time periods. Two IAPs are available with monster and hero themes respectively for $2 each. Building scenes is easy as tapping blocks and characters into place. Holding an object allows you to rotate, scale, flip and even select the layer it's on to place characters in front of or behind buildings for example. You can also select from several backdrops for a scene, such as at night or in the desert. Once you're happy with your image, you can save and share it as a PNG file. We found it a little too easy to to activate the purchase prompts for the paid downloadable themes -- found in the cartoon screen which showcases several pre-made scenes, the bottom two rows contain the locked off content, and show a prompt to buy if you attempt to tap them. All assets are provided for you, so you don't need to know art to make a cartoon in Toon Blocks. What's provided, plus some imagination leads to some fun scenes. Still, it would be nice if there were some options to make your own tilesets or character art. The assets themselves aren't the highest resolution either, and scaling/zooming in reveals their fuzzy, pixelated details. There is a noticeable lack of tactile feedback. Clicking, popping or sound effects unique to each object when picking and placing them could go a long way to give cartoon creation a pleasing soundscape.For a small, free art app, Toon Blocks gets the job done, but without much verve.
$2, iPhone, iPad, Android
Teaches: creativity, art, drag 'n drop, cartooning,
CTR Rating: 72%