Kids love tablets and smartphones for the wide range of games and educational apps, and there are a few developers coming to the fore with growing ranges of fun apps for children.
Alongside the popular Toca Boca mobile games is another Swedish app developer with a funny name, Wombi.
Wombi's latest game for iPhone, iPad and Android is Wombi Treasures, aimed at kids 4 and over. It costs £1.99 for iPad and iPhone (with an introductory £1.49 offer for a limited time) and £2.29 on Android.
The game sets players the challenge of finding various ancient treasures hidden around the world.
Players first see a world map showing five crosses marking the spots where they should go to explore.
That's pretty much where the geography lessons end, and it would have been nice to add a bit more education to the game, saying or spelling out the names of the continents, for example.
You then fly over the terrain looking through a telescope at the landscapes, from forests to snow scenes and hot deserts.
You must search through the landscape for the locations of the antiquities (Inca masks, Roman coins, helmets, daggers, etc). Green lights come on as you get closer, and eventually another red cross marks the spot where you must start your dig.
If you can't find the cross or get frustrated trying you can tap a button that brings its location into a separate windows.
Get the cross in your sights and you're taken to the dig.
You have five tools to help you dig through rock, sweep away sand and snow and pull away undergrowth or insects.
There's a pick axe, trowel, brush, dish and gloves for budding archeologists to work with, and sometimes you must go through more than one layer to find the treasure.
Once you've found all five treasures these are displayed in a museum setting before you have the option of playing a different set of locations.
While there is a range of locations, digs and treasures there's not a lot of variation of game play, and a bit more differentiation and adventure would help keep the game alive. Some sort of Indiana Jones-style arcade action would really give this game a shot of adrenaline for older players.
That said my daughter, a few months off seven years old and a veteran of iOS games, thoroughly enjoyed Wombi Treasures and kept going back to it.
This game might be about treasure and adventure but it's quite a calm pursuit and keeps children gripped (and quiet!) for some time, engaging them in finding things and persevering during the digs.
One thing we'd have liked added is harder levels to keep the game exciting, but we were glad that there are no crafty in-app purchases lurking within – a big plus for children's apps.
Wombi apps for kids
Like Toca Boca Wombi has a wide range of fun apps for kids. We particularly liked Wombi Airplane, Wombi Detective, Pirate's Treasure, and Funny Figures.
Wombi Airplane (£1.49 on iPad and iPhone; £2.29 on Android) lets you create your own custom plane and then fly it on a mission across various levels to collect flying treasure boxes. This is a lot of fun and the arcade element gives the game legs, or, I suppose, wings.
Wombi Detective (free on iPad, iPhone; Android, £2.29) turns the player into Detective Walter MacSneak who has to investigate a robbery. This is quite an involved game so would suit slightly older kids as you pick out suspects in an identity parade and search around for clues.
Pirate's Treasure (£1.99 on iPad and iPhone; free on Android) is a classic memory game app for one or two players with a cute Ahoy There pirate theme.
Funny Figures (£1.99 on iPad and iPhone) is different. It's a social drawing game for both kids and adults where players take turns drawing or selecting illustrator Malin Rosenqvist's ready made amusing head, body, leg and feet – eventually revealing a crazy concoction of a person.
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