Playworld Superheroes is a role playing game for kids aged 4-11, where you get the chance to create your own superhero, and enter an alternate reality to save the world. It's designed to encourage creativity and imagination, and also be safe from in-app purchases and other worries for parents.

No in-app purchases or branding

At $3.99, Playworld Superheroes may not seem cheap for an iOS game, but it was developed by people who have a long history of creating amazing AAA console titles like Wipeout. It's a great looking 3D game, with great production values.

You start out by choosing a character, and then you can explore the garden on your street, which has a tree house in it. This is the hub for the game. From here you'll find and collect objects to craft into costumes and objects for your superhero. Everything is pleasingly simple, but gives kids space to express themselves. Find a box, for example, and you can cut eye-holes, and decorate it to become a helmet.

Two worlds of imagination

In the garden lies a portal to another world, and when you go through it, your home made super hero costume is transformed into the real thing, while keeping personal touches and designs. Here your hero will battle against alien invaders. These battles are controlled with taps and swipes on your screen, and while they are simple at first, they soon become relatively challenging.

The game has a rich orchestral score, which complements the excellent graphics well. The balance between fighting enemies in Playworld, and crafting and improving your hero back in the real world gives the game a nice rhythm. The tree house is relaxed and calming, a nice contrast to the action in Playworld.

A promising start

Playworld Superheroes is a compelling game to play, with its mix of creativity and action. That it's free of in-app purchases, or any branding that is so common in kids games today, marks it out as something special.