Austin.com Free Apps: Fun Multi-Player Games

The tablet screen makes a great (easy to store and easy to pick up) game board, and while many classic family favorites have been adapted as paid apps, check out these free apps for a little fun together.

Alien Assignment (iOS)

Alien Assignment is a scavenger hunt that empowers kids to interpret assignments themselves. For example, they must find something that rolls — will they choose wheels on a toy car, their pencil, or some other object that even you might not think of? Kids use the device’s camera to take a photo of the objects on their mission. Parents can customize the number of assignments in the settings (choosing 4, 8, 10, 15, or 20). After kids have completed their assignment, they are instructed to bring the camera to a parent to give a thumbs up or thumbs down about whether each pictured object would serve the purpose described in the mission. If an item doesn’t pass inspection, kids get another chance to find and photograph an object. If they do, then the Gloop family uses the items to repair their spaceship. Mission accomplished!

Match Blitz (iOS)

Match Blitz is super preschool-friendly — no reading required, cute graphics, and totally kid-safe — but it’s fun and challenging enough that kids and adults of all ages will enjoy playing together. Kids can play alone in practice mode, tapping the object that is matched or pictured twice. They can also play against others in a two-, three-, or four-player game where each player takes a corner of the screen as their board and tries to be the first to tap the object pictured on every player’s board. Indiscriminate tapping won’t work — players lose a point for incorrect taps. The first player to get 10 matches wins. Matches start easy enough with two objects pictured for each player, but the challenge increases to match players’ ability.

Monster Hunt (iOS)

Monster Hunt is a classic memory game with a monstrous twist. The matching puzzles start out easy, with four matches, but increase in difficulty as kids perform well. Up to four players can play together. It’s simple fun that little and big kids can enjoy together.