I have been impervious to temptation until now.

I bought Ali an iPad a year and a half ago, mainly to use for the purposes of school.  As such, we have bought dozens of school and play apps.  I have studied them, reviewed them, reviewed them again, and added and deleted as I saw fit.

But I never once got addicted.  I was even surprised how little I personally desired to use her iPad.

Sure, I had games on my phone that I played for short spurts.  Angry Birds, Bejeweled, and so on.  But even those did not rule me.  They did not force me to claw at my phone with the obsession of One Ring That Rules All.

But this game.  Oh, this game has done it.

It’s free.

It’s clearly for kids.

And it’s hooked me to the point of dreaming about it.  Multiple nights in a row.

Oh yeah – and it’s a Fairy Game.

Disney Fairy Fashion Boutique

(I know.  I am fully aware at how shameful this admission should be for me.)

We downloaded it a couple of weeks ago as a reward for Ali letting me pull her second tooth.

(Between The Lines: I agreed to get her a new game out of my guilt from coming home from a weekend of Mommy Vacation and immediately insisting that she let me pull her tooth amidst much protestations on her part.  Also, I might have had a slight measure of extra guilt about the fact that I REALLY enjoy pulling her teeth.  Have I mentioned that already?  Do you have any loose-toothed-kids lying around that you want to send over?)

Back to the game.  Being the analytical person that I am, I’ve studied the root cause of my addiction.  The game brings back my childhood and blends it with my present. It has the RPG aspects of my favorite Nintendo game, Dragon Warrior, combined with the fashion design angle of my second favorite TV show, Project Runway.

Dragon Warrior and Project Runway

(Which, as an aside for all of you loyal Project Runway watchers – have you noticed that This Season’s contestant, Daniel Esquivel, looks like he should be Casanova’s Weird Drunk Uncle?)

Casanova and Daniel Esquivel

Back to the game again.

It has levels.

It has points.

It has pretty clothes.

It has pretty colors.

It has goals.

It makes you wait, thereby increasing anticipation.

It has ways to get more points by checking in every five minutes or so, thereby keeping your mind on the game.  No matter what you’re doing in real life.

And it has much affirmation.

Disney Fairy Fashion Boutique

The first day after downloading the game onto Ali’s iPad, I declared it a “School Game,” because it was teaching Ali all sorts of great skills, like reading quickly, memorization, managing orders, profitability, and time management.

(Declaring it a School Game meant that we could play it as a part of our School Day.  Which was helpful, since I couldn’t exactly…quit.)

The second day after downloading it onto Ali’s iPad, I grabbed it as soon as we got her in bed and began playing endlessly by myself.

I even [Shameful Admission #1] made an in-app purchase.

That’s right.  I bought $1.99 worth of diamonds so that I could force my insect servants to sew clothes faster.

I detested myself.

But not for the in-app purchase – for the fact that I then needed more fabric.  But I couldn’t justify another purchase.

So I had to wait, anxiously watching my tiny creatures sew their tentacles to the bone.

The third day after downloading it onto Ali’s iPad, I downloaded it onto my phone and began my own game.

EVEN THOUGH it meant starting from the beginning.

I even [Shameful Admission #2] updated the progress of my game in the car.  And during dinner.  And right now as I’m typing this blog post.

Although I enjoyed starting over with all of the proper knowledge and strategy of how best to save my pixie dust and diamonds and carefully use my fabric, I took pride in the fact that I did not and had not made any in-app purchases.

Nosiree.  I was determined to play honest this time.

Even if I did wake up in the middle of the night to update my progress.

Until I [Shameful Admission #3] earned the right to have an honorable number of ten mannequins – and I couldn’t just leave them there, all naked and all!! So I bought $1.99 worth of my own diamonds – to hurry the process to clothe my shameful mannequins.

Disney Fairy Fashion Boutique

In my defense, I would like to point out that both of my purchases were at the lowest of tiers of possible purchases:

Disney Fairy Fashion Boutique

And I would also like to say that although spending $1.99 to make a game go faster is, perhaps, worthy of scorn and detestation, whatever developer chose to offer that $99.99 option is more evil than Mila, Laura Kathleen, Joshua, Bert and Ivy combined.

…and is a really good reason that you should never share your iTunes password with your child.

Or with me.


I am ObjectivityRach in the iPhone Game Center if you want to visit my boutique and gawk at my ridiculous obsession.  But beware – it’s contagious.

32 thoughts on “The One That Hooked Me.

  1. Haha. Abigail had been playing this game for a few weeks on her own. I had to ask her to explain it to me. She understood it better than I do/did. Anyway, she likes it, but lately Brave Temple Run is taking up her time.

      1. Yeah, I bet Ali would like it. Abigail has been playing it since the New Year, and she is awesome. Seriously. The highest score I’ve gotten is 800,000, but she has gotten over 3 million before! It’s insane. It requires quick hand/eye coordination. I don’t think my husband has even gotten above a million. So yeah, y’all should try it. But it does cost. I wanna say it was $1.99? We used Abi’s iTunes gift card. Of course there’s the normal Temple Run that is free, but Abi had just watched Brave for the first time and really liked Merida, so she loves the game.

  2. I became similarly obsessed a couple of years ago with roiworld.com. It’s a fashion game where you create looks, other users can vote on them, there are mini-games, etc. My evenings were spent feverishly leveling up my character and trying to figure out how to create the best outfits on the cheap…until I got tired of not having nice things and spent $5 on game coins. When my husband checked our bank account online and saw the charge, he made fun of me mercilessly.

    1. I looked this up in the app store to see if they had an iPhone app, and they do – but it must be one of the minigames. However, it’s pretty fun, too!

  3. I can’t believe I just downloaded a Disney fairy app. My husband is going to be so confused, and I will blame you. :)

  4. I wish I could help you out – I have a couple kids who need to yank their own teeth or the dentist will charge me to do it. They threatened, I mean told me last week they will call in a month and check our progress. If I lived closer – I would drop them off and let you have a go! Unfortunately, I’m useless when it comes to tooth pulling. I pass out at the mere mention of such things…

  5. YES! I’m not alone!! I don’t play that game in particular, but my husband is an actual ‘gamer’ and when people ask if I play too, I always have to shamefully admit “only if it’s suitable for a 6 year old.” Because anything else either gives me nightmares, makes me sick (literally – a lot of games give me motion sickness), or just bores me. But pretty colors, and easy winnings make me incredibly happy.

    1. Agreed. I also think that the early days simple computer games were so much more fun. Give me a text-based game, and I’m totally happy – I’d rather create my own graphics in my imagination!

  6. Your new blog layout looks great! I don’t have an ipad and I would have a hard time playing games on my phone but that Disney app looks fun. I could get addicted to any fashion app!

  7. Oh my gosh, you need to come to my classroom. I have a student who has pulled a tooth out every week for three weeks.

    Daniel, I don’t like. I realize I don’t know him that well and he is from Texas so I should be rooting for him. But, I can’t get passed the handlebar mustache. I like men with mustaches, my own man has one…but I cannot get passed the handlebars. I just can’t.

    I have come so close to in app purchases. Right now I am playing some candy game and I am stuck on a level.

    1. I’m much more scared of the guy whose biggest fashion contribution is “I buy old sweaters and screenprint a mountain of cats on them.”

      SKETCH-Y.

  8. I just downloaded this app *hangs head in shame*. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Project Runway so I must give this a try :). I will try very hard not to spend any money to dress my fairies though.

    I agree with Molly on the handlebar mustache thing…I’m so not a fan. He totally could be related to Casanova…but I’m super glad he doesn’t seem to have the “I don’t understand a thing you just said to me” face that Casanova always has during judging. BTW, did you watch All-Stars that just ended? So weird that he and Ivy work together.

    Also, I adore your new blog design. It’s so neat and clean and I really like the green and blue.

  9. wow. crazy. i do not have an iphone or ipad. my husband has an iphone with angry birds and the kids love that. i have no desire to play though. just doesn’t hold my interest. i like facebook and pinterest a little too much though ;)

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