Smurfs’ Village is a “free-to-play” iPhone game with a big problem – it makes it extremely easy for users to spend large amounts of money for in-game items.

Our three-year-old spent some time with the game, and was very excited to do so.  Little did we know that he had unexpectedly purchased more than $100 worth of in-game items!

On the evening of the day we first played Smurfs’ Village, we received an iTunes receipt for $59.99 for a “wheelbarrow of Smurfberries.”  We immediately contacted iTunes customer support, as well as Capcom Mobile.  Soon after, we got another receipt for more Smurfberry purchases, this time for $29.99 and $11.99.  We sent another e-mail to iTunes support.  Within 24 hours, both companies had responded to us, and let us know they were making a one-time exception in reversing these charges.  They also actually reversed another $11.99 charge we hadn’t been billed for yet.  So, all told, our son had racked up $113.96 in charges that needed to be reversed.

Our experience was obviously much like the experience of others: http://washingtonexaminer.com/news/science-and-technology/2010/12/kids-go-expensive-buying-sprees-iphone-games .

The game developers are obviously aware of the problem, as the first thing on the App page and one of the first notifications you get informs you that “Smurf’s Village is free to play, but you have the option to purchase extra Smurfberries. Purchasing Smurfberries will charge your iTunes account.  You can disable the ability to make In-App Purchases in your device’s settings.”

Here are details on how you can disable this ability, but obviously this affects not just Smurf’s Village but all the Apps you have on your iPhone or iPod touch.

Locate these settings by tapping Settings > General > Restrictions. To Enable Restrictions, tap Enable Restrictions and enter a passcode. The passcode will be required to make changes to these settings.  You should then scroll down, and the first option after the Allowed Content heading will be In-App Purchases.  You will want to make sure that this is setting is turned to “Off.”

While you are there, you can also choose to restrict access to the following applications and features on the device by switching them to “Off”:
? Safari
? YouTube
? iTunes
? App installation
? App deletion
? Camera
? FaceTime
? Location
? Account changes
? Multiplayer games in Game Center
? Adding friends in Game Center
? Music and podcasts
? Movies
? TV shows
? Apps

(this process can also be found here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4213 )

As far as the game itself goes, the game requires players to use gold coins to create gardens and houses, and increase the size of their Smurf Village.

For the gardening game, players can grow items like blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, potatoes, watermelon, corn, carrots, tomatoes, peas, blackberries, pumpkins, sarsaparilla, brussels sprouts, artichokes, blackcurrants, onions and cucumbers.  Each item requires a different amount of gold coins, but more importantly, requires a certain amount of time to grow.  These times can range from 30-seconds to 24 hours. 

Where smurfberries come into the equation is that players can use smurfberries to increase their level, which provides them access to more crops to grow and houses to build, but can also use smurfberries to make crops or building appear instantly.  So, for example, you wouldn’t have to wait 12 hours for you watermelon to grow.

The game is ultimately a way for players to create their own Smurf Villages, and frankly involves a lot of multitasking and detail in managing all of your projects properly.  It’s actually a pretty good brain challenge for kids, but unless you’ve disabled the in-game App purchases, it’s hard to allow them to play with confidence.

INFORMATION FROM COMPANY FACT SHEET:

SMURFS' VILLAGE
Product overview
Based on the original cartoon and comic art, players begin the game under the guidance of Papa Smurf, with only a single mushroom house and a lone plowed plot of land. From there, things quickly progress, allowing players to build specialized houses, elaborate gardens with colorful crops, bridges to span running rivers, trodden paths, and more.

Key features
• Creativity is your only limit, build a complete Smurfs, village from scratch
• Play with your favorite Smurfs including Papa Smurf, Smurfette, and Jokey Smurf
• Play mini games like Greedy Smurf’s Baking Game, Papa Smurf’s Potion Mixing Game, and Painter Smurf’s Painting Game and unlock additional bonuses
• Connect with friends through Facebook and send gifts to your friends village
• Retina display graphics

© Peyo – 2010 – Licensed through Lafig Belgium – www.smurf.com.