Fairy Tale Princess Makeover

The screen opens on a princess standing in a soft pastel room, still in her plain slip dress, with a row of big category buttons along the bottom. You start with the face, since the game walks you top to bottom. Pick a skin tone, then tap an eyeshadow shade and it appears on her instantly, no waiting. Swapping a choice just means tapping a different swatch, so experimenting costs nothing.

The wardrobe splits into makeup, hair, dresses, shoes, crowns and accessories. Makeup includes matte and shimmer lipsticks, glitter eyeliner and blushed cheeks. Hair ranges from a long loose wave to a crown braid to a high ponytail with face-framing strands. The gowns are the main event: layered ball gowns with separate skirts and bodices, plus a mermaid-tail option that swaps in a real fin. Tiaras, drop earrings and a wand sit on top of everything and layer cleanly over the hair.

The twist is the magic theme woven through the whole character creator. Alongside the standard princess dresses there are glowing fantasy pieces, and a star wand or crystal crown changes the little sparkle effects that follow her around. When you are done, the game snaps a portrait of your finished look and saves it to a gallery you can page back through.

Work in this order: hair first, then gown, then crown, because tall crowns sit oddly on top of big updos. The mermaid tail reads best with loose wavy hair and no long gown skirt fighting it. And try the shimmer lipstick with the plain bodices; the simple dresses need the extra color.