The Simpson’s in a mobile game? Surely not?
If you have ever wanted to control the life and times of your favorite yellow skinned animated characters from The Simpson’s, you now have the best opportunity to do so. The best thing is – the control is in your fingertips in The Simpson’s: Tapped Out.
Now available on IOS and Android, Tapped Out throws you into the bright coloured town of Springfield, at least by name. Thanks to Homer, the town looks very different.
In fact, has anyone ever seen a definitive building and location map? It seems to change to fit comedy. Let’s just put it down to the magic of animation and fiction and move on.
Yes, thanks to Homer’s reoccurring negligence Springfield’s nuclear power plant goes into meltdown and obliterates the whole of Springfield. Only Homer and Lisa survive, it is their job to rebuild the town and find its variety of citizens.
You are given a list of quests to carry out. Completing these tasks gets you a reward of money and XP. The money you earn allows you to buy new buildings. The XP you earn boosts your level in the game. The higher level you are, the more quests you unlock and more characters you discover.
The name of the game hints to how you have to play the game. Tapped out is all about tapping items on the screen and scrolling over your vision of America’s favorite fictional town.
Playing through the story is actually far more immersive then you would expect from a FREE mobile game. The story, dialog, sounds and humor are all reflective of the TV show we all had experiences with while growing up. For example, Homer and Lisa have a conversation about trying to find Millhouse, when the statement “There is something about the name ‘Millhouse’ that screams desperation.”
Having to pick when to play the game is important as working in real-time in a factor here. Every character has its own list of tasks to carry out. They can be repeated to gain more XP and cash. The tasks available have a timeframe in which they will be complete. So some tasks take 24 hours to finish, so it becomes important to start tasks at times where you don’t want or have the opportunity to play the game. When your sleeping is the best time, seeing as that is time you won’t be getting back.
There has been a massive problem in the past with games that use real-time elements as a key part of gameplay. They are traditionally boring, uneventful, non-progressive and don’t actually stimulate the player. They’d end up playing through habit, not because they actually enjoyed it. Also they also require a player to pester their friends to help out with no reward. If you haven’t guessed I’m talking the god awful FarmVille.
Where The Simpson’s: Tapped Out works is that it is independent (though you can invite friends if you want) and it actually feels like you’re being rewarded through the quirky response the game gives you.
What it all boils down it is the game enjoyable. For me, it most certainly is. It’s simple, entertaining and doesn’t require a massive amount of effort. It actually feels like you are putting together your own episode of The Simpson’s. But the best thing is that it is free to play. Money only becomes an issue when it comes to wanting to speed up the games process by skipping the waiting times, which is stupid and defeats the object of it.
If you want a mobile game you can drop in on from time to time, by all means, download Tapped Out, it’s just so good. If that is not enough the game has been developed in association with EA. If that doesn’t highlight its quality enough, then I’m not sure what will.
Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.
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