I was four years old when the first SimCity was released on the 2nd of February, 1989. It was another ten years before our family owned a PC and I began playing the open-ended city-building video game. Along with Theme Park Tycoon and Theme Hospital, I spent much of my free time creating ever expanding empires.
It was only when the game Red Alert came along that I lost interest in these games and became captivated by online multiplayer games. Over 20 years later, while browsing the App store looking for a new game to enjoy, I stumbled upon an app version of SimCity. I downloaded it immediately, and felt 14 years old all over again.
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This is part of a regular series of articles exploring the apps that we couldn’t live without. Read them all here.
I was eager to learn how they managed to translate the game play into a smaller format and whether it would be equally immersive on such a small device. It didn’t take long to get up and running with no requirement to create an online account or pay a subscription. I loved being thrown straight into a city without lengthy forms or processes. In a few minutes I was building my first neighborhood and beginning to welcome my first residents.
The interface is incredibly easy to navigate with a pop-up guide to help you navigate the steps of building your city. I was familiar with the original game but still benefited from having a virtual human walk me through it. At times I would have liked to turn the help feature off, but I couldn’t find a way to do that.
All the building features are handily located on the right-hand side of the screen with sub menus appearing after pressing each one. I also liked the fact that the app greyed out most of the city when creating specific buildings or services. This made it easier to see where I was allowed to build.
It wasn’t long before I received an invite to visit someone else’s city. This was helpful for two reasons. First, I was able to have a good nose around and see how it had been built. Second, I could buy items off the mayor, which would then enhance my own city, especially if I didn’t have specific services up and running yet.
After completing a number of levels you’ll unlock access to other elements of the game including the Mayor’s Clubs and Contest HQ. Through these advanced features, it’s possible to plot strategies with Club mates and declare war on other cities. This is where it gets a little crazy, but in a good way.
Once the battle is on, you can unleash crazy disasters on cities, including the Disco Twister and Plant Monster. Naturally, if you want to wage war on your rivals, you should be prepared to be hit yourself. The benefit of battling is that you can earn value rewards to use in battle or to improve your city.
Despite SimCity BuildIt being 100% free to use, there are plenty of in-app purchases. Some are as expensive as $99.99, although the majority of bolt-ons are much more reasonable. To get the most out of the game, you definitely should be prepared to part with some cash.
With my parent hat on, I was a little concerned about one of my children opening the app and proceeding to rack up the purchases. We’ve all heard horror stories of parents being shocked by what their children have purchased online and I didn’t want to be one of those parents.
An alternative way to make purchases is to watch video ads. These last 30 seconds each and are a bit of a pain but they’re by far the cheapest way to earn extra cash. Unfortunately, you can only watch one ad per day.
Despite this money-grab ploy, I thoroughly enjoyed my SimCity BuildIt experience. For 90s kids, it’s a fantastic nostalgia trip, and for everyone else it’s a rewarding little app that’ll keep you coming back for more.
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paulo.n.hatton@gmail.com (Paul Hatton)
