Kermit
the Frog
Movie Game App Reviews
One small rule for this thread:
When posting a review for a mobile game, make sure you include a small description of what you played and give an overall score based on whatever rating method you choose. This thread is for mobile phone games and not mobile handheld games like the Nintendo DS or PSP/Vita.
Cheers!
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I'll start with five to get the ball rolling.
Name: Game Dev Story
Price: $4.99
I’ll start with a game that I found on the forums here. I believe it was Sly who posted it awhile back. The basic premise is that you you run a video game company. You start small with humble beginnings and work your way up the ladder. You go from making half-baked games on the PC to eventually creating your own video game console. The game is filled with variety and offers a unique take on the simulation tycoon gameplay.
Don’t confuse this with the game, Game Dev Tycoon, as Game Dev Story is the original and does it best. Combine all of its variety and perks with the lack of in-game purchases and you have a winning combination for one of the best mobile games on the market. The $4.99 price tag may look hefty, but I promise that the game fits the billing.
Score: 10/10
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Name: Dungeon Village
Price: $3.99
A distant cousin to Game Dev Story, Dungeon Village provides some more unique gameplay brought to you by Kairosoft. In fact, maybe I should take the time to say that Kairosoft has a plethora of simulated games that are worth your dime. Anyways, back to the game at hand. Dungeon Village puts you at the role of village owner for incoming adventurers and dungeon raiders. It is your job to map out the city and provide training facilities, health regeneration, and housing for all who chose to make your village their permanent resident.
Not only do you manage the village, but you get to construct small quests and send certain villagers out to finish them. Equip your villagers, depending on their class, with items you find and set them up for success. At the end of each year, you get to hand out awards to those who helped you the most.
When approaching this game, think of Roller Coaster Tycoon meets RPG Villages. The initial playthrough will offer you plenty hours of play, but to fully beat the game you will have to wade through repetitive gameplay and re-hashed quests. Dungeon Village is a game worth looking into. There is a lite version, as there is for every Kairosoft game, so why not give it a try? Oh, also, once again, no in-game purchases.
Score: 8/10
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Name: Slayin
Price: $0.99
Slayin is a unique platformer where you start off with 3 classes; Knight, Wizard, and Knave. Each class offers you a unique way to mow down your enemies as you move left to right on the screen. Throughout the game you are given chances to spend collected currency from enemies to boost your character’s stats. These perks range from weapon upgrades, armor upgrades, and health regeneration.
Your first few attempts will seem challenging, but after a short while the game will get repetitive and will take more than a casual mindset to get through. All of your character perks have to come through in-game play, and with only one life to work with (unless you decide to drop some real cash) you can easily find your progress lost off one spontaneous move.
The game is fun, and yes it provides a challenge, but I quickly lost my motivation after a few days. It’s more reminiscent of a classic arcade game type of progress than anything. Each playthrough gets you some “FP” currency to spend on cosmetic rewards, but it’ll take you some serious hours (without paying real cash) to unlock some of the better prizes like the additional classes. Overall, the game is fine for the price tag, but it’s not something you probably will be playing consistently after the first month.
Score: 7/10
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Name: Band Boss
Price: $0.99
I was intrigued by the concept of managing a simulated band and going on tours when I first saw this game. I took a gamble and purchased it. Honestly, the initial setup and first few hours were fun. The graphics have a simplistic charm about them, but I quickly found that the game lacked serious depth.
You start out by creating a character to manage your band. You then proceed to go through and create your band name, where they are from, and the members. There is no limitations on what members you put in your band. Want to have just two drummers? Go for it. From there, you go on to do some tours. Depending on the length of your tour, your band members will get exhausted and need a vacation. All the while, you will be spending the cash gained from successful shows to increase the stats of your band members.
Getting rave reviews on a certain show will feel good when you finally find the right formula, but that is the highlight when it comes to touring. As you go on, you’ll get a chance to produce singles, and then eventually an album. You’ll do media to promote your songs and watch as you try to tackle the top charts. All of that (from the beginning to cracking the top 10 on the charts) can be done in about a day real time. After that, it is all wash and repeat.
It’s fun for the first few hours, but the replay ability is seriously lacking. Any higher price would make this game completely not worth it, but if you enjoyed the story aspect of Rock Band you might enjoy this game. Just subtract the actual playing part of the game that came along with Rock Band.
Score: 6/10
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Name: Knights of Pen and paper
Price: $4.99
First off, if you love D&D and like RPGs you need to stop what you are doing and get this game. It is chocked full of D&D references and basically revolves around a D&D game. The concept is awesome and the gameplay is about all you could ask for from a mobile app RPG and then some.
First off, I don’t play D&D, and I’m not one to pick up a turn-based RPG on a regular basis, but “Knights of Pen and Paper” is extremely charming. The game is basically a D&D game within a game. You sit at a table top as you go through various quests, add party members, and increase your stats. While the game does offer some perks for real cash, you can play the game perfectly fine without ever spending any additional money.
The game follows a key storyline as you go from place to place fighting off enemies and taking down bosses. However, the game offers side quests as you go if you want to deviate from the path a little bit. From the small chunk I played, I encountered some fun random events on the way as well, like meeting up with another D&D team that was awkwardly on the same quest as my team. A battle quickly ensued to determine who would carry on with the quest.
Speaking of my team, the game allows you to create a unique roster on your journey. Want to have a Wookie wizard on your team? Go for it. Want to have an alien cleric? Go for it. Want to have a nerdy fat guy werewolf type of thing? Go for it. The possibilities are not endless, but there is definitely a variety.
The elephant in the room of course is the price tag. $4.99 is high among many games, but I can tell you that I felt the price was worth it. The game is clean in terms of how it plays, and it offers enough material to give you a lengthy playthrough. Add that with the fact that it does not cripple those who do not spend additional cash on perks, and you have a solid game.
Score: 10/10
