Sim City: Build It game overview & features

When the Sim City games came out back in the 90’s, i was hooked immediately. These were games in which i could build my own cities, and then destroy the whole economy by taking in so many loans that i would eventually be fired from the position of a mayor.

I have been away from the gaming scene for many years, mainly due to studies, then i lost interest in games altogether and then it all came back and slowly yet surely i have started to play games once again involved myself with game playing.

Then a few months ago i wondered if there were any sim city games on Google Play Store, and found a number of games similar to Sim City, and has been developed by Electronic Arts(EA). After some searching i found out that the original publisher of Sim City Maxis shut down its doors and the development has been going on at EA since then. It is sad when a legends bow out, but then that is the opportunity for the next generation to take place and build amazing things.

The game goes by the name of Sim City: Build It. When you start the game, you can immediately notice that this game has been designed specifically for the mobile and it uses the principles of freemium games where you can play a game for free, but you have to pay real money to use certain features of the game. I don’t have any problem with that.

Sim City: Build It Game Review.

When the games starts up for the first time you are immediately taken to your city where you are given a tutorial on the game’s controls and user interface and step by step instructions are given on how to play the game. I believe this is a good addition and i am glad that many games are including such tutorials on the first start of the game.

In Sim City: Built It you have two monetary resources, coins called Simoleons and cash money called SimCash. Most of the purchases that you make in the game and the taxes that you receive are in the form of Simoleons, and you can also earn by many ways such taxes, building and populating residences, etc…

SimCash are more valuable and there are certain events when you are able to win SimCash and are not given out as much as Simoleons are. You can also earn SimCash by completing tasks and achievements in the game.

There is a key resource as well which you can earn by completing some extra special missions such as the mission to unleash disasters over your city.

I would like to add that there are certain features which i was hoping that would be in this game would be the ability to take out loans. If you may remember in the original sim city games on the desktop you could take out loans to boost your economy.

Since i don’t use real money to buy resources to play the game, as i earn money the rate my city is growing at is you can normal. Also my usual session time is usually about five minutes, and then after doing what i can do with my resources which includes time as well, i put down the game and continue doing my other tasks. Basically i play the game through out the day in short bursts. I have been playing the game for a few weeks and i am hooked onto it, but in a different kind of way.

Upgrading of residence buildings

In order to upgrade Residence buildings you need to produce goods and items. When you have played the game long enough you have to produce items which are dependent on other items, so you go into a cascade of production. If you are not willing to spend real money to buy SimCash in order to skip the waiting time, you have to wait for a while. In this situation is get back to my tasks and after a few hours i come back to the game and do what i can with the game.

Resources required for upgrading this residence building.

Citizen’s attitude & happiness

Citizens do not like to live near pollution producing buildings such as factories, power plants, the city dump, etc…

The value of the residential buildings will also be relatively lower than other areas. The best location to place the pollution producing buildings is on the outskirts of the city and then as your city grows continue to move them out away from the residences.

In order to increase the size of your city you have to purchase plots of land. To purchase these you can use special items which citizens give you as gifts. Sometimes you can purchase these from the Global Trade HQ if someone is selling these items, but these are rare items. If you have extra items you can sell them at a good price and make some good Simoleons.

Apart from this providing your citizens with services also makes them happy, and makes them want to live in your city else they will move out of your city. Make sure that your ratings are high so that you get more citizens in your city and as a result more taxes.

Provide services to your citizens so that they remain happy.

Visit & trade with your neighbors

This is something which i really like, and something which the social network age has brought in, that is being able to play the game with your friends.

When you play the game you get a default built in neighbor who goes by the name of Daniel, and his city’s name is Daniel’s City, quite original.

Visiting a neighbor’s city.

Buy items from your neighbor.

As you play the game you will notice that you can purchase items from Daniel’s Trade Depot (this is the building where you can buy items and goods which Daniel (or your neighbor) has put up for sale. This is a great way to buy items which you need without having to wait for the completion time, depending on if the item is available to purchase.

You also have your own Trade Depot where you can sell your surplus items for Simoleons. You can set the price you want and the number of items that you want to sell.

I highly recommend that you connect your Facebook account to this game. Not only can you then visit and trade with your Facebook friends your game’s state will also be saved to the servers. I learned this the hard way, when i had to hard reset my phone, and due to that most of my apps data had been lost which can not backed up unless the game backs up the data. When i played the game again i saw a blank canvas, and when i connected my Facebook account i was pleased to find out that my game had been saved and i could restore my last played state.

Add new items to sell.

Select and price an item to sell.

Playing Difficulty

This particular type of a game does not have a difficulty. Since it is a simulation game you do not have an adversary, however as you progress in the game the difficulty to grow and manage your city increases. You have to spend more resources and the time required to upgrade residence buildings increases as the game progresses.

Conclusion

There are many other features in this game, and it would take a much longer article to explain them all.

As mentioned earlier i have been playing Sim City: Build It for a few months and have not found any glaring bugs or issues. I would have liked that the game be made paid game and the game be like the old Sim City, but then what more can you ask. If i want to play the desktop version of  Sim City i can buy the latest version of the game from Origin Electronic Arts(which i did by the way). I am pretty happy with this game and i don’t see myself abandoning it any time soon.

If you fancy city simulation games, and want a game while you are on the go then i recommend Sim City: Build It. This is as close as it gets to the original city simulation games on mobile devices.

The post Sim City: Build It Game Review appeared first on App Review Updates.

Beach Buggy Racing game overview & features

I love to play games on my mobile but there aren’t many games that have attracted me
that much, until I saw Beach Buggy Racing.

I like racing games, but i just don’t want plain racing games. They should have some obstacles to maneuver around or weapons to fire at  your enemies. In Beach Buggy racing I got all that.

Beach Buggy Racing is an arcade racing game. You will need tickets to race in championship and career mode. A total of 8 tickets are available and each ticket is generated in around 15 minutes. For each race win you will get one 1 ticket and gems.

There are a total of 8 cars and 10 drivers to choose from, and each car and driver has their own special power. The following four parameters of a car can be upgraded:

1. acceleration,
2. top speed,
3. handling,
4. strength.

The cars have further been divided into the power that they posses.  You will initially start with a 100cc car then a 250cc, 500cc and so on.

The cars can be purchased by using coins but the drivers are unlocked when you beat them in the career mode.

Game modes

There are four main modes:
– Split Screen.
– Quick Race.
– Championships.
– Career.
In split screen you can race with your friends, disable all ads and have infinite
tickets.  You will have to pay $4.99 to unlock this mode.

Locked events in the career mode

In Quick Race you have four options. Race with 100cc, 250cc, 500cc or 1000cc car.
You will have to have 250cc, 500cc or 1000cc car to race in those events.  In this mode tickets are not required to race but if you win you will get coins and one ticket. This is good way to get tickets and earn money when you are stuck in the career mode.
In Championship mode each car has four has its own championships and it is further divided into four  categories i.e 100cc, 250cc, 500cc and 1000cc. As explained earlier you will need to have a car 250cc, 500cc or 1000cc car to race in each championship but in championship mode there is point system and you will
need tickets to race in this event. In 100cc there are four races, in 250cc there are 6 races, in 500cc there are 8 races and in 1000cc there are 10 races.

A car available in the game

After all the races if you have the most points then you will win the championship and get coins and gems. You will get stars in champions. If you win then you will get 3 stars, second place holder will get 2 stars and third will get 1 star. Championships can be repeated to earn money but are only awarded for the first time. 

In career mode there are 7 series. Once again you will need tickets to race in these events. Each series has multiple events. You will get 3 stars if you win a race. Stars are required to unlock next events. At the end of the series you have to beat a driver to unlock new series. During races you will get powers and each has its own usage which is very useful during the race.

You will encounter four types of races in these event. First is basic racing in which you to beat your opponents in 2 laps. Second is time attack, in this race in about every 10-15s the driver in last position is eliminated. Third is shooting gallery, in this you will have shoot rockets at cars or targets to get points and achieve the required points to get the stars. You will have one minute to complete the points. Fourth is stampede, you will use angry bull power to smash everything in your path, same as shooting gallery you have to get points by hitting cars or targets.

Problems that i found

This game is as perfect as it can be, but i do have one issue with it. Strength is useless in this game. No matter how much you upgrade your car will be destroyed when powers like rocket, angry bull or any other powers like these are used on you by the enemies.

Conclusion

I really enjoyed playing Beach Buggy Racing and it is very addicting, and i do not want to put down my device at all. I highly recommend for those who want to have a fun time.

The post Beach Buggy Racing Game Review appeared first on App Review Updates.

Raising awareness along the way

As you may have noticed i really like to play puzzle games. Once such game which i found goes by the name of Transmission. Transmission has been built by the Science Museum and we can see that they have made more games which revolve around science and technology aiming to teach about them.

The game’s main aim is to create networks and to connect nodes to send information from one node to the next.

Features of Transmission

The game starts from the technology of olden times, the telegraph, then goes to the telephone, satellite and the next gen communication networks.

The player has to find ways to connect all of the nodes to form a network. There are bonus objectives which further restrict how the player can create the network, but completing them gives the player more points(stars in this game’s case).

Like all puzzle games the player has to think ahead on how to solve the puzzle. Visualization is the skill which is needed for this game, being able to visualize what the next move will be and what the resulting state of the game will be.

Connecting the network

What i like about this game is how seamlessly it has designed and linked with communication technologies. Nodes can be of different types, those which either send or receive information and also can broadcast to other nodes at the same time. It is quite interesting to see how all these components work together to form networks. One also realizes how amazing technology really is. Even though the game is an abstract version of what networks really are, but Transmission still gives an idea of how hard it is to create networks so that optimum paths are made.

The art is simple and professionally made, with the smooth soothing music playing in the background do not distract the player from the game.

Conclusion

I really liked playing Transmission, i will surely be playing more games from Science Museum and may even write a review on them. I highly recommend this game for all.

The post Transmission Game Review appeared first on App Review Updates.

Interlocked not unlike any other puzzle game

If you remember there used to be 3D puzzles which you used to play when your were a little child. You had to put blocks of certain sizes and shapes into their corresponding receiving holes, or the ones in which you had to free the blocks from one another. Now you can face the same anxiety of failure and despair when you could not solve the puzzle.

Interlocked Game is a 3D puzzle game which is available on Android in which the player has to solve puzzles and beat the level.

The number of moves and the time that you take to solve the puzzle are tracked and you get a score based on the combination of these.

What i really like about this game is that since it is a 3D game, i can move the puzzle around, and see it from all angles as if i am solving a real puzzle in my hands.

There is also a walk through, but the game sometimes, asks you to watch a video before showing you the walk through, while at other times it gives tips to how to begin solving the puzzle.

I think this is fine, and not a problem. I did not get bombarded by in game Ads like other games show at the wrong moments in time.

Apart from there being different levels, there are puzzle blocks of different materials which you can play with, but they have to be unlocked first. When you first play the game, you have wooden blocks to play with.

This puzzle seems difficult…

Conclusion

I did not find any glaring problem in Interlocked, and i believe it has been built with quality and giving the player a great time in mind.

If you want to have a great time solving puzzles like you used to when you were young, then this game is definitely for you. You might even get smarter in the process.

The post Interlocked Game Review appeared first on App Review Updates.

Ballz Eye is not an average puzzle game

If you fancy testing your reflexes, then i have the perfect game for you, Ballz Eye. Ballz eye, even though being a puzzle game is not by first looks a puzzle game. It is a different kind of a game altogether.

In Ballz Eye balls grow in size in the middle of the screen and you have to flick them away to targets matching their color before the counter in them expires, or else you will lose the game.

The game includes a tutorial which does its best to explain you how to play the game. I am glad that the developers included a tutorial in this unconventional game.

There is a twist in this game, out of no where an anti-ball comes up, which can be flicked away into a target other than the one specified by its color.  If you happen to accidentally throw it towards the wrong target, then you will lose the game.

Anti-ball has popped up throwing one off the game.

This game also has bombs which periodically pop up, but so far i have not been able to see any effect of them, maybe i am doing something wrong.

Game modes in Ballz Eye

There are two game modes, Classic, and Rush.

In the Classic mode is essentially a survival mode, where you play for as long as you can hold out without any time restrictions.

In the Rush mode you have a time limit of 1 minute, within which you have to throw as many balls as possible.

Conclusion

I did not find any problems with the game other than that it does take quite a while to get used to.

Ballz Eye is surely a game of reflexes and speed, and if you want to have a killer time while you are bored then i recommend this game.

The post Ballz Eye Game Review appeared first on App Review Updates.

Flick Football Legends is an interesting and a fun game

I love football and I am big supporter of Chelsea FC (Football Club),  so sometimes I also want to play football games on my Android device and what better game to play then Flick Kick Football Legends. Unlike most football games this is a flick based game with very interesting story to it.

Flick Football Legends is set as a comic based game from the 70’s. The story is slowly revealed as the player progresses through the game making the game even more engrossing. Who does not want to know the secrets of this game? I sure do!!!

For a newbie this game can be very challenging at first but soon you will get the grasp of it, as you play it and furthermore you can also practice in the practice mode of the game.

There are five main actions during a match which you can peform,  i.e pass, shoot, defence, keeper and penalty.

The game gets challenging and difficult to play as you progress through the levels. Once when it was easy to pass and tackle, become a nerve wrecking action. If you miss a tackle the opposing team will surely score. Who wants to loose a match which you have set up to such a position, while if you loose your concentration it will all go down the drain.

Flick Football Legends Game Review

Game Modes

There are four main game modes from which you can play:

1. League
2. Practice
3. Infinity Cup
4. International Cup

Main story of the game starts when you play league mode and you have to manage a junior team and help it win matches and rise in the league tables.

You can also purchase new players in the form of cards. Before you start playing the team sheet shows the special power of each player and their powers can be upgraded using experience. To gain experience you have to play matches.

In infinity cup you will play unlimited amount of matches until you you draw or lose a
game.

Flick Football Legends Game Mode

In international cup you play for England and same as in league mode you have to play divisions. There are a total of 3 divisions.

Flick Football Legends uses the strategy of making the player wait after playing the game a few times. The energy resource being used in Flick Football is stamina and once consumed each stamina is generated after 30 minutes. A total of 5 matches stamina is available but it can be increased to 8 or 16 matches if you buy the stamina.

New players are unlocked in the form of cards, and you can also buy using coins or money from the store.

There is also pre-game, half time and post-game commentary which is funny yet interesting. The commentators always have something witty to say.

Problems that i found

Even though this game is really great, i did find some problems which the development team should immediately resolve.

Firstly, the match duration is around only 1-2 minutes and it cannot be changed.

Secondly, the stamina refill time is too long, of 30 minutes. The game employs the rule of giving rest to the player, but it should not be too much such that the rush of playing the game washes away. Either the player has to wait for the stipulated time, or has to spend money to buy more stamina. I believe the time out time should be reasonable such as 5 minutes per each stamina level, anything more than that will be a buzz kill for the player.

Thirdly, if you perform poorly in the league you can not restart the league and have to complete it. I myself was frustrated when i had to play through a league only have to play it again, because i failed to win it. This particular feature can be putting off to casual games, who may just stop playing the game all together due to this.

Conclusion

I recommend this game, as it is addictive, and a great time killer, and for footbal fans like me it is a heaven sent. This one game will always be part of my games collection on my phone.

The post Flick Football Legends Game Review appeared first on App Review Updates.

Phew!!!! That was a really long rest that we had. I would like to first apologize for this long absence and would also like to officially announce that we are back. We had been very busy on some other projects and now we have decided that the time has come to give some attention here as well.

To start off, we will begin reviewing Android mobile apps and games for the time being, and will be adding on the other platforms in the near future.

If you want to get your mobile apps or games reviewed by us, please tweet us at App Review Updates on Twitter. If your app or game meets our requirements and standards we will review it.

At the moment we have not yet decided on a schedule, but be rest assured we will do our best to post on a regular basis from now own.

Thanks, for being patient with us, and we hope that we do not disappoint you any further.

The post That was a long rest!!! We are back!!! appeared first on App Review Updates.

Brother in Arms 3 bringing all the action to Android

Gameloft is a game development company well known for its high quality action packed games. Gameloft has many games under its belt, and Brother in Arms 3 is the lastest installment in the Brother in Arms series. I will be reviewing the Android version of the game.

Brother in Arms is a free game to download as it follows a pay as you go model where you pay money to buy items which you use in the game.

The game has been set in world war 2 and you fight as the allies, against the axis.

Brother in Arms 3 Game Review

What Are The Features Of The Game?

This game is a first person shooter game, where you play from the 3rd person’s perspective. The missions in the game are small and bite sized with small objectives. I feel this is good because the attention span of the user is limited when playing games on the mobile devices and the hands also start to go numb when holding the phone for too long.

Having small missions helps me get rest when i need it. Furthermore, the story of the game is also engrossing and interesting. Following a world war 2 narrative the player plays missions which as in all games of this genre decide the success or failure of the whole war, which i think is a bit far fetched, that a war depends on a single man.

The game also features a cache of weapons such as machine guns, rifles, sniper, and other secondary weapons such as grenades, fire bombs, etc…

Controlling the character is done by the controls given on the screen. The left thumb is used to control the movement, while the right thumb or finger is used to control the direction. The controls for the weapons are also given on the right side.

This game has another feature by the name of brothers. A brother is more like a wing man who you can control to give commands, such as there is a brother who takes sniper shots or another who calls in for an air support. Using the brother’s services can mean the difference between life and death.

The graphics and art of the game is high quality and i get the feeling of playing the game on a gaming console or a pc. The audio has also been well designed, which further brings the player into the game.

Brother in Arms 3 Game Review

Problems That I Found

I played the game on my Huawei Ascend P7, which sports a quad core processor, but even then at times i found the game to slow to a halt and cause responsive issues. Due to this at key moments in the game the game becomes really slow and does not respond to my commands on time, due to which i end up losing the mission.

This lag may be because of my device, but then if the game has been made for mobile devices, it should not lag on relatively new devices.

Apart from this, i also found that to buy weapons such as bazookas launchers, grenades, etc… one has to buy stars from the market. I believe that as a casual gamer the game developers should have made it possible for the stars to be earned while playing the game, instead of just making them available in the store. I can not afford to spend money to buy the stars all the time. There are certain missions which require weapons which can be purchased using those stars.

Brother in Arms 3 Game Review

Conclusion

Overall, i find the game interesting and attention grabbing and worth the time. I recommend this game to all first person shooter fans, who also like a bit of a story in between.

The post Brother in Arms 3 Android Game Review appeared first on App Review Updates.

The Translation App For Travel Junkies

Built-in Language Translations Supported

Following language translations are supported:

• English to Spanish
• Spanish to English
• English to French
• French to English
• English to Italian
• Italian to English
• English to German
• German to English
• English to Portuguese
• Portuguese to English
• English to Russian
• Russian to English

World Lens provides a selection of built in language translations which you can use.

World Lens also provides a reverse words feature where you can reverse the words of the text.

The erase the words feature erases the text by displaying the color of the background on the screen where the text was originally.

World Lens also can remove text from the screen.

UX, Design, and Ease of Use

World Lens is quite easy to use. Select the language to translate from the menu at the top of the screen and all you have to do is to point the camera towards the text to the text that you want to translate.

As mentioned earlier the translated text is displayed over the text and shown on the screen of the device.

I really like this as i do not need to change screens to get the translation. Due to this the app becomes really easy to use, however you do have to keep the camera still or the translation won’t work properly.

Usefulness

The app is really useful as it translates in real time. Suppose you are travelling and find a road side board in the local language (the app must support the language) and you hold up the device to the road side board you will be able to see what the board says.

You can also translate text by typing in the word by pressing the book button at the bottom of the screen and typing in the word manually. A list of translations will be shown as a result.

You can also type in the text which you want translated.

You can also freeze the frame by pressing the pause button at the bottom of the screen. When the translation has been done you can translate that text to another language using the language settings.

Furthermore the translation is all offline, which means you do not need an internet connection to translate. This feature makes the app quite useful as this app will most probably be used in locations where there will be little or no internet connection.

World Lens allows you to freeze the frame for easier reading.

Problems That I Found

The quality of the app is quite good, but it does have some problems.

Firstly, the number of languages supported is quite low. It would have been better if more languages would have been supported.

Secondly, you have to keep the phone still while translating the text which can get a bit difficult, but you can use the freeze frame feature as explained above.

Conclusion

World Lens offers a limited selection of languages to choose from, but if the travel junky is travelling to a country whose language is supported then this app can be quite useful, but for other countries it won’t be of much use.

The post World Lens Language Translator App For Android Review appeared first on App Review Updates.