innocent - to - play games often look appealing , but it ’s difficult to jazz at a glance whether the business model is insidious and fun wrecking , or sensible and worth pumping a few one dollar bill into . With Freemium Field Test , we ’ll take a recent free - to - play iOS biz , put it through its paces , and get you know if it ’s really deserving your clip ( and money ) .
If the originalTiny Towerwas NimbleBit ’s court to the classic SimTower , then the newBit Cityis clearly its take on the better - know SimCity . In both cases , the nomadic “ tribute ” propose a importantly streamlined version of the same nub premiss , and this time around , you ’ll gradually build up your metropolis just by tapping menu and accumulate coins .
Bit by bit , you ’ll bring your metropolis to lifespan .
But where SimCity ’s urban circumstance feel like real places with interconnected systems and upshot for your activity , Bit City is reasonably much just a spending spree : you ’ll bring in and invest as much money as you’re able to in a location before flipping up to somewhere big … and doing it all again . But while Bit City is sure streamline , there ’s still a mindless allure to it .
The pitch
You wo n’t see much when you first lead off up Bit City : a tiny little township with just a few empty patch of land . Tap one and you could place a stage business , residential , or service ( like a schooltime or green ) prop in the situation . You wo n’t get to select what sort of construction or belongings goes there , but it does n’t really matter anyway : once you tap the yellow Build release on the bottom , a random property on your map undergoes construction and is replace with something fresh .
Hit the yellow button and some property will be swiapped out for something new .
Why ? That ’s not wholly clear , but doing so increase the amount of money you make every arcsecond you play , as seen up top . That reckoning will continue to balloon with nearly every action you take in the game , whether it ’s buying raw property , building atop old one , raising taxis , or buy gondola , boat , and plane to populate the mankind . Every minute of spending garner you more and more income over time ; of course of instruction , then new properties cost more as well .
Filling every open plot of land is your end in each metropolis , and once you do so , you ’re free to tap a button and protrude afresh in the next , larger , different - reckon location . Despite never again envision your ever - changing properties from the last expanse , there ’s a gradual sense of progression here : the decisions you make ( by pass coin ) , like raising certain taxes or automating some of the building , carry over into the next city , plus you ’ll still bring in a modest portion of money from the urban center you go away behind .
Money for nothing ? I ’ll take that deal .
You ’ll bear on to gain ample fund when the game is on your projection screen , whether you ’re tapping Build or not — and you ’ll also make a small amount of money when you’renotplaying , which you ’ll collect the next time you open up the app . It ’s likelast year ’s nurse Best Fiends Foreverin that respect , specially since you’re able to amplify your remuneration by watching an advertizing ( more on that presently ) . And it mean that you ’ll always have some fresh money to play with every time you launch the game .
But what jump to sink in after a while is that Bit City has no literal stakes ; as mentioned before , there are no apparent consequences to your admittedly minimal actions here . you could constantly lift taxes on your citizen , but they ’ll never move aside or rebellion . you could sate a metropolis with all businesses , despite the plot claim “ very gloomy demand ” after the first few , and the population will still increase . It ’s simply a game about spending money to make more money .
The catch
And you’re able to pass material money , of course ! Luckily , Bit City does n’t make that feel like the default expected value at all , and verity be told , the benefits can be reasonably minimal .
coin and Bux can be used to boost various stats , which only help you make more and more money .
What ’s more appealing is watching video ads in exchange for benefits . Watching a 30 - second base ad for some other peregrine game or app initiates 10 minutes of duple Time , wherein all income is doubled , mental synthesis times are halve , and more bonus coins and Bux look on the screen . It ’s such a drastic sweetening that playingwithoutDouble Time cursorily palpate pointless , so you may be entice to learn an ad for every 10 second you run . That ’s what I did .
Alternately , you could pass $ 5 outright to enable Double Time forever , without advertising . I cohere with the video recording ad , but you might not tolerate the recurring break . Also beneficial is see a video ad when you fall back after hour off . possibly your metropolis roll up 10 billion coins while you were out … but would n’t you rather have 20 billion coins to play with ? It ’s a fairly gentle decision to make , and watch out a video is the only way to get that incentive .
The premium Bux appear here and there as bonuses from cars and other vehicles , and you ’ll also garner them for complete objectives ( like constructing 50 buildings ) . However , they ’re also sell in bundles set out from 3,500 Bux for $ 5 to 25,000 Bux for $ 20 .
The Pension Pig is a smart thought to honour long - terminus players , although you ’re still untimately paying money for in - plot monetary fund .
There ’s also a cool wrench here : you ’ll also gradually build up a Pension Pig bank of Bux as you play , and you’re able to only break through that bank by ante up $ 3 in real money . That ’s a bad deal if you have , say , 100 Bux in there . But if you wait , it becomes a relative tidy sum compared to the other bundles : I redeemed 4,852 Bux when I lastly spent my $ 3 . That gave me a nice stack of premium currency to work with , but ultimately , the benefits seemed minor .
you’re able to spend Bux on in - game welfare , like put out how long your banking company collects money when you ’re not playing , or reducing fomite costs — or you’re able to pay to “ Fast Forward ” the biz , which gives you a quick chunk of coin without the wait . There are also premium building to unlock , include real - aliveness icons like the Eiffel Tower and White House , and each comes with a sizable coin pull in bonus . However , the top - level buildings also cost nearly $ 10 worth of Bux apiece , so it ’s a pretty massive investment for a tiny construction on your digital map .
The verdict
I fully understood the implications and intent of the Prestige feature article , but it still run down my need .
There ’s something entrancing about Bit City at first , and in the former duet of days , I ’d work at every chance . I wanted to amass money and boost my earning power , seemingly sure that some great wages look in rally for my diligent shimmer . However , that initial temptingness fleet quite a number once I realized how superficial this disbursement - centric simulation really is . After the first few urban center , I develop well-worn of the grind .
Bit City has a “ Prestige ” option that lets you cash in in much of your progress and start over at the first city , with the welfare being a percentage net bonus based on how much you had accumulate . Rather than just continue flick cities and affect ahead , you ’ll set out anew while pulling in more income .
That ’s mean to be appealing , but once I ’d pressed the button and realized that the grind was back to square one , I realized that I did n’t have the patience to do it all over again . It ’s the all over diametrical effect that ’s intended , but in an second , Bit City became Quit City , population : me . And I think I ’m stay there .
