Finally a game I can buy! – Pocket City Review

Freemium games are all the same- buy your way to a collection or status. As a result the quality of freemium gameplay is horrible! Apple should promote the heck out of this game because it has the will to be a good playable game through gameplay. I think freemium unfortunately has pinned the market, since it preys upon hooking people to addictive collection behavior. If this game doesn’t get promoted and doesn’t do well in the market, my suggestion is to use a free version to progress through the tutorial and the first level, then let the gamer buy the full version. It’s also best to give experienced gamers the ability to skip the tutorial- exploring game features off the training wheels is part of the fun! I suggest also that in app purchases for item skins is perfectly valid- as long as game goals aren’t tethered to required purchasing. My first impression is that this is similar to a classic city simulation, with leveling up and tax earnings dictating your available options. A wonderful diversion. I have the feeling that advanced city design is so far absent. Will update as I progress in the game. Suggestions for the developer. I am interested in simulating an out of the box kind of city design. I do wish for a city simulator that will let me tweak specific intersection attributes, inclusive of pedestrians, bicyclists, neighborhood electric vehicles, PRT/NEV hybrids... etc. And create 3D or height based zoning, for example: an industrial basement, commercial ground floor, office second floor, and residential upper floors. Something like an arcology. Construction needs to have modern elements that can integrate utility, for example: grey water use, solar roofing, solar paving, rooftop gardens, and so on. Trash collection, composting, and recycling need to be featured. Also, the ability to identify types of people, based on education, income, distance to work, diet, energy use, and social free time. I’d like to be able to “craft” jobs and related college degrees. Then watch the economy change as more folks move beyond general education and service industries. This is beyond the duties of a mayor, but could be tasked to game boss job advisers, school counselors, engineers, etc... stuff beyond the political spectrum. My ultimate goal is to simulate a linear city zoning principle that features a combination of solar roadway and water utility that powers transportation of seawater to foothill water towers during peak electrical generation, then uses gravity of elevated water to generate power at night, gravity filter freshwater, or gravity transport water inland to desalination pools, where brine can become road salt. I’d like to stress some realism as well- it’s normally impossible to bulldoze an established structure without first securing eminent domain. I’ve never seen a city game using this all too common constraint. Another realism could be to start a game based on a google/apple map... I think it would be amazing to virtually rebuild my hometown... this might even provide a valuable resource to inform actual city design among neighbors. For this game, interpreting existing maps could dramatically increase the diversity of building type assets. Thanks!
Review by Long_Haired_Artist on Pocket City.