Last Friday, chatter on my Twitter feed turned to a new smartphone game by NimbleBit, the makers of Tiny Tower, called Tiny Death Star. I do not normally play mobile games, I don't even have Angry Birds on my phone, and some other "action RPGs" left me remembering why I never cared for old games with crappy graphics like Zelda. (Don't deny it! You know this to be true!) However, I loved the old SimCity games, including SimTower. That, combined with the Star Wars theming and price (FREE!), led me to download TDS on Friday evening. I didn't really get into it until Saturday morning, when Scooter had installed it on her phone, and proceeded to become engrossed for a couple hours.
As you might expect, it has Astromech droid sound effects and "8-bit"
versions of tunes like the Cantina Theme. There are fun little elements
like the ever-jogging Nautolan on the Workout Center (see below), and animation humor reminiscent of the Lego series of console games. For collectors, there is an album of species and (in)famous visitors. Most Bitizens get a randomly generated mix of Star-Wars-y names; however, that does occasionally lead to a Duct Worker with a recognizable appellation.
Naturally, she had to go. The memory was just too painful for one poor Sith Lord.
The gameplay is an oddly compelling (not engaging) mix of inventory management, construction planning, and elevator operation. There are micro-transactions, but they mostly involve speeding up some process. With patience, you need not spend a dime. Though I'm sure the developers will appreciate it if you do. As of this writing, I have ten commercial levels seven Imperial levels and seven residential levels including one just under construction with almost NINE hours to go—unless I get a worker in to speed up the process.
The gameplay is an oddly compelling (not engaging) mix of inventory management, construction planning, and elevator operation. There are micro-transactions, but they mostly involve speeding up some process. With patience, you need not spend a dime. Though I'm sure the developers will appreciate it if you do. As of this writing, I have ten commercial levels seven Imperial levels and seven residential levels including one just under construction with almost NINE hours to go—unless I get a worker in to speed up the process.
Since the weekend, my time with the game has dwindled to fun little breaks between doing other things throughout the day. On Wednesday, Syp put out some strategy tips that would make a Sith Lord proud. But you know what? They're effective. I jettisoned more than two thirds of my Bitizens and now only accept new Bitizens who really want to work at my shops. By the end of the day Wednesday, I'd filled almost all my openings again, with Bitizens that want to be there and are therefore more effective.
Anyway, it's a fun little diversion. I've heard some others have buggy copies, but mine seems to be running just fine.
Anyway, it's a fun little diversion. I've heard some others have buggy copies, but mine seems to be running just fine.
Haha. I just entered the 21st age by getting an old iPad from a friend (she didn't use it and had gotten it as a gift). And then I saw the Tiny Deathstar app as well! I'm not sure if it'll work on my iPad (as it has one of the older systems) but perhaps I'll give it a try as well. :)
ReplyDeleteWell, good luck. :) It's a fun little diversion.
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