3682

Does a good ipad game review site still exist anywhere?

3683

Like I said, TA feels semi-defunct already. The funny thing is, between that and David Neumann getting a real job, I have no idea where I might be getting iOS news going forward. And there are so many releases, it’s easy for good stuff to get past you in all the muck.

3684

Is Pocket Tactics still worth going to these days? I haven’t visited since their conflict of interest with their stealth new ownership.

3685

After the first time I beat Planet, I kept going back to it and upgrading further until I could beat it comfortably each time. So I had maxed out starting balls at 32 when I finally made an attempt on Sun, and I beat it on my first attempt. Here’s where I was on that run:

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I’ve never really come close to needing the 120 shots I had, so I probably could’ve put off one level of that upgrade for a while longer.

3686

I (mostly) enjoyed my time with Holedown - thanks all for the recommendations here. Great idea, superb execution. I played it a lot over a couple of days - it’s been a long time since I’ve found myself properly addicted to a game to this level, and that’s not an entirely positive feeling. I’m glad there came a point where I felt I could easily stop.

(End-game spoilers) I did think more could have been done towards the end of the game - after buying every upgrade, I thought maybe new ones would appear that could change the game in interesting ways? As it is, I’m left with an endless mode with nothing but a score to attack - which I realise is probably meant to be the main part of the game - but that doesn’t interest me much, so I can call it complete and uninstall.

3687

According to my stats, I used 74 shots on both the Planet and the Sun. I would definitely recommend upgrading Staring Balls and Ball Buffer more aggressively than the others.

3688

This is weird to me. The world changes, businesses change… why should a company (TA) that relies on another company’s program assume they can continue to exist without diversifying their sources of revenue?

3689

If you read the post, it’s not that they haven’t been trying to fund by several other means, it’s that the affiliate program has been the consistent bedrock cash flow.

3690

And it’s not just about ending the affiliate program, it’s about how they’re ending it - with absolutely zero warning, leaving those who used it with absolutely no way to plan for a gradual exit.

3691

Do people just go the App Store and robot around for cool new things? I almost go there to find something specific.

3692

There was warning, they tried to do it last year or so, but backed down after pressure.

I just don’t get why suddenly TA is this great site everyone will miss. Obviously they aren’t as popular as they used to be.

Still they did get a $500+ monthly Patreon increase from all this attention. They claim they need $10k to survive, which is obviously BS.

3693

The home page of the store is a lot better about showing new apps. Made a bunch of purchase from it.

Otherwise for games, I go here or Reddit.

3694

Pretty harsh judgements on Touch Arcade.

Serious reviews for mobile games are basically dead at traditional game sites aside from a very large and popular game that makes huge waves (like Pokémon Go). This despite mobile gaming being larger than console gaming. “Core gamers”, a phrase i hate (like walking simulator) but which still conveys the relevant information concisely, are better served having at least one site with which they can cross reference the deluge of games and have a somewhat informed opinion.

It seems like most core gamers otoh have some sort of cost threshold where the cost of mobile games are so low that bad games don’t seem to matter.

3695

I think the harsh judgments are warranted when it comes to reviews - they’re way too generous with their scores. But it’s still useful just to know what’s out there, and for the forums.

3696

I agree their reviews tend to be overly positive. I still think they are generally informative though (I.e. their review content is decent, just recognize they tend to speak of things in glowing terms).

3697

Pocket City is a great Simcity 2000ish type game that is a lot of fun on the ipad. Though the game came out this week, I signed up for the Alpha a month ago so have a number of hours playing it. I haven’t done the sandbox mode - but the standard mode introduces new content through gated levels - you have to earn experience points by completing missions and building stuff. Otherwise its pretty standard simcity stuff that you’d expect - put down roads, roll out your R/C/I zones, make sure there is sufficient power and water generation. Build police, fire, medical, and other buildings to provide services. Create parks, etc.

3698

I concur with this. I just played for an hour or so and it’s a refreshing experience in this world of IAP and micro-transactions.

3699

Some of the comments to the Touch Arcade review suggested that it’s not super deep and the build area is pretty small. I’d be interested to know whether you guys agree once you spend some more time with it.

3700

Is it useful when they are just promoting whoever is paying them? IIRC there was a backlash over their Patreon because they basically said pay us money and we’ll promote your game. Clear advertising is fine, but it sounded like they would write about your game if you backed their Patreon. It gets a bit muddy in that case.

It’s not even advertising on the official store I don’t think, they are trying to promote high quality stuff.

Thanks for the Pocket City impressions guys, will probably pick it up this weekend.

3701

The build area is smaller than simcity 2k - 64 x 64 versus its 128 x 128 - but after 10+ hours of gameplay I still have plenty of free room to expand into. The developer is promising bigger maps - I don’t see it as a constraint.

I’d say the gameplay is deeper than sc2k - you have bus routes, overhead trains, highways, and other options for your transportation network. There are some interesting strategic buildings (banks) which don’t have a simcity equivalent, as well as the ability to create production buildings to supply your city (farms, mines, etc), which isn’t something really found in simcity for the most part.

One knock is that I don’t really find it “challenging” like in simcity 4000 where you were often on the verge of bankruptcy - but for most people that will be a positive thing. I haven’t tried anything but the standard difficulty, where money hasn’t been hard to come by - the higher difficulty might actually pose a challenge (if you want that).