Review: Urban Tycoon

Overview Urban Tycoon brings Sim City to the iPhone. It's an addictive time waster for aspiring city planners, bored adults, and ambitious kids. You'll be delighted to see your blank plot of land grow into a thriving metropolis. But watch your tax rate!

Functionality

You'll be presented with a blank screen of green with darker green squares and roads between these. What you're looking at (for the Sim City novice) is your city acreage. Tapping on one of the dark green squares indicates that you want to "build" something there. You'll be presented with a list of options, but you'll quickly notice that you have no money to use to build anything. You'll want to do something quickly because the music with the game is actually kind of inspiring... I want the soundtrack. ;) That's when you'll need to tap on the "City" button at the bottom, and raise taxes. (Democrats definitely will enjoy this game!) Just push that slider all the way over. Hit those folks with a tax rate of 50% or greater. Dukakis, Kerry and Obama will be proud. Now hit the "Play" button and you'll be asked if you want to advance. Say yes, and voila! The hard-earned money of your citizenry starts pouring into your coffers. It's addictive enough to make you want to ride a donkey for life. Do this several times, and you'll have enough money for hot dog stands, small housing developments, etc. Now is when you need to start thinking strategically. Place your city development wisely. No one wants to live next to a power station, right? Also, you'll notice your population starts decreasing pretty soon. High taxes eventually lead to rebellion, right? The wonkers who voted for the recent bailout should take note. You are able to zoom in and zoom out on your town by the standard iPhone shrinking and stretching technique. You'll need this to figure out what those property icons are.

That's how this app progresses. You'll need to make improvements (build something) every 5 turn advances, or you'll receive a notice. You can't just keep collecting taxes without the folks seeing you do something with it. You can tap on an existing building to destroy it and make room for progress as well. Over time, as you balance your tax rate, build and plan wisely, you'll have a nice little city on your hands!

Review

I enjoy this app immensely. Granted, I haven't raised my town to a metropolis yet. I'm smearing the landscape with small housing and hot dog stands. Yet, the music and the gameplay is pretty fun. Any serious fan of Sim City will probably not be satisfied. The options are simply too limited. Tax and spend. That's about how it goes.

In addition, you may only be able to stand small doses of the game. After getting the cycle of play down, you may find it monotonous.

The graphics also are a little Atari-ish. And I'm talking 2600 here. With the amazing resolution of the iPhone at its disposal, Urban Tycoon simply doesn't deliver if you're looking for a visual feast. It's really hard to tell what the city icons are. It would be nice to be able to tap on a building and have an info icon show up.

Summary

This is one of those games that you'll enjoy playing for a few minutes at a time without worrying about having to shoot an alien, tilt your iPhone to steer or navigate a character through a screen. It's extremely simple, but it does require some strategy - I think. Again, it's not like the more full-featured Sim City in which you can gauge the mood of your populace. With Urban Tycoon, people either are moving in or moving out.

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