Review: Lemonade Stand

Overview Lemonade Stand is a remake of the classic Apple II program that many of you may have played in elementary school. Essentially, you’ll be running a summer business for 30 days. Each day, you’ll change variables such as cups made, price per cup, and advertisements put up. The weather is a factor, as is the price of lemonade, so it’s up to you to make tough decisions on each variable. The point of the game is to maximize your profit - so how much dough can YOU make selling lemonade?

• Modern or Classic Graphics

Choose between an updated look and the original blocky graphics. This makes no difference in the gameplay, so it’s all a matter of preference. Classic 8-bit music is the only option, and rightly so.

• Random Events

Your day can be ruined by a thunderstorm, just like a passing road crew can buy out your entire stock automatically. Random events like this can make or break a solid profit. Weather factors in as you’d expect - a heat wave means you can jack up the production and the prices, but a rainy day will hurt your sales.

• Local High Scores

This allows you to compare against your prior scores. Not the hugest deal, but for the serious summertime entrepreneurs among you, beating your scores may hold some allure.

Breakdown

The Good: The feel and mechanics of the original game are intact. This is the same game you played when you were a young’un. Lemonade Stand is simple and fun, and watching your profits rise and fall can be truly exciting or devastating, respectively. One of the primary reasons teachers put us on the original version of this game was for its educational value. Similarly, this app would be good for any kids you trust enough to let ‘em lay hands on your iPhone. Practicing with supply and demand, balancing profit against expense, and playing with basic math are all brain-busting exercises you or your kids will endure at the hands of Lemonade Stand.

The Bad: There was a longish load when starting up Lemonade Stand. Happily, that’s just about the only negative I can find in the app. Though it’s not a true fault of the game, the replay value on this one is pretty low for us grownups. This is mostly good for nostalgia and idle entertainment. For kids, this might last a whole car ride.

Verdict

This game hasn’t grown up much since the Apple II days, and its primary value for adults is the nostalgia factor. For kids, Lemonade Stand is simple, fun, and quasi-educational. It’s worth the 99 cents if you feel like running summertime simulations or if you have kids. For those looking for an in-depth experience of any kind, go ahead and pass on this one.

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