Any recommendations for her?

[G+_John Mink]

Any recommendations for her?

 

TL-DR version:

she's looking for an Android city builder (like Sim City) that is stable, not Farmville-ish & is OK with paying if there's a demo to test the other points.

 

Actually.... sounds like it might be a fun app, if one is to be found!

 

Originally shared by Kimberly Chapman

 

I Want An Android City Builder Without Any Manipulation, Please

 

I want to play something Sim City like (and I mean old school Sim City, the first one) on my little Android phone when I've got Robin sleeping on my lap but I'm having trouble finding something that suits my needs and preferences.  Let's see if anyone has any recommendations based on this list (and please don't waste your time recommending something that doesn't fit the list...I've been through the Play store and not found what I wanted so pretty much all of the top games are already rejected).

 

- I am willing to pay up to $10 for the game if it is extremely stable and long-lasting, but a demo is strongly preferred so I can check for some of the other issues listed here.

 

- I do NOT want to deal with piecemeal purchases for things like boosters, quests, etc.  The only way I want a free game with in-app purchases is it's a fair upgrade, ie to an ad-free version, permanent extras, etc.  This is the thing that knocks most of the popular games out for me.

 

- I want to play it all by myself and never need a friend or FB link to proceed.  You can tell when a game requires friends when the reviews are full of people shouting "ADD ME!"  Ugh.  No.

 

- It must be super-casual and I must not be punished if I don't play for several days at a time.  I am looking to play something when I'm stuck with a baby sleeping on my lap, not something to take over my life.  NO TIMED FARMING.

 

- Related to the previous point: when I want to play, I want to be able to play as long as I wish.  No energy-based games, please.

 

- It must not have any typical motion-sickness inducing graphics, ie backgrounds that scroll behind the gameplay (this happens in a lot of space games, the stars move behind the static ship and I get pukey), or sudden zooming/rotating outside of player control.  Other than that, I don't really care about graphics being spiffy or not.  Basic is fine.

 

Pretty much if I could play the very old original Sim City on it, that's what I'd do.  Casual fun on my schedule, not reliant on farming or faux in-game "friends", fun without a life commitment.

 

FWIW I also love the old PC city builder games like Caesar/Pharoah/Zeus, so if there's something like that, I'd dig it.

 

And again, I'm willing to pay.  I just want the payment to be upfront and honest, not tricking me by poking me with dopamine.

 

The closest I've found is Townsmen, which has good gameplay but the reviews say even if I pay for the ad-free version it's still going to do that incredibly annoying pop up "Watch this video for more Prestige Points" thing.  Ugh.  That, and I suspect the in-app purchases are going to be required after a point so I'll stop playing.  It's also kind of stupidly slow at times.

 

Given all that, any suggestions?  I suspect what I want doesn't exist but figured it couldn't hurt to ask.

 

Image source: http://obsoletegamer.com/simcity-the-city-simulator/