Virtual Families
I’ve always found it odd that there are so many games that simulate life. I thought the whole reasoning behind playing games was to take a break from life, but I’m just as guilty as everyone else when it comes to playing these things. Maybe it’s my sub-conscience trying to see where my life would be if I made different choices, or perhaps it’s just my sick desire to put someone through a bit of torture. In truth, I’d rather not think about why I play these things so much… I’d just rather enjoy the moment.
The latest game into the field is Virtual Families by Last Day Of Work. It’s a port from the computer version and (good and bad) it’s stayed pretty faithful to the original.
It might be best to start off by describing this game as Virtual Village in the home. If you’ve played that game you’ll be able to step right into this one very easily. The whole idea is to keep your people happy and progressing. But instead of the island paradise of the Village game, here you can “play house” in a nicely rendered rambler.
You start off by adopting a “friend” from a choice of potentials. I have to say that this was an area that bugged me. You’re shown someone to adopt, and if you don’t like them you see another. The problem is, you can’t go back if you decide that one of the earlier people was the one you wanted, and you really don’t know what will be a god person at the start anyway.
I also thought that LDW could have changed up the dialogue a bit for the iPhone version. You are told that there are several little people living in “your computer” and that was a little off-putting for me. It let me know that this was not a game designed for this device.
One you have your “friend” they are put into a nice house and you drag them around to do various things. There’s chores to do and a job that needs to be improved upon (though you always do the jobs at the house). Most of this is easy enough, but the game should give a little more feedback on how to do things. For instance, I wanted to watch TV and it kept telling me that there was something else I had to do. It wasn’t until later I finally noticed a very small object on the floor in another room and realized that this was the remote for the TV. Not sure why my person couldn’t do thing manually, but… oh well. The same sort of thing goes for making repairs and the like. There’s a lot of trial and error in the game.
After a short time in the game you start getting emails for marriage proposals. Once again you can decide yes or no, but there’s no going back. I picked one at random and was told that I married “for love”. That was odd since I didn’t know the person, but who am I to judge.
From that point on it’s all about getting better at your job and trying to have children with the spouse. The later part took a long time which was odd because both of my characters said that they definitely wanted to have children.
One fun part of the game is that the people live their lives even when the game is off. This means you can check in on them from time to time and see how they’re doing. And you don’t have to worry about them messing up too badly while your away, so that’s a plus.
The game has a very nice look to it and the sound (though repetitive) is also handled well. The only real complaint on the presentation of the game is the horrible fount size. I think this game gets the award for smallest font size on the App Store. I hated to receive emails in the game because they were almost impossible to read. Why they couldn’t have figured out that this isn’t a computer monitor that we’re looking at is beyond me. This is another area where a direct port wasn’t a good idea.
The game throws some random events at you, but they’re a bit like a “Chance” card in Monopoly. They have no real baring on what is going on. I got an email thanking me for bringing food to a bake sale (I don’t remember doing that) but since I got them there late they are taking $12 out of my bank account. What?! Those Bake Sale Nazis! Can they really do that?!
Oh well… Now I should point out that while I’ve blasted a few things about this game (and they’re deserved), I still think that this game has the potential to be really fun. It fits a nice middle ground for people who don’t want to spend too much time with a game like Sims 3, but still like the experience of the virtual family. It’s also a nice step for those who have had their fill of the virtual villagers and want something more.
It’s not a perfect game, but it’s a nice thing to fire up every once and a while and check in on the family.
The Good
Game Keeps Going, Even When Off
Plenty Of Things To Do
Like Virtual Village In The Home
The Bad
Terrible Font Size
A Little More Feedback Would Be Nice
Poor “Friends” Are Stuck In The House
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Category: Games
I’m having problems with all the downloaded applications from Last Day of Work on my iPod. (Virtual Families, Virtual Villagers 2, Virtual Villagers 3.) I open the app and it starts to load, but then iut just stops and the screen turns black and it closes out. It’s been about two days now & it won’t let me get on to even pause the games. I’ve heard alot about this happening to other people, but I haven’t heard a solution. Do you just wait it out or what?
This game surprisingly looks like a good deal of fun!
played the sims 3 and this one looks much better than sims 3
i was very disappointed because of sims 3
this looks a little bit easy-structured
omg this looks like a cool app! I have always like apps like this including the sims!! Thanks for the review
i was actually laughing when reading this review. i want to read more of such review. it sounds really candid and frank and entertaining too. keep up the style!
on the other hand, the game does seem like it needs tuning up. but other than that, it’s a great concept. would be a more affordable version of the sims.
Nice review..doesnt seem that good I think I will pass on this too lol I hate when they are ports and then dont take things into consideration like the font size. How hard could that be to adjust!
I don’t mind ports when done right. It doesn’t hurt to fine tune the fonts for the display or add in a game save feature etc..Poorly ported apps are a problem.
O yeah I am a big an of ports myself most of the game apps I have are ports like the Big fish games ones, any PC version game I like because they are so cheap on the appstore compared to the PC versions at $20. Like you said when they are done right they are the best!
Looks Pretty Fun. I Was Wondering If This Has A Save Feature Since Its Been Said In The AppStore Reviews That There Isn’t One?
I’m not sure what is happening with the people in the reviews. There is no need for a save feature because nothing ever quits. I have had no problems in this area with the game, though I did read that people were having problems with crashing and maybe that’s why it kicks them back to the “adoption” page. Was not an issue for me.
Bob
So its kind of like fish tycoon where the time keeps going so it doesnt need to be saved?
Yes I believe you are correct it’s always moving like an MMORPG.
Thanks Bob!