Fans of city building and adorable pets, take notice; the creators of Nightclub City and MyTown 2 have let loose a new concoction in the form of Pet Town. Though the free-to-play iOS game is yet another in the sea of city building business simulations, this absurdly adorable number came as a pleasant surprise. Incorporating a handful of new features and constantly rewarding the player, this stylized animal utopia is certainly a step above the rest.
Fans of city building and adorable pets, take notice;the creators of Nightclub City and MyTown 2 have finally let loose a new concoction in the form of Pet Town. Though the free-to-play iOS game is yet another in the sea of city building business simulations, this absurdly adorable number came as a pleasant surprise. Incorporating a handful of new features and constantly rewarding the player, this stylized animal utopia is certainly a step above the rest.
As odd as it might sound, players follow the exodus of a fed up toucan stuck in interstate, rush hour traffic. Why a bird is driving, who knows, but he leaves the everyday grind to make his way to Pet Town, where “all your dreams come true.” Expectantly, players are the ones responsible for this and must help construct Pet Town into a colorful paradise for animals of all shapes and sizes.
Starting out with only Sir Toucan (seriously, that’s his name) players are able to get a town going rather quickly via his dreams. By tapping on Sir Toucan, a collection of tasks can be seen that represent what he desires. These range from specific animal friends moving in, to owning a business of some sort, to traveling the world. Each one has its own level of import, though the most crucial is likely the second, as this is what generates revenue.
These businesses spit out coins after incremental periods, and must be assigned an owner to function. However, what is nice is that the same animals cannot be moved in multiple times, and each business is specifically associated with a different critter. What this allows for is an incredible variety of both residents and structures to populate one’s space. It does hinder uniformity a bit, but overall, it is a nice touch. In fact, the aesthetic is further improved by the fact that many resident dreams include decorations, giving players a reason to make their town look nice.
For sets of dreams fulfilled, players will receive fiscal rewards, but many residents will reward new animal citizens that cannot normally be purchased. For example, finishing all of Sir Toucan’s dreams will unlock a different looking bird named Squawk.
Another major element that puts Pet Town above the rest of its ilk is that players are usually always doing something in game (rarely do they just come to a complete halt, unable to perform any tasks, after a few taps) and are frequently rewarded for it. For example, periodically, the animals walking around town will have the desire to do certain things such visit a specific store or talk to another character. It isn’t anything extravagant, but tapping that animal and then tapping what they are looking for will generate a slew of extra cash and experience. Moreover, they will often require several things in sequence for a reward to be earned.
Another plus to Pet Town is that it actually makes use of the iOS platform’s GPS integration. With this, players can “visit” the real world and send little rabbits into a Mario-style pipe, a limited number of times, to “loot” nearby locations for random rewards. That said, it’s hard to say whether or not the type of business picked up by the GPS affects the reward at all. With this considered, the feature is cool, but feels like it could be used for so much more.
As a matter of fact, these rabbits are also part of the many things that make Pet Town enjoyable. This little critters run all over the town, interacting with the various elements that players place. Along with this, the various animal residents constantly interact with things and each other, making the space one constructs feel far more gratifying and alive.
With everything that has been said, it’s probably safe to say that Pet Town is a very well-crafted city building game. Constantly in motion, the game always has something for players to do, and unlike other titles in the genre it rarely comes to a complete, and sudden, halt. Filled with goals to fulfill and frequent, quality rewards, Booyah’s latest creation is definitely one overly cute city-builder that fans of the genre should not miss.
