Picking a winning stock can be tough work. Just ask anyone who’s ever tried their hand at day trading. But picking a winning app – how hard could that be? Angel’s Choice puts your mastery of App Store predictions to the test, offering up a fantasy stock market style experience that’s all about investing in apps that you think will turn into winners.
Picking a winning stock can be tough work. Just ask anyone who’s ever tried their hand at day trading. But picking a winning app – how hard could that be? Angel’s Choice puts your mastery of App Store predictions to the test, offering up a fantasy stock market style experience that’s all about investing in apps that you think will turn into winners.
Before we get too far into this review, there’s one cold hard fact that we simply can’t get away from: being on the editorial side of this industry, there’s a good chance every reviewer is going to have a soft spot for a game that lets them gloat about how well they know their business. This reviewer is no exception. Out of the hundreds of virtual investors playing Angel’s Choice right now, I’m currently ranked 14th—and that’s a badge I wear proudly.
Unlike most investment games that focus on buying low and selling high, Angel’s Choice plays out more like a venture capital firm. Once you find an app you want to invest in, you’ll give them a predetermined amount of money and then it’s gone forever. If it performs well and other players begin to invest in the app, you’ll start to see a profit trickle in. More importantly, you’ll start to earn experience points that help get you promoted up the ranks of the firm (and being ranked #14, you’d better believe I’m a president).
If you’re looking to earn more cash, or simply discover some apps (the makers of Angel’s Choice pitch it as an app discovery tool as much as they do a game) then Angel’s Choice is happy to provide you with a series of missions that will accomplish both goals. Things like “invest in 5 word games” or “invest in 5 recently invested in apps” will have you browsing the App Store selection and earning in-game cash and experience at the same time.
Angel’s Choice is a great idea, but it’s not an offering without its flaws either. Presentation is particularly lackluster, with graphs displaying your rank and gain history often showing duplicate (and therefore, incorrect) information. Load times are a beast, and crashes are far too frequent. Angel’s Choice also has a hard time playing nice with iOS multitasking, causing players to force quit if they want to earn their daily salary when the app boots up (don’t worry if you don’t know how to force quit – you’ll crash soon enough and it accomplishes the same thing).
Angel’s Choice is a game that scratches a very particular itch, but that also makes it a game with a fairly limited appeal. If you’re not deeply entrenched in the daily happenings on the App Store, it really has very little to offer. And if you don’t have the patience to wait a few days and watch your investments grow, the whole exercise will seem pointless.
For those of us with both patience and an App Store obsession, Angel’s Choice is a godsend. Nothing beats the thrill of being the first to invest in the latest hit from a big publisher and reaping the benefits the following morning, or watching your experience tick you up the leaderboard. Even with its flaws, Angel’s Choice is an app that’s worth the investment for those interested in the numbers racket – especially since it’s free.
