SimCity: BuildIt

SimCity: BuildIt is an adaptation of the long-running SimCity city planning series for mobile devices. The basic concept is identical to the main games. You are a mayor who has to build and manage a city from the ground up. It starts with small neighbourhoods that grow into a larger city and eventually a metropolis if you manage to satisfy your citizens' needs. The transition to a mobile free-to-play concept brings some changes to the gameplay. Generally it takes a lot of time to develop a city as there is a focus on gathering resources to buy buildings, with wait times that encourage players to come back for short, successive bursts. Materials such as metals or nails are needed to construct and upgrade buildings, rather than buying them with money right away.

It is still possible to freely design the city lay-out by demolishing terrain and drawing roads. By creating designated residential areas and then assigning resources to them, the citizens arrive by themselves as the buildings are constructed. They can be seen walking around or driving their cars, stopping in front of traffic lights and getting stuck in traffic jams. There are two currencies in the game: a basic one (coins) and a premium one (bills). By constructing buildings and completing goals, more population is earned, as well as coins, sometimes bills, and experience to level up. Buildings are unlocked gradually based on these parameters. Not only money counts, but also the population size and your global level. There are general buildings such as stores that satisfy needs and different types of factories that produce specific materials. All types of services need to be provided as well, such as water, electricity, sewers, waste management, fire and police stations, health services and government buildings. Advisers provide assistance, but there are no detailed satisfaction or needs statistics, just a global happiness percentage level. Water pipes or electricity circuits do not need to be designed. They each have a specific radius shown in a separate grid view and that way city planning is more about the positioning of the different buildings to keep everyone serviced.

Some buildings have a large premium currency price that takes a very long time to earn without spending real money on in-app purchases. Other specialty services such as parks, entertainment, gambling, monuments, education and transport have a similar barrier, or are only unlocked after completing challenges such as withstanding a disaster. In later levels resources can be used to complete shipping objectives and that way keys are earned to unlock additional buildings. The camera can be freely moved around and it is possible to rotate and zoom. Friends' cities can be visited and you can set up a trade hall to buy and sell materials. Resources can be sold to the AI as well.