Tue 27 Sep 2011
App Reviews and News
Virtual Families
You begin by selecting your character, and then choosing your bride from a list of potential suitors. Once this is done, you’ll tend to your new virtual family’s needs like you would in The Sims; you’ll need to make sure they’re being fed, going to the washroom, keeping themselves clean, and going to work; things you yourself may begin to neglect if you get addicted to this game.
You’ll also have to make sure they’re happy with their lives, so be sure to sprinkle in some play time between all the work and character building. Your character will also be presented with moral dilemmas at times that you can help guide them on. It’s the fun little interactions like this that make it enjoyable watching your character grow and find their way through the world.
Like Virtual Villagers, Virtual Families also has a real time feature, wherein the game continues to play, and your characters continue to grow even when you’re not actually playing. This is an interesting feature, but one that kind of detracts from the experience. I’m not really sure why anyone would enjoy basically skipping the meat of the game. May as well not even play in the first place. Luckily the game can be paused to stop time, so you can do this before shutting down so that the gameplay remains paused while you’re away.
Virtual Families is also loaded with dozens of trophies to collect, which are like side quests to augment the regular play. Each trophy rewards you for accomplishing an often completely random task in the game, and trying to collect them all will occupy a good chunk of your time.
The graphics are very impressive, with fine details in the environments and items scattered throughout your house. The characters aren’t quite as impressive, and tend to have a bit of a boxy look to them, but they do fit in well with the environments. The music is mostly filler that is typical of the genre, nothing to overwhelming or memorable, just there for some aural complementing.
As a big fan of simulation games, I hold them to a fairly high standard, and I have to say that Virtual Families lived up to the billing. It’s an impressive game at a bargain basement price that will provide hours of fun virtual living; perhaps at the expense of your real living.
RATING – 4.7/5
Platform – iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad (iOS 3.0 or later).
Genre – Simulation
Price - $1.99
You’ll also have to make sure they’re happy with their lives, so be sure to sprinkle in some play time between all the work and character building. Your character will also be presented with moral dilemmas at times that you can help guide them on. It’s the fun little interactions like this that make it enjoyable watching your character grow and find their way through the world.
Like Virtual Villagers, Virtual Families also has a real time feature, wherein the game continues to play, and your characters continue to grow even when you’re not actually playing. This is an interesting feature, but one that kind of detracts from the experience. I’m not really sure why anyone would enjoy basically skipping the meat of the game. May as well not even play in the first place. Luckily the game can be paused to stop time, so you can do this before shutting down so that the gameplay remains paused while you’re away.
Virtual Families is also loaded with dozens of trophies to collect, which are like side quests to augment the regular play. Each trophy rewards you for accomplishing an often completely random task in the game, and trying to collect them all will occupy a good chunk of your time.
The graphics are very impressive, with fine details in the environments and items scattered throughout your house. The characters aren’t quite as impressive, and tend to have a bit of a boxy look to them, but they do fit in well with the environments. The music is mostly filler that is typical of the genre, nothing to overwhelming or memorable, just there for some aural complementing.
As a big fan of simulation games, I hold them to a fairly high standard, and I have to say that Virtual Families lived up to the billing. It’s an impressive game at a bargain basement price that will provide hours of fun virtual living; perhaps at the expense of your real living.
RATING – 4.7/5
Platform – iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad (iOS 3.0 or later).
Genre – Simulation
Price - $1.99
