As a child of the 80s, I was a mega-fan of The Simpsons. I had all the videos, posters, plush toys, hats, wallets, bubblegum cards… at six years old, I was even convinced I would some day marry Bart. (I'll never live that one down.) Naturally, when The Simpsons: Tapped Out mobile game appeared in Google Play, courtesy of Electronic Arts, I wanted to give it a try. Ay Carumba! I wish I hadn't: was the object of my childhood obsession really this naff? See Best Android Apps.
EA claims The Simpsons: Tapped Out is "life-ruiningly fun". Fun, no; life ruining, possibly. The game annoyed me so much I had to uninstall it for a few days, then reinstall it prior to writing this review. Although in most SIMs-style construction games this would mean you'd have to start over, The Simpsons: Tapped Out's requirement for an active internet connection means it is able to store your progress and you can pick up where you left off. But there's only so much of Homer calling out "Better them than me" to announce the completion of some menial task given hours previously that I can take. Audible notifications on my smartphone? Doh! See Android Advisor.
Get past the irritating audible notifications, which can't be switched off in a settings menu, and The Simpsons: Tapped Out continues to disappoint. Before you can start playing you need to download the rather large 40MB game file, plus a further 72.8MB of updates (you'll want to do so over Wi-Fi). You'll then need to wait a good couple of minutes for the game to load, then 'Tap to continue', then wait another minute for the game to begin. If it's your first time playing The Simpsons: Tapped Out, you'll also have to sit through a cut-scene in which Homer is so busy playing on his iPad that he causes a meltdown at the nuclear power plant. Those Apple fans…
Finally into the game, it's your job to rebuild Springfield - or, at least, a version of the town (after all, Springfield is one of the most common city names in the US). You can even visit an alternative Springfield within The Simpsons: Tapped Out, collecting dollars and doughnuts that help you to build up your own town.
You begin The Simpsons: Tapped Out with just Homer (where's Bart?), and gradually unlock other characters such as Lisa, Flanders, Cletus and Apu. Even Sideshow Bob makes an appearance: a truly undaunting experience in which you simply tap evil Bob to arrest him. Chief Wiggum is never around when you need him - which makes sense, given the scarcity of doughnuts.
There's absolutely no hint of a challenge within the game; you simply do as you are told. You're instructed when to build houses, plant trees, buy land, lay paving and so on. If Apu needs Tomacco for the Kwik E-Mart, you don't even get to figure out the solution for yourself (to build Cletus' farm and grow Tomacco).
A scrollable character menu on the left shows which tasks are currently available for each character, and you simply pick an option from a list. For each completed task you earn money and doughnuts, which are used to progress in The Simpsons: Tapped Out. If you're lucky, you might win some extra money and doughnuts with an Itchy & Scratchy scratchcard.
When a character is free to complete a task an exclamation mark appears in a speech bubble above them, and they wander aimlessly about Springfield until you give them new orders. Some tasks are completed very quickly; others take hours. For example, Apu can pray to Ganesh in 45 seconds, feed the octuplets in an hour, or spend four hours completing a shift at the Kwik E-Mart. Like all such games, you can trade physical money with virtual currency to speed up tasks.
With Lisa busy babysitting Rod and Todd, Apu relaxing in the Brown's house (who's house?), Cletus delousing the young-uns, Homer lounging in the pool and Flanders having a power walk, what's left to do but close the game? Show me one person who doesn't lose interest in The Simpsons: Tapped Out and I'll eat my shorts.
Every so often the characters interact with each other, but I struggled to buy into some of their conversations. As if Homer would really say to Apu: "Apu, you look exhausted. Why not treat yourself to a little R and R?" And why must the text appear letter by letter - can't we speed things up?
In The Simpsons: Tapped Out's defence, the voices are authentic and the graphics are really very good. What you see onscreen is exactly what you imagine seeing on your TV. Plus, with an average 4.3-star rating in Google Play, the game clearly has a lot of fans. And it is free.
Comments
Matt Egan said: Ha Touch Enjoy those other sites
Adam said: If youre lucky you might win some money off the scratch tickets You always win more than what you paid for the ticket The article the game doesnt keep peoples interest which is incorrect May not be riddled but there is a very harsh tone to the article The game is interesting and the more characters you get you can do a lot You can re arrange your town build streets ponds fences shrubs etc your imagination is the limit And its clear the author only played the beginning Therefore a biased article And dont be so quick to pounce on your readers comments Plenty of other sites to go to Go figure
Marcela Elvira Timis said: in case youre still wondering theyve added the audio disabling option in the info areaits very recenta few weeks at most
Angel said: I like the game It all depends on the type of games the person likes to play and I am interested in simulation games so i enjoy it There is nothing wrong with it in my opinion Obviously if youre into games like gears of war or call of duty you are going to find it dull and pointless It is not an Xbox or Playstation game It is meant to be the way it is If you dont like it dont play it It is just that simple
Tim Hicks said: And I dont think the author of this realized that he was playing through a tutorial at first Clearly he didnt even give the game more than 2 hours of his time
Tim Hicks said: Wow the author of this article really pounded the game for little reason And I agree with the comment below me The article is riddled with inaccuracies and incorrect statements
getclay said: Spent more than 25 bucks on this game and I am treated like somebody who never gave a dime This is a game where you need to spend over 10000 to have any real position and buying power Also not a real game where is the game in this So you spend all day and night trying to build something but it really is boring You just compete with your own intellect to build things by tapping thousands of times to build things while being enticed to purchase donuts at a huge cost Really weird waste of time Guess you have to be as stupid as Homer to play this gamePgame and I regret my effort on this for a month Where is the game in this
Simonstaveley said: I agree - its utterly pointless and with no way of switching off audio notifications it is one of the most annoying games I have ever had the misfortune of downloading
Cecil Burrow said: Anyone who likes this game really has no standards It is utterly tedious
Michaelander84 said: I LOVE The SimpsonsL Tapped outSure it isnt really a action-packed game its in the style of the Simsand the start may be boring but if you play this for a while it gets much better I have only one complaint I play this on my HTC and my version does not have any cutscenes
sherryt07 said: I have been playing Tapped Out since October 2012 I havent list interest yet get your shorts outBTWyour article is FILLED with inaccuracies Android doesnt offer visiting added neighbors yet just the Other Springfield And the reason there are different tasks for each character is because some people will want to play hourly while others may play less often And may I leave you with the wisdom of RalphMy imaginary friend thinks youre stupid