Remember the location-based social interaction game Torchbear? The creators of Torchbear, Lighthouse Games Studio, are back within another location-based game – this time exclusively for Windows Phone 8. Their new title Greed City combines the property and wealth acquisition elements of Monopoly with the real-world location and GPS elements of Four Square. It’s much more game-like than Torchbear and costs nothing to download, so Windows Phone 8 users should definitely give it a look.
We've got a quick-start guide and more impressons to share, so read on!
How to become a tycoon
Greed City starts out with a three-step tutorial that you’ll want to follow in order to avoid getting lost. First, swipe over to your profile and collect the welcome reward of Credits and Diamonds, the two in-game currencies. Next, check into five local businesses. You don’t have to actually visit those locations; the game lets you choose from the ten nearest businesses, no matter where you are.
Finally, head to the world map (provided by Nokia HERE) and start your first business. The idea is to create real-life businesses within the game and then profit from them whenever players check into them. You can select from a vast array of business types, each of which costs a specific combination of Credits and Diamonds to create. At first you’re pretty much only Able to afford restaurants or retail stores, so why not start with one of those?
Once you’ve selected a category, scroll to its actual location on the map. You can toggle between road view and aerial photos in order to find exactly the right place to create the business. Having placed it, you’ll then need to buy some stock for the business to sell. As long as it has stock, other players receive Credits every time they visit and you’ll take in some Credits as well.
Big businesses and IAPs
Players can check into five businesses every four hours, which you’ll want to do throughout the day in order to keep the Credits coming in. Larger businesses like airports, colleges, and movie theaters cost a lot of funds to create, but they also pay out more to owner and visitors alike.
If you’re interested in creating a costly business right from the get-go, you can opt to purchase a Credits and Diamonds package with real money via In-App Purchase. The prices are fairly reasonable, with the larger packages representing a better value than the smaller ones.
Room to grow
I like Greed City more than Torchbear because the gameplay and goals are more concrete. Buying new businesses to flesh out the area where you live within the game itself, seeing who visits your businesses, and watching new businesses spring up is a clever and appealing gameplay foundation.
By its very nature, Greed City is a game that becomes more enjoyable as more players sign on and start playing it. There is also plenty of room for improvement, as right now users can’t directly interact with each other for the most part. But we’ve discussed a number of changes and new features with Lighthouse Games Studio. As long as they make good on those plans, Greed City will blossom into a truly standout location-based game within the coming weeks.
Greed City is a free game and a light 2 MB download. Windows Phone 8 users can grab it here from the Store. Don’t forget to follow yours truly, EastX within the game! Just head to your profile page, tap Search, and then swipe over to Player.
