Gameloft's MLP FIM Game
Feb. 6th, 2013 07:18 pmNothing says "I'm a crank on the Internet" like complaining about a free game that doesn't work. But I am. Kinda. I was all ready to post a positively glowing review until Sunday, when the MLP FIM game prompted me to download an update. What did Mom always say? "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"?
Gah! I shall forever rue the finger tap that has caused me so much pain and angst. The game is so charming, with its happy little songs and happy little ponies doing happy little things that I was left wondering what they were up to as the game kept quitting after seeing the blue Gameloft screen.
If I sound over theatrical, it's because this is the game that pony fans have been waiting for some time. It's not meant for four year olds. It's not endless brushing manes or tails. There's nary a cake to be baked and decorated. They hit a sweet spot and totally messed it up with crappy code. And oh yeah, there's another big glitch:
DO NOT UNINSTALL THE GAME.
DO NOT UNINSTALL THE GAME.
From poking around on messageboards, all the game data is stored locally, so anything you bought or built is completely lost upon uninstall. So, DO NOT UNINSTALL THE GAME.
Despite being essentially a Farmville clone set in Ponyville, the premise is that Nightmare Moon has destroyed the village and it has to be rebuilt. The game play differs from other social games in that instead of mindlessly collecting things, you need to level up the ponies so that they can work at jobs. You still need to construct buildings and grind for gold, but I hit level 30 in a week's worth of play, so the pacing is actually pretty good. Only three quests at a time are available, so it's not overwhelming. I had just hit the part of the game where gem purchases are encouraged and where hearts are required. Gems are purchasable, but you need friends to get hearts. Sadly, I had no friends! I turned to LJ and found a bunch, but ran into another glitchy part - it takes a long time for Gameloft Live friends to show up, and I couldn't test the FB friend theory because the game was now borked.
One huge bonus of the game is that an Internet connection isn't needed to play, so I could sneak in some gold grinding on the bus. But until the game is fixed for Android, I'm out of luck!
Gah! I shall forever rue the finger tap that has caused me so much pain and angst. The game is so charming, with its happy little songs and happy little ponies doing happy little things that I was left wondering what they were up to as the game kept quitting after seeing the blue Gameloft screen.
If I sound over theatrical, it's because this is the game that pony fans have been waiting for some time. It's not meant for four year olds. It's not endless brushing manes or tails. There's nary a cake to be baked and decorated. They hit a sweet spot and totally messed it up with crappy code. And oh yeah, there's another big glitch:
DO NOT UNINSTALL THE GAME.
DO NOT UNINSTALL THE GAME.
From poking around on messageboards, all the game data is stored locally, so anything you bought or built is completely lost upon uninstall. So, DO NOT UNINSTALL THE GAME.
Despite being essentially a Farmville clone set in Ponyville, the premise is that Nightmare Moon has destroyed the village and it has to be rebuilt. The game play differs from other social games in that instead of mindlessly collecting things, you need to level up the ponies so that they can work at jobs. You still need to construct buildings and grind for gold, but I hit level 30 in a week's worth of play, so the pacing is actually pretty good. Only three quests at a time are available, so it's not overwhelming. I had just hit the part of the game where gem purchases are encouraged and where hearts are required. Gems are purchasable, but you need friends to get hearts. Sadly, I had no friends! I turned to LJ and found a bunch, but ran into another glitchy part - it takes a long time for Gameloft Live friends to show up, and I couldn't test the FB friend theory because the game was now borked.
One huge bonus of the game is that an Internet connection isn't needed to play, so I could sneak in some gold grinding on the bus. But until the game is fixed for Android, I'm out of luck!