To be honest, I am a 30-year-old veteran gamer who usually only visits the hardware area. It is purely accidental that I post here today. But seeing that no one is discussing this game in the forum, I really can't help but want to say a few words. Let me talk about the background first. I have been playing mobile games since the Symbian era, from Snake to Genshin Impact, so I have some say in business simulation games.
"SimCity: I Am the Mayor" is the mobile game version of EA's classic IP. It has exceeded 15.5 million downloads worldwide in three weeks after its launch, and it also topped the list in iOS for a week. This achievement is indeed something in the mobile game market. But we can't be fooled by the data. After all, today's players are very good. I have to decide whether it's fun or not.
Let's talk about the advantages first. What surprises me most about this game is its 3D graphics, which are really not the kind of stickers that fool people. If you zoom in closer, you can see citizens walking in small parks, cars traveling on the road, and when the street lights turn on at night, the light and shadow effects are, to be honest, rare on mobile platforms. Moreover, this game has added a coastline expansion system. You can build commercial areas along the beach and build high-rise buildings while looking at the sea view. Veteran players will understand the sense of accomplishment of building a coastal city with your own hands.
Then there is the airfield system, which can move landmarks such as Tokyo Tower and Eiffel Tower as decorations. The krypton gold bosses can directly build a city of wonders of the world, and even a small number of krypton party members can get one or two pieces in a month. Compared with the similar games "City Island" and "Sim City Construction", this game has too many types of buildings. The residential buildings alone have three styles: modern, European, and Asian, not to mention the piles of park decorations and municipal facilities.
Of course, the shortcomings also have to be discussed. First of all, this game has a strict mayor level threshold for building high-level buildings, unlike "Dream Town" where you can plan freely. If you want to unlock a hospital, you must first increase the population to a certain number, which forces you to go to the residential area without brains. Then the capacity of the backpack is really small, and the warehouse is always full. Looking at the map full of resources and being unable to collect them, it feels like being hungry for three days and seeing a buffet but not being able to eat.
Let's talk about the krypton gold issue. The charging model of this game is free download plus in-app purchase, which is the same as most similar games. But its in-app purchases are a bit subtle. Although you can play it without spending money, the construction speed will be severely slowed down. I tried to compare it with the next door game "SimCity: Construction". Our game is relatively more conscientious in accelerating construction, but the setting of construction workers is really torture. Three workers will lie down after finishing the work. If you want to build more, you have to wait for time or spend green money. Not bragging, this is really annoying.
Another point I must complain about is that the social system in this game is basically non-existent. You said that I, an old player, wanted to find a sense of player community in the game, but in the end I could only look at screenshots of other people's cities on the leaderboard. Compared with the PC version of "SimCity 5", the social functions are simply a step backward. But thinking about it from another perspective, EA can bring this IP to mobile phones while retaining the core city-building gameplay, which is already pretty good.
Let's compare it horizontally with similar games. "Dream Town" focuses on agriculture and light social interaction, "Volcano Island" focuses on combat collection, and "SimCity: I Am the Mayor" focuses more on pure urban planning. Its biggest advantage is EA's golden brand and the 3D engine. Its biggest shortcoming is that the novice guidance is too rough. During my first week of playing, there were several systems that I had no idea what they were doing, so I had to figure them out on my own.
To be honest, in today's mobile game market, it's easy to draw cards and swipe materials. It's rare to find a game that can quietly build a city. Although "SimCity: I Am the Mayor" is not a masterpiece, it at least allows me, an old player, to find the feeling of using the mouse in front of the computer to pave roads and connect water pipes bit by bit. This kind of pure, self-sufficient happiness is indeed rare in today's fast food game.
Finally, let me summarize. If you are a hardcore player who pursues in-depth management, this game may not satisfy you. Its strategic depth is much worse than that of PC platform works. But if you are looking for a city-building game with beautiful graphics and moderate pace to kill some spare time on your mobile phone, this game is worth a try. Not bragging, it is indeed the first echelon in the same genre, but you have to be mentally prepared for EA's operating routines. Okay, that's it, I'm going to build the sewers in the new city. 💪🏙️