1st Impressions

Before reviewing this game I have a couple of confessions to make. First, while it has been a while since I communicated with them or even spent any time with their games, I do have a long relationship with the developer, LDW. Several years ago I was heavily involved in beta testing and then reviewing some of their mobile applications and I have to tell you that I have never been associated with a nicer developer than Arthur Humphrey and his wife Carla.

Secondly, I have never really been a huge fan of spending hours and hours on a mobile device or my laptop just to maintain an imaginary farm on Facebook or a family in my iPhone. When I read on my iPhone’s facebook app (you can block the messages on the PC version) that a friend has grown some pretend crop on their imaginary Farm in Farmville, the thought crosses my mind that these folks need to get a REAL life.

The problem (call it an epiphany if you want) is that, after spending some time with my Virtual Family (I named them after members of my own family and my mother in law would be so proud that her daughter married a rocket scientist… LOL) I can really start to see the appeal of constantly checking in on your family to check their status and make sure that they are all right.

So…. On with the review. Virtual families is an iPhone version of the same game that is available for other mobile platforms as well as for the PC. In it, you adopt a family (one member at a time) and and assist them in their lives as it takes place in real time. By that I mean that the time in the game progresses at the same pace as it does in real time (I wonder if they lost an hour sleep due to DST last night like I did… LOL) and so they sleep when you do and are up and awake during the day just like you are.

Based on the same game engine that is used for the Virtual Villagers games, Virtual Families offers a bird’s eye view of the members of your virtual family as well as the house and surrounding yard. You can control the members of your family directly (a simple action by simply tapping on them and moving them from one room to another…) of indirectly my helping to form their personality and character. This is done by using a set of gloves, one used for scolding behavior and the other for praising their behavior. You have to be careful in how often you use them however because using either one too often will annoy them and may cause them to become rebellious.

While some players of this game might think that this is a scaled down version of one of the Sims games, I would have to disagree. The Sims games, specifically Sim3 for the iPhone, not only costs 3 times as much but seems more designed about running around and partying with other players, whereas this one is based on raising a family and then handing the reins over to the next generation to watch them continue maturing and growing up as well. As a matter of fact the game offers a Family Tree screen where you can track the generations of family members that you have assisted in their growth and lives. It will leave you feeling like proud parents or grandparents.

There is much more to this game than I have discussed and I feel that I have only scratched the service. In an effort to keep this mobile review from being 12 pages long, however, I will refer you to the games support page where, among other things, you can find a 30 page game guide containing hints and tips from the developer.

The only suggestion I have for the developer might be to offer an option to allow for larger font size in the menu options as well as the pop up messages. My 48 year old eyes find it hard to read them at times on the small iPhone screen.

If you would like to check it out before purchasing it, there is a free Lite version available in the iTunes store and you can also check out a video on YouTube. I wouldn’t waste your time, however. For only $1.99 you can have generations worth of fun.