S&S Mobile Review: Pixel People

Title: Pixel People
Format: iOS
Release Date: January 31, 2013
Publisher: Chillingo
Developer: Chillingo
Price: Free
ESRB Rating: 4+

Chillingo has one of the best mobile track records around, and Pixel People is another great little downloadable title that you can spend an uncanny amount of hours in.  I've kinda gotten out of free to play sims, but this game instantly brought me back.


Story, Presentation, and Core Gameplay:

If you haven't played the game yet, you wouldn't expect it to have any type of story attached to it, but it actually has one.  The game takes place after the world has gone through a cataclysmic apocalypse, where the Earth has blown up and all of humanity has been wiped out.  It's your job to repopulate the planet, and to get everybody up and working.  You don't go about this the traditional route either, you have to clone everyone to get the society back up and running.  The game's tone would have been a lot darker, if the developers would have went another way with the art style.  The pixelated art definitely looks good, don't get me wrong about that, but with the story, it doesn't really match up.  The game was developed with both the iPhone and the iPad in mind, so you really can't go wrong with either device. If you want the best looking version possible, you'll need a device with Retina Display.  When you get deeper in the game and start unlocking more and more professions, the art really makes this game stand out.  Each profession looks visually unique, and really crisp.  Even though when you pair the visuals up with the story, it doesn't really blend well, but everything else about the graphics really separates this game from the herd of free to play sims.
The music is nothing spectacular, it features subtle tones that won't blow you away, but it can be catchy when you're zoning out while wearing some good headphones.  Since this is a sim, the gameplay has a lot of different components to learn in order to get your society up and running.  The big objective of the game is to unlock professions for your society.  You do this by combining or splicing clones, like if you combine a Mayor and an Engineer, you can unlock the Architect.  There are a total of 150 professions to unlock, so it'll take a lot of time to unlock them all.  When you unlock a certain profession, you get access to new buildings and bonuses for your society.  They can also boost your city's income and give you more citizens, further growing your society.  The game really is a simple a city building sim game, and it delivers on all fronts.  It'll require you to think, with only a limited amount of building space, you won't just be piling on the same buildings over and over, each building will require a real decision that help you the most.  The game is free to play, but there are a number of micro transactions in the game to assist you if you need it.  Purchasing Utopium, a currency that helps you build faster, isn't necessary in the slightest.  If you get really into the game though, I can see spending a couple of bucks for in game currency.  The game is definitely a load of fun, and it'll leave you wanting more when you put it down.

Final Thoughts:

This game is a love letter to any hardcore fan of city building sims.  The App Store is littered with sim games, but Pixel People manages to separate itself from the cluttered genre.  If you're iPhone or iPad has been picking up dust lately, this game can definitely change that.

S&S Rating: 8.5/10

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