Would you read Facebook updates written by strangers? Let’s face it, it’s not like they would be any less interesting than what’s penned by your real “friends.” What if the status updates were written by not only strangers, but people who didn’t exist at all? Would you take a peek?
Oddly, reading updates to Bitbook, the fake social networking website that links the fake inhabitants of a fake skyscraper, is one of the most compelling parts of “Tiny Tower,” a temporarily addictive building game for your Apple hand-held.
With status updates ranging from cattiness — “I can’t stand new roomie Heather’s hair!” — to in-jokes about video games — “They say the universe is at least 150 gigapixels wide” — this parodic metacreation is a sign of the times and an emblem of what a departure “Tiny Tower” is from its clear inspiration, 1994’s masterful “SimTower.” If “SimTower” was an antfarm of faceless drones riding elevators and renting apartments, “Tiny Tower” is a glimpse into a society. Your residents have names and interests and clothes, and, in a mechanic reminiscent of Tamagotchi — you know, those digital pets that kids used to have on keychains — you must take care of them. You assign them jobs in the various shops you build in your tower, manually transport them via elevator, and tell them what to do at work. These tasks — flip burgers, sell books, what have you — take a couple hours each, and you have to check in several times a day for your tower to run efficiently.
| ‘Tiny Tower’ |
| » Systems: iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch |
| » Price: Free |
| » Rating: 2 out of 5 stars |
All this brings in money, and is incredibly addictive early on, when new floors don’t cost much to build, but after a couple weeks you realize there’s no real object to the game. There’s no goal, no magic floor number, and what was once charming and fast-paced becomes just another thing to check on your iPhone.
