dear zynga

    Quote from Pampers

    well you don't really play tiny tower, you check in for 2mins at a time, restocking and doing misc work

    A bit like most 90s simulation games, then.

    Quote

    ":22gpfbk5]I still play angry birds when I got to the shitter, bout time I move to something else. Tiny tower it is.

    No, Tiny Tower isn't an actual game, it's a chore. You'll be checking your phone every ten minutes until your spirit is broken and you stop playing, but when you dedicate time to sit down with it, there's nothing to do but endlessly move people up and down the elevators. If you want a bathroom game, get PathPix.

    Quote from Thrik

    Yeah, it's clearly a rip. While I can't deny that Zynga's version is very charming graphically, I think we all know that it's not a particularly big deal to take something someone else has already done the cranial work for — and more importantly, tested whether or not it's a successful concept that people want to play — and then slap some nicer paint over it. When you've got thousands of staff that's an incredible weak move, glad the masses are being alerted to it.

    Zynga's version looks like something made by junior artists on macromedia flash lol

    Eh, it looks like a fairly typical Flash/mobile game. I can't say they pull it off badly because it looks fine, even if it is the style 99% of them go for. If NimbleBit didn't go for the awesome retro style it probably wouldn't look a great deal different.

    Nothing Zynga is doing is illegal and we aren't heartbroken, angry or feeling victimized. We just couldn't pass up an opportunity to poke fun at Zynga.

    Quote from zaphod

    Nothing Zynga is doing is illegal and we aren't heartbroken, angry or feeling victimized. We just couldn't pass up an opportunity to poke fun at Zynga.

    Regardless of how much this will affect you and your partners in the end, I think it's good that you call them out on this. The amount of people who share and comment on the story shows that lots of game makers are shocked that this sort of thing happens. I'm sure you guys will be OK, but it still doesn't make it right. I don't think Apple is going to do anything about this, I'm not even sure if Zynga will comment on it, but you guys did the best out of the situation and now even more people know about Tiny Tower and NimbleBit. Kudos!

    Quote from Rick_D

    be honest, did you see a surge in TT sales after this?

    Tiny tower is free with in-app purchases of tokens you can spend to make the game go faster. It's the exact same insidious business model as Zynga's products.

    Quote from Jetsetlemming

    Tiny tower is free with in-app purchases of tokens you can spend to make the game go faster. It's the exact same insidious business model as Zynga's products.

    i was wondering why nobody had pointed this out yet.

    I think its a brilliant move to combat piracy. Cracks in the future will not be about allowing you to open the or log into the game, it will be about getting endless "moves" within the game.

    Imagine if you had to purchase actions that you spent with your mouse and keyboard in starcraft 2. They'd be gazillionaires! (oh wait, they are)

    Quote from csyver

    i was wondering why nobody had pointed this out yet.

    It's what 99% of mobile games do so it's hardly noteworthy. 'Freemium'.

    Quote from Thrik

    i was wondering why nobody had pointed this out yet.

    It's what 99% of mobile games do so it's hardly noteworthy. 'Freemium'.

    freemium isn't mutually exclusive with good gameplay/games. games like tiny tower offer absolutely no fun gameplay value. you can only pay to make it less worse, not better.

    it works in the same way, and for the same reason, as farmville does.

    don't get me wrong. i think these games are ingeniously crafted. it's just that it's not very ...ethical.

    Tiny Tower has a ton of charm and style to it and that kept me playing it for about two weeks, at least. There just really isn't any gameplay to it though but "wait for these things to finish then restart them, you can pay to make them finish faster if you want". You could design an identical, less cute game out of that computer in Lost that they kept having to put the numbers into to stop the island from blowing up. I wish Nimblebit would make a game that had gameplay that was worthy of their stylistic quality.

    I'll tell you what, this thread has given me a proper craving for a good new sim like RollerCoaster Tycoon or Theme Park or something — but not on a little handheld. Where are these games.

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