Update: Review: Fallout Shelter on Android

This is an update to my review of Fallout Shelter on iOS.  In that review, I said that the game constantly crashes on my iPad Mini.

When the game came out on Android, I had to give it a try.  I installed the game on my Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (N1080) and started it.

The game went through a quick tutorial before letting the player do what they want.  While the experience was better in the sense that it didn't crash, it was not much different from the other resource-based games like Virtual Villagers.  You have to build rooms for the resources (food, electricity, and freshwater).  Achievements are a good way to quickly build up your shelter.

I have also bought the Mr. Handy robot to gather resources when I'm offline.

Fallout Shelter gameplay.  Vault resources are shown along the top of the screen.

A notification appears when a room produces resources.

However, after a day of playing the game, I quickly became bored.  The game requires me to do the same task repeatedly.  To "spice things up," the game occasionally throw monsters at you that you have to defeat.  But it feels like a treadmill.  You'll just keep fighting the same Raiders and Radroaches you fought thirty hours ago, and maybe you'll now kill them 25% faster with all your fancy new gear.

Also, there is no peace in your life if you decide to play the game.  The game frequently prompts you to return to it.  Also, if I'm not on the game, I have a sort of withdrawal symptom where I worry that if I'm not on, my colony would be doom.  At the back of my head, I get the nagging feeling is the raider gone for too long and thus is dead?  Is my colony starving?

In the end, although the game is "better" than the other open-ended resource-based game in the sense in that you don't have to pay to "win" the game, I decided to free myself from the chain and uninstall the game from the tablet.

As Paul Tassi from Fobes.com said in A Warning To New 'Fallout Shelter' Players On Android, "It’s the dumbest kind of addiction ... . I wouldn’t have anyone else do the same before figuring out what a shallow experience the game really is.  One day is enough, and it’s the developer’s fault for not making it any deeper than that."

Review: Sims 4 is the most boring game there is

I bought the Sims 4 game from Tesco direct and it arrived within 1 day.  I was very enthusiastic about the game since I've heard so much of the Sims 3.

The install went smoothly taking about 5 minutes and I started the game.  When I install the game, EA offered an "upgrade" for £11.99  I went ahead with the purchase.

I created my Sims of my RP character Lucy Tempest.

Lucy and her mom Haven Tempest watching TV

That was when the trouble started.  I found the controls very, very clunky.  It's very hard to find the controls, and I often find myself "searching" for the items in the console.  Also, the camera angle is awkward and it's hard to change the angle.  In addition, I play with two Sims and I can't do anything while one of the Sims is working.  After spending like 2 hour playing the game, I found it a bore.  Each action incur a loading screen and there's nothing to do.  The load screens are also jarring to the point when I dread going to another neighborhood or playing with another family.

And to make matters worse, the PC crashed on me.  The power light of my PC was on, but the screen was blank.  The monitor simply went blank saying it has gone to standby mode.  I restarted the monitor to no avail.  It said no signal from computer.  However, I saw the power light still on!  The only 'fix' is to press the power button to shutdown the PC and turn it back on.

I promptly uninstalled the game and requested a refund from Tesco.  I also requested a refund from EA for the digital content, which I also got.