MyTown 2 on iOS: A less social CityVille that hits closer to hometown

MyTown 2, at first glance, is just another city builder. But give Nightclub City maker Booyah your time, and you'll soon realize that this location-based iPhone and iPad game has more to it than simply building a town. The game's title hits it right on the nose: You are essentially rebuilding your own neighborhood in MyTown 2 with representations of real-life spots around you. It's a novel concept, but somewhat flawed due to the limitations of location-based services and how MyTown 2 works (or doesn't work) around those limitations.

If you've played CityVille either on the web or through CityVille Hometown, you already know the basics of MyTown 2. Players build houses, community buildings and businesses to increase population and thus the profitability of said businesses. You'll earn experience and coins for nearly every action, and use those resources to gain access to new types of buildings, decorations and to expand the boundaries of your town.

But where MyTown 2 separates itself is its approach to businesses. Every shop in your town must be attached to a business in the real world that's within a few hundred yards of you. This is done through the iPhone's location capabilities, and fairly accurately. MyTown 2 recognizes businesses around you, and represents them in the game according to the service they provide. For instance, bring, say, Dattilo's Delicatessen into MyTown 2. The game will most likely know that it is a restaurant and, when placed the deli in your little digital town, it will actually look like a deli.
Gallery: MyTown 2 for iOS
However, the game has also mistaken bakeries for coffee shops and bike shops for retail outlets, but that's a minor issue compared to others. These businesses are your biggest cash cows, and you can set them to work for various amounts of time--the game will provide push notifications for when work shifts are through. As you continue to set-and-forget businesses for work, they'll level up, provide more coins and unlock remodeling options that change their looks. Most importantly, you can "check in" to any business within a few hundred yards of you. At this point, think Foursquare meets CityVille.

You can check into more business at a time as you level up, and checking into those that exist in your town will provide big bonuses like increased earnings and work speed. Checking into nearby businesses just for kicks will grant experience points and other bonuses like "First", or the first to check into a given nearby shop. MyTown 2, which is guides players largely through goals, creates a sense of home that other mobile social games might strive to achieve. But an idea as ambitious as this is not without its flaws.
MyTown 2 gameplay
For one, you do not have to be even relatively close to a business to check in and gain its bonuses. Frankly, you could play the entire game from the comfort of your bed (an agoraphobe's dream!). Aren't location-based games supposed to inspire players to explore, perhaps even leave their comfort zone and experience something new? Secondly, the game lacks the social features you'd expect (like Facebook Connect). Even with achievements to share through Game Center integration and Twitter support, thanks to iOS 5, it sure feels lonely for a game so focused on the world around you.

That said, MyTown 2 is a refreshingly smooth experience (once you get past the lengthy initial load time) with an adorable art style and accurate touch controls. The game does some things stunningly well, like allow you to create your own version of your neighborhood and make it thrive. However, for a game that touts location-based gameplay from a developer best known for social games like Nightclub City, MyTown 2 can feel quite isolated after you notice that it can essentially be played from your bedroom Though, the game is free to play, and we're sure Booyah will update the game plenty. So, why not give it a try, if only to see the potential of location-based mobile gaming?

Click here to download MyTown 2 on the App Store for Free Now >

Have you played the original MyTown before? Are you a fan of location-based mobile games and services? Which are your favorites?

OpenFeint powers Chinese mobile social game network Game Zone

Google and the Chinese government have a ... tenuous relationship. And mobile social gaming, namely Android gaming, has suffered as a result. Amidst frequent shutouts of the official Android Market in China, Chinese game company The9 has announced Game Zone, an OpenFeint-powered mobile social game network and distribution channel.

Through Game Zone, Western mobile social game makers can hit Chinese mobile game audiences across 30 Android app stores other than the Android Market. The service was made possible by deals The9 made with all three major Chinese mobile carriers: China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom. The deals also allow Game Zone to be preinstalled on Lenovo, HTC, and Motorola Android phones.

While The9 will fund smaller American and European Android game creators through the $100 million-strong Fund9, it's the big league creators that might benefit most from this. PopCap recently announced that Plants vs Zombies will shuffle toward Chinese audiences, which is joined by Rovio's Angry Birds. Several Zynga games have launched in China, and perhaps this opportunity will nudge similar moves by the social game giant on Android.

We often talk about how Japan's mobile social game companies are encroaching upon Western audiences. It looks like the inverse is happening in China, where Western mobile and social game makers are looking to tap into their audience. It makes you wonder why Chinese game companies have yet to try the same at such a scale.

Would Western game companies be smart to enter China through products like Game Zone? When, if ever, will Chinese social game companies push as hard into the West as Japanese companies?

Facebook Pokémon clone MinoMonsters migrates to iOS for $1

You might remember MinoMonsters, game developer Josh Buckley's take on Pokémon for Facebook. Well, that game was either just a test or a flop for the 17-year-old entrepreneur, as his new studio has re-released the game as an iPhone and iPad app. In this new-and-improved MinoMonsters, players must journey across the Kingdom of Zancardi, capturing and battling creatures called Minos for, well, the sake of battling monsters. Come on, it's not as if Pokémon's plot is rock solid either.

The youngin's new studio is called MinoMonsters Inc., so you can tell the guy's dedicated to the concept, which will cost you $.99 on the App Store. Once purchased, you can start trading blows back and forth in turn-based bouts with opponents' monsters either within the game's story or your friends from anywhere in the world. Just like in Pokémon, players' monsters gain new abilities and will become stronger, which helps players find new monsters and defeat tougher opponents.
MinoMonsters in action
The first thing we noticed with these screens of the game in action are the impressive, seemingly hand-drawn graphics. Seriously, this game looks like an episode of Pokémon--look, the comparisons are inevitable at this point--at least when still. MinoMonsters (the company) promises that you can find players to do battle with in under 30 seconds. The game's primary competition on iOS, Monster Galaxy, doesn't seem to have multiplayer just yet. So, now MinoMonsters is the closest you're going to get a Pokémon game on your iPhone.

Click here to download MinoMonsters for $.99 on the App Store Now >

Are you craving that Pokémon experience on your iPhone? Do you think a game like MinoMonsters can feed the need?