My Review of Disney Magic Kingdoms
I had been waiting for this app since its announcement at D23 last year, and I've been playing it since it arrived in the App Store. I was hoping that it was going to be a "Roller Coaster Tycoon" style game and I was slightly disappointed that it turned out to be more of a "Simpson's Tapped Out" model. That being said, I enjoyed the Simpson's game, and was ready to get started on Magic Kingdoms. Right from the start, I was impressed with the look of the game. The graphics and animations are fantastic. I love the reinterpretations of the familiar attractions and landmarks of the different Disney Parks. I also love the look of the different "Mickey Ears" you have to collect to level up the different characters. It runs very smoothly on my iPhone 6 Plus, as well.
Now for the negative aspects of the game. First, and this is critical, this game will not appeal to young children. Sure, they'll be taken with it initially, but their interest will quickly wane after all their characters are tied up with hours long tasks and there's nothing for them to do. Kids aren't known for their patience. Second, there just isn't enough freedom in the game to make choices. There's actually no freedom at all. Sure, you can choose to do one task over another, and you can choose where to place certain attractions and decorations, but this will not advance you in the game. The only way to advance in the game and unlock the rest of the park is to complete a very linear path of quests, over which you have no decisions to make at all. And because of this, this game will also not appeal to most adults for very long. And lastly, the in app purchase marketplace seems to be out of whack when you compare the cost of purchasing gems to the amount of gems needed to purchase attractions or speed up tasks. I've played these types of games in the past and would occasionally spend five dollars for in game currency to buy this or that, but when I look at the economy of this game $5 gets you 110 gems, which isn't enough to purchase the cheapest attraction, RC Racers (125 Gems). This needs to be tweaked.
All in all, I think that this game could be very enjoyable with a few improvements: Shorter wait times, more freedom, and a more reasonable economic structure.