Have you ever had the urge to teach reindeer how to fly? How about decide who’s been naughty or nice? Get into the spirit of this most wonderful time of year with Santa’s Village, a civilization builder where you make your very own dream elf village, complete with your very own merry Saint Nick.
Gameplay
Reviewed by Valerie Lauer
If you love civilization builders the Santa’s Village Android app has all the hallmarks of a great one. The game is quest driven, although they do get a bit heavy handed sometimes. You’ll do quests for a friendly snow man and even Santa himself. It’s quite the holly jolly builder, but there’s also a fun comic strip style story going on featuring the evil Grumpkins. They’re not such fans of Christmas.
Between the side story, the quests and a fun set of mini games, Santa’s Village ends up being one of my favorite builder apps I’ve seen this year. Merry Christmas to me! I’m sure the insanely addictive seasonal music and brilliant snowy visage of an elf village on the North Pole help, too. This app is insanely cute and it’s just a darn good civilization builder, once you get past some of the super controlled introductory quests any way.
Layout & Design
Santa's Village
This app is almost worth playing just for the beautiful graphics. It’s a 3D land. You can pinch to zoom and even rotate the entire town 360 degrees. And then there’s Santa. That chubby old dude in the red suit is just so darn adorable I don’t know whether to pinch his cheeks or be afraid, much like every other 5-year-old girl in the world. The structures are beautiful, so is the falling snow. I just love this game.
Functionality
I did have a few problems with the overlord quest system. I accidentally played a mini game before accepting the mini game quest and set myself back eight hours. Oh bother. Other than that slight frustration the app works quite well. It’s pretty processor intensive and takes a few moments to load. But, you can actually play the entire game offline if you choose to, which is a nice touch. Is over the meadow and through the woods in 4G coverage? Either way, you get to play the game. Horray!
Overall Value
Santa’s Village is free to download and play. Of course, there’s a bit of a catch. An in-app star currency can cost real money, so perhaps it’s best if kiddies play this one offline. Still, the game is fun to play and you do not have to spend money to enjoy the app. So go ahead and get in the holiday spirit. Play Santa’s Village and remember what it feels like to be a kid again.
Santa's Village
Android Apps Review Details: Santa’s Village Android app is free. This app requires Android 2.0.1 and up. You may download Santa’s Village from the Android Market.
