In a move that’s not entirely unexpected, another popular Facebook title is being brought over to iOS devices. Bulkypix, in collaboration with Kobojo, are adapting PyramidVille for Apple devices. Dubbed PyramidVille Adventure this time around.

This is looking to be more than a mere straight port, however. While the developers have indeed carried the Ancient Egyptian city-building and citizen-gathering mechanics over, they’ve gone and added some new stuff as well. Players will be able to find special items that allow them to build special structures such as the Great Sphinx, as well as take part in a new collection of mini-games that can actually reduce the amount of real-time waiting required for various actions. And, of course, the entire interface has been redesigned for iOS with touch controls and the like.

Those looking to become the next Ramses (or Cleopatra!) will still have to wait a bit before they can experience the 6 million player strong Facebook phenomena on the go. PyramidVille Adventure isn’t set to come out for another month or so, towards the tail end of January. It’ll be free-to-play, and universal, so once it does come out there won’t be much of a reason to avoid it. Aside from the obvious ones like “free time” and “loved ones” anyway.

Flight simulators have been extremely popular within certain circles, especially the PC crowd. Hundreds of thousands of logged flight time, tons of mods, even elaborate homemade rigs… It’s one of those things that’s just insanely popular among a specific set of people.

With that rabid fanbase in mind, TAS Games is preparing to release Flight Unlimited – a less expansive but no less impressive single-aircraft simulation. Players can freely explore the immense city and parts of the surrounding suburbs in their adorable little Cesna. Exploration is the key element here, as there don’t seem to be any official tasks or missions to complete. It’s just the player, the plane, and a city full of things to buzz, land on and crash into. And it sure looks pretty.

Flight Unlimited is available on the App Store now for $2.99. iPhone 3GS users and below need not apply. It’s currently only planned for the iPad (1 and 2) and the iPhone 4 (and 4S).

$2.99

Flight Unlimited

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2011-11-30 :: Category: Games

Create and customize a wildlife reserve. Manage various park minutiae. Upgrade facilities and inhabitants in order to bring in the big bucks. It sounds fairly typical of a good number of freemium park sims, but Fantasy Safari twists it up a bit. By adding fantasy creatures, naturally.

Dragons, frozen wolves, phoenixes and more. It’s a bit of a departure from the usual fare, to say the least. Now, thanks to EA Mobile, we can all try our hand at running our own zoo full of non-existent animals. 40 different non-existent animals, at that. 40 non-existent animals that can learn new abilities (i.e. fire breathing) as savvy players futz with their enclosures.

Anyone looking to try their hand at managing a theme park/zoo with a bit more… “flavor” can do so right now. Fantasy Safari is already on the App Store and, like most (read: all) free-to-play titles it doesn’t require any money to get started.

FREE!

Fantasy Safari

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2011-11-02 :: Category: Games

Granted, there are far more Sims titles available for the PC, but the App Store has certainly seen it’s fair share. It may need a few dozen more releases in order to catch up, but Electronic Arts is definitely doing their part to give the series wings on iOS devices. Their fourth attempt at miniaturizing the drug addiction-like voyeur/god simulator has resulted in a hand-held rendition of The Sims Medieval.

In this newest installment of what will inevitably boil-down to a game of interior decoration murder (we all eventually try to kill them, there’s no shame in admitting it), things have gotten decidedly more fantasy RPG-like. This is primarily because of the inclusion of quests and a legitimate medieval setting, but those aren’t the only reasons. There are new avatar options such as a dungeon keeper or vampire, the ability to create a guild and get help with various quests from sim-friends. There’s even the inclusion of a first for the entire Sims series: combat. That’s right, players can finally collect and use weapons in duels with other sims. And, of course, there’s the always-present home customization.

The Sims Medieval is available right now for $4.99. It’s time to get busy with the questing.

$2.99

$4.99

The Sims™ Medieval

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2011-09-22 :: Category: Games

A new developer by the name of Maniac Games is working on their first title, Insane Arcade, set to release later this fall. Following the basic freemium model made popular by games like Farmville, players will be able to fill their arcades with a wide selection of machines in an attempt to attract customers and earn more money, so they can buy more machines and outfit their arcades.

The Minnesota-based group plans to include hundreds of machines that will run the gamut from skeeball to dancing games and beyond. What makes things even more interesting is that players won’t just sit back and watch (and wait) for the money to roll in. They’ll be taking a more active roll in helping customers find the game they want to play by “speaking” to them and then guiding them to the right machine. And, of course, there are social elements that include visiting a friend’s arcade and even playing a few mini-games.

What has me the most excited about Insane Arcade is that it goes beyond running a single venue. Once players have had enough success they can expand and franchise out their arcade, which will allow them to run several of them at the same time. The part of my brain that absolutely adores micro management is positively salivating at the idea.

Anyone looking for a bit more information, or that’s interested in helping these gentlemen finish this promising title, should go ahead and check out their Kickstarter page. Based on the samples provided, I think the $20 pledge that grants a free soundtrack download is the best place to start. Seriously, this game has some great music. Or it will, rather.

Keep an eye out for Insane Arcade later this year.

It’s human nature to look back at the past and remember it more fondly than the present. Rose tinted glasses ensure that everything just seems that bit better back in the day. Soccer is no different. Having been a child of the 1980s and regularly reminded by my father how the sport was so much better when players weren’t paid millions upon millions and in the days when England were half decent at the game, I wish I’d been around more for the decade. Championship Manager 1980s Legends enables me to relive those halcyon days though and it makes for a pretty sound management title too.

Upon starting a new game, you get the choice of three periods during the 1980s – 1980, 1983 and 1986. In each case, historical events affect what happens. 1980 for example was the year in which Nottingham Forest were Kings of Europe but there was also the rise of hooliganism. By 1986 all English teams were banned from Europe due to the Heysel Stadium disaster. Each of these factors affect how the game plays out. It also means a plethora of soon to be greats. Load up 1980 and you get a very young Gary Lineker, available to buy at the tender age of 19.

The historical element is fantastic, especially being able to effectively change the history books, but it’s fortunate that this is backed up by an enjoyable football sim too. It’s perhaps not as detailed as Football Manager Handheld 2011 but then again the focus is on history and nostalgia rather than anything else.

Typical features such as creating your own tactics and playing styles, adjusting training schedules and set piece takers are all there. There’s also the media negotiations – charming journalists at press conferences, that adds an appropriate extra twist to things. Previous bugs that Championship Manager 2011 suffered from have clearly been ironed out as nothing peculiar occured results wise.

The in-game engine is a little poor to look at and bizarrely there’s no sound whatsoever in the game, but excluding these presentational elements, Championship Manager 1980s Legends provides a pretty sound game of football management. If you’re a child of the 80s like myself, you’ll love the nostalgia infused experience. It makes for a great change of pace and you can’t help but wonder why no one thought of it before.

Download Championship Manager 1980s Legends now, currently only available in the UK.

There is great excitement over yesterday being the day when AT&T and Verizon began selling the iPad, but the good feelings between Apple and wireless service providers may not last much longer. Reports out of Europe state that Apple is working on a special SIM card which will allow users to buy iPhones directly from Apple and turn on service via the App Store. The new card will apparently be built directly into the phone and will let users effectively cut out the middleman.

The device is a joint venture between Apple and Gemalto, and the new SIM card will prompt users to select their carrier and activate their phone via an App Store download rather than having to call or physically visit a store to get things set up and working properly. The chip’s built-in ROM already has all the technical and security aspects written on it, leaving space where users fill in the carrier info via download. Thus, your phone is a blank slate, ready to roll as soon as you pop the last piece of the puzzle in place.

This rumor, if true, would basically allow Apple to fling open the doors and let just about any carrier they authorize provide iPhone service. While the device is already available on multiple carriers in Europe, moving from one company to another is still a cumbersome task. With this new SIM card changing to a new wireless plan is as simple as downloading a new bit of software, allowing consumers to be much more mobile with their mobile phones. Imagine that!

Such a setup would be a sweetheart deal for customers, who could easily jump from carrier to carrier in order to constantly get the best deal. Having a permanent, phone-specific SIM card means you’ll never lose your personal information and saved numbers, so all you have to worry about is how to save the most money. The only ones upset by this would be the wireless carriers, but it’s hard to drum up much sympathy for that lot.

[via Gigaom]

Farmville has only just appeared on the iPhone, and ngmoco is already testing the waters with their own farming sim, We Farm. If you thought We Rule was the developer’s answer to the Facebook farming phenomenon, you were only half right.

Everything about We Farm should be immediately familiar to We Rule fans; from the plot of land you are originally assigned, to the farms (called gardens) you have to maintain, to the Gro (think Mojo) you have to purchase to speed up various processes, there is little initial difference between the two games.

The differences become more apparent as you play through the tutorial which quickly progresses you to a level 6 farmer. Building a coop allows you to raise chickens (and later ducks and, I assume, other fowl as you progress in the game) which you must pet to keep happy. This latter innovation brings a simple type of Tamagochi pet management to We Farm, but it remains to be seen if this is developed at later levels in the game. I’m currently building some of the other farm areas available during the early stages in the game, so it remains to be seen what other new features We Farm will surprise me with.

The overall presentation of We Farm is, if you can believe it, even more cartoonish and exaggerated than We Rule, and the sound effects and music complement this approach perfectly, with frequent interludes of hayseed, down home banjos and harmonicas. It definitely has its charms, but will fans of We Rule want to build a similar mini-society in a similar way? The two games are very much alike.

We Farm is currently available in Canada. Look for it to hit the US iTunes store soon.

The Sims 3: World Adventures for the iPhone is a different experience from The Sims 3 that is currently on the App Store. The game adds many new features and places to explore, without complicating the experience too much.

Some of the new features include that ability to travel to Egypt, Paris, and China. In addition, the size of each city map has been increased dramatically from the previous version. In addition, there are more customization options for your Sim including more face types.

The game includes four new mini game types scattered throughout the game. And some interesting easter eggs like the mummy in Cairo. Overall, the game seems to have a little more character than The Sims 3.

If you have already been playing The Sims 3 on the iPhone, you have the ability to transfer your Sim to the new version. The game walks you through the process when you start it — you basically just save an image of your Sim from the previous version and import that into this version. You characteristics and any extra items that you have bought will come over with it. You do start over with money in the new game though.l

Overall, the Sims 3 is a good starting point for people new to the Sims universe or people who just want to get a fix in while on the go. The Sims 3: World Adventures should launch in the App Store soon.

Hit the jump for more screen shots of The Sims 3: World Adventures.

Continue reading First Look: The Sims 3: World Adventures »