As a kid I was obsessed with The Simpsons. I'd be there every night at 5pm watching Sky One after school for 3 hours, before retreating to my room and watching my stack of Simpsons DVDs until I fell asleep. From the ages of 8-13 the show had a grip on me like nothing else, so it was only natural Tapped Out was the first app I downloaded when I was first trusted with internet access.
The game was truly built by fans... It felt like stepping into a space which really cared about the show as much as I did.
The game advertised the ability to build your own Springfield, unlocking characters gradually as you played until you had a full city just like the one in the show - which to me, at the time, was incredible. I'd spend hours rearranging buildings, decorating the streets, visiting other people's Springfield's to see all the cool stuff they had. The game was truly built by fans, it contained niche references round its every corner and would have events based around classic episodes, it felt like stepping into a space which really cared about the show as much as I did.
As time went on it became clear that without 'donuts,' building the town I wanted was more or less impossible.
It did however, come with some drawbacks, The game was built with the ‘freemium’ model in mind, meaning that around every corner you'd be pushed micro transactions to make things go quicker, with the in game currency of ‘donuts.’ As time went on it became clear that without 'donuts,' building the town I wanted was more or less impossible. Without donuts, I began to lose interest as it felt like I would never progress without spending massive amounts of cash and resorted instead to just watching videos of adults with a lot more money than I had building massive towns on YouTube instead. I would come back to the game a few more times over the years but the same frustration always returned.
I plan on enjoying the last few events they have planned and seeing how far I can get before the game finally leaves us forever
Despite this annoying aspect of the game, the love the creators clearly had for the show, and the fact it brought so much joy to me as a kid starting out building my own Springfield, means that it will always carry a special place in my heart. For the next few months before servers shut down I plan on enjoying the last few events they have planned and seeing how far I can get before the game finally leaves us forever.