I was more than a little confused with the MyTown iPhone app (free) when I first discovered it. The iPhone app describes itself as a GPS game, and while I know what both of things are, they don’t mean much to me when they’re put together.
MyTown is actually quite similar to iPhone apps such as foursquare, Gowalla and Loopt. The difference is that while those apps are best described as social networking tools that help you learn about places in your city, MyTown can best be described as Monopoly-meets-interactive gaming.
Using the iPhone’s built-in GPS, this iPhone app lists businesses in your area. You “check-in” to those locations and are given the option of buying them. As other users visit that business, its value rises and you collect rent, allowing you to buy more properties and gear for your avatar.
As far as game play, it’s very basic. But it’s also a very clever idea and easy to understand why the game has developed a following.
MyTown is not without its issues, though. The game still has small bugs and plenty of people complaining about load times when checking in to a location. Fortunately, reducing wait times has been addressed with the iPhone app’s most recent update.
The game also strikes me as the kind of iPhone app that, regardless of how addictive it is at first, will lose its appeal over time. Upgrading properties and unlocking new ones is easy, leaving it likely you will simply run out of things to do after a while.
Still, this is a solid iPhone game that is both fun and original. It’s also a game that is unique to the iPhone, which earns it major brownie points from this reviewer.
Traditional gamers may find MyTown boring, but I have a feeling most iPhone users will find the iPhone app refreshing. After all, who would have thought a video game would inspire you to get out of the house?
