Life in the City (a review)

If I've ever been flamboyant, I can't remember.  I've never cared much about fashion, though in my younger days I tried the Goth look when I went to clubs.  I don't watch Top Model or RuPaul's Drag Race.  I wear sandals with jeans and shorts alike, favor solid color polo shirts and my everyday wear consists of a pair of exercise shorts, a t-shirt and fuzzy, black, slip-on old man slippers.  My favorite clothing colors range from black to earth tones.

My husband is the drag queen in the family and has more clothes in his wardrobe than I can ever imagine.  Our room mate makes his own costumes with enough glitter and rhinestones to rival a Christmas tree.

So, why has Disney's City Girl Life on Facebook become one of my favorite games?  I'm not sure I can even explain it, but this simulation game attracts both women and men of all ages to venture into the Big Apple.

City Girl Life, like the rest of the games on Facebook, is free to play with the option to make in-game purchases.  While some games nearly require you to make purchases to progress, the option is not imperative to moving forward in CGL.  To maintain the free nature of the game, there are ads that run periodically to make sure the bills get paid and the developers can keep the fun coming.

Ads can be avoided.  If you follow the game-suggested option, you can avoid ads for 45 days by making an in-game purchase.  I don't mind watching a 30-second ad enough to buy anything.  I have found that playing the game in Fullscreen Mode will avoid the ads that run every 5-10 minutes.  I usually only see 1 or 2 ads during my play sessions - one when I log in to play and another when I go to the Cafe area (more on that later).

City Girl Life has a simple point and click format that follows a game play very similar to the Sims franchise from EA Maxis/Electronic Arts Games.  If you are not familiar with these games, it's a very simple concept.  You control the life of your character through a series of everyday tasks and multi-task quests.  While there is never any danger of your avatar dying, you do need to make sure her basic attributes, such as Friendship, Fun, Health, Hygiene and Rest, are kept at a tolerable level.  Your NPC or Non-Player Character friend, Jenna helps guide you through these tasks initially.  I will give a quick rundown of what these attributes are:

1. Friendship - This can be maintained by visiting neighbors and interacting with them, or by certain interactions with the Cafe barista, Zoe.  Look for the speech bubble next to these activities.
2. Fun - Fun is gained by watching TV, reading a book or any other activity symbolized by a smiley face.
3. Health - This is your hunger and exercise.  You can keep them up by using kitchen objects or exercise objects such as a yoga mat or pilate ball.  Its activities are shown with an apple.
4. Hygiene - Yep, your avatar has to use the bathroom and take a bath or shower every now and then.  Look for the water droplet.
5. Rest - Settle down on the couch or take a nap on the bed.  Just catch some Z's.

Click on an object or neighbor to bring up activity options.  The symbol next to the activity will tell you what attribute will be improved.  Green symbols are everyday traits.  Yellow are skills.  Blue stars pertain to quests.

Some activities help improve traits to progress through the game.  These include things like cooking, safety, creativity and music.  These skills assist you in building your career.

When you first enter the game, you get to design your avatar.  As the name City Girl Life suggests, the avatars are female.  She can have any facial features and hair you want to choose out of the given options.  While there is a limited selection to choose from, you can earn and purchase more through the game.

Playing dress-up can be a lot of fun.  Just remember, you have to work to build your wardrobe!

After playing dress-up, it's time to choose a career.  My girl is working toward being a Chef, but you can also choose from Fashion Designer, Musician, Author and Environmental Engineer.  Don't worry about choosing the wrong one.  You can change your career at any time.  If you want, you can complete one career path and move on to another and become a master (mistress?) of all trades.

Once you've picked your career path, you are ready to make the move into your first apartment.  Since the city CGL is based in is New York City, your first apartment is about the size of a shoebox.

One of my neighbors' shoebox apartment.

Your NPC friend, Jenna, takes you through the tutorial to get you used to City Girl Life.  She will also introduce you to your other NPC friends.  Jenna is also your first neighbor and you can visit her apartment at any time.

Tasks are shown as character circles at the left side of the screen.  Completing tasks rewards you with anything from coins, gold and glam (the currency used in the game) to items needed to complete other tasks.  Some tasks will even reward you with new furniture for your apartment or clothing to add to your wardrobe.  All three currencies can be used in the various shops that open up as you progress through the game to purchase furniture, clothing, shoes and accessories.

Yay! I won 40 Glam!

Daily tasks are provided to you by your NPC friends.  Jenna and Olivia's tasks tend to be mostly everyday activities ranging from going shopping to helping the homeless.  All the tasks involve simple activities such as using the front door to go to a museum or using your in-game computer to research something.  Complete the multiple tasks to get your reward.
Every week, special tasks are released that have ten steps to complete in order to receive a special reward.  These quests reward mid-task glam and gold as well as a piece of furniture that is used to craft or collect objects needed for the quest.  The final prize is normally a special outfit or piece of furniture (or sometimes a bundle of both).  There is also a chance to win another prize when crafting one of the required objects.  These quests and prizes are only available for a limited time, but are usually worth the wait and work.

You can track your progress through the special weekly tasks by the bar at the top of this message box.  I almost have the gold, then it's on to the Purple Mermaid Qipao!

Another NPC will give you tasks in order to advance your career.  I have not worked any of the careers other than Chef.  My helper NPC, Claude, helps advance this story line.  There may be other NPCs that assist with other careers, or Claude may be a master of disguise and work all the jobs with you.  Either way, as you work your way up the ranks you are required to finish different work-related jobs.  Some of these may require recommendations from neighbors or a certain level for skills, such as cooking or knowledge.  With every promotion through the ranks, you gain access to more shops and more rewards as well as a higher pay grade for different jobs.  I recently recieved a new Sous Chef outfit for getting to this career level.

Two of my jobs are still locked.  I have to build up my Knowledge and Cooking Skill Levels to open and complete them.  Only 6 more tasks to get my Strawberry Apron!

Some tasks for your career and for the special quests take some time to complete - anywhere from a couple minutes to 12 and 16 hours.  Plan accordingly if you want to get the prize for the special quests.  The number of days provided is ample enough to complete all of the tasks.  I tend to finish them a couple days before they close, but I also have a bit more time on my hands than most casual gamers.

Each day you can travel to the Grounds Coffee Shop to complete tasks that reward a free spin on the Cafe prize wheel.  Visit Zoe, the barista, and help her and your NPC friends and Cafe patrons with a fun job to gain this prize.  You can use this to get more coins, gold and glam as well as an occasional rare outfit or decoration.

Finally, Veronica reminds you about the daily fashion contest.  Each day has a contest with a different theme.  I've seen themes ranging from Roman Holiday to Day at the Beach.  As your wardrobe grows, you have more creative options to choose from to get the #1 spot amongst your neighbors.  Everyone that participates recieves a reward of glam with the amount depending on the rank you achieve.  Voting is done daily by the players and you can even show off your outfit and ask for votes from your Facebook friends.

Preparing for the Popstar! contest

Check out the game forum to find neighbors to add.  You will need to friend them for Facebook to make them your neighbors, but once added, you can visit their apartments and complete tasks to build your friendship level which will give you more votes when judging or being judged by them in the contest.  Some people have a separate account for their gaming so as not to send game requests to those that don't want them.

I will warn you that there is a glitch that is being addressed by the company concerning neighbors.  For some reason, no new neighbors show up after the initial install of the game.  I've taken to removing the app once a week and reinstallling it.  As long as you choose to NOT remove the game data, you will maintain your progress and your new neighbors will show up.  Until the glitch is fixed, this seems to be the only way around it.  Because it is so simple, it's not much of a bother.

Visiting neighbors can give you both outfit and apartment design ideas.

Use your hard-earned coins, gold and glam to shop, shop, shop.  All of these are rewarded to you for completing tasks and raising your level.  They are also available for in-game purchase, should you so choose. 

A variety of stores open up to you as you advance through job promotions.  Different shops sell different types of clothes, just as in real life.  These types may be required to complete a job or as an idea for your next fashion contest.  They include Night-Life, Activewear and Business Attire to name a few.  You may be asked to build an outfit worth a certain amount of points in one of the categories.  Each article of clothing has a point value to help you reach the goal for your required outfit.  The more expensive the outfit, the higher the point value.  Luckily, it doesn't take long to build your bank - especially if you have neighbors to visit.

Not strong enough to fill my Nightlife needs, but a cute outfit none the less.

You can also move to new, larger apartments as you progress.  This is very helpful as you tend to gather more furniture and fun decorations as you play.  You can decorate any way you want, especially if you want to show off any of the prizes you've earned.  You may even need to upgrade your furniture in order to complete tasks.  The higher the level you gain, the more you get to choose from.  Have fun and express your creativity!

Watching TV in my current apartment.

There are only a couple of cons I have found with City Girl Life.  The first was mentioned earlier with the neighbors.  It's easy to get around and not much to worry about.  The second is the gift limit.  As with many other games, you can send gifts to neighbors and request things you may need.  You can only claim 50 gifts per day.  This isn't a problem if you only have a couple of neighbors.  I have close to 30 at the moment, so I need to pick and choose what I want.  The only time this causes a real problem is when I need a certain object for the special quests.  If there is a collection quest going on, I really need to be picky about what I collect for the day.  My suggestion is to make your gift request and come back a couple hours later to see what you have recieved so you can make the decision that fits the quest(s) you are working on.  You do also get the option to delete requested items you don't need, so things don't build up out of control.

I hope this review has convinced you to give City Girl Life a try.  It is currently only on Facebook, but will hopefully make its way to Android and iPad.  The creativity it allows for decorating your apartment and competing in the contests is enough to keep me entertained.  I also enjoy the special quests and opportunitties to get prizes that not everyone will have.  Check it out and decide for yourself.  Come and have fun in the big city!  I'll be glad to have you as one of my neighbors.