Rovio has launched its newest game, titled after and based on DreamWork’s movie “The Croods”. The game is currently available for iOS and Android via Google Play and the Amazon Appstore. We are not aware of whether the game will be released for other platforms.
The game revolves itself around the hunt and gather style of gameplay, not unlike popular games such as Farmville, Tap Zoo, and My Sea Park. That said, as with these types of games, the learning curve is low and the gameplay is pretty slow if you aren’t willing drop empty your wallet (we’ll say more about this below).
The game is what’s commonly called “Freemium”, meaning that it is free to download and install, but is loaded up with in-app purchases. (On iOS, you can restrict access to in-app purchases by going to iOS Settings > General > Restrictions > On, and turn off IAPs below. On Android devices, see our detailed listed here.) That said, even as far as IAPs go, the prices are quite hefty, starting at $4.99 and ranging to a whopping $59.99.
The purpose of the game is laid out at the get-go. Grug, the main character, wants to evolve the way humans (Neanderthals?) carry on their daily lives. From raising wild animals to making soup, Grug is an innovator of sorts. The player must level-up by performing certain chores from Gran, Grug’s mother-in-law. Building and upgrading costs either coins, food, or crystals (be aware that crystals are hard to come by and the main focus of the IAPs).
One feature of The Croods that we’re really excited to see is cloud saving. By creating or signing in to your Rovio account your progress is saved to the cloud and can be retrieved on other devices. This also allows you to have a real-time backup of your progress in the event something happens to your device, upgrade, etc. We assume this feature is available on both iOS and Android, but would love a confirmation from an Android user (please leave a comment). It would also be interesting to know if you can sync progress across different devices (i.e. iOS to Android).
We absolutely encourage you to give the game a try, or at least check out our “First Look” video above. As we said, it’s free to try. While this style of gameplay isn’t for everyone, there are no doubt that some people truly enjoy it (if not, these style games wouldn’t be so popular).
Check out our, “The Croods Tips and Tricks” forum where you can ask questions, get help, and share your tips.
Note, The Croods style gameplay isn’t really conducive to a community format like ABN, so we will only be covering news related to updates.