“And so as the weary warrior struggled to continue his journey. For months he had braved the wilds, fought many enemies and suffered grievous wounds. All for a pitiful sum of treasure. But today, as the sun peaked over the hills his eyes widened, tearing slightly. For he saw the object of his quest (and the sun was bright). He had found his prize in the sea of faulty treasures. Searching and trying and testing had finally brought him “Parallel Kingdom”…”
–Sage Master Whosits, From The Tome of Appmadness
No really friends, I have tried so many app games for my iPhone it’s staggering. Yes there are some I have liked and hordes I have hated. There are so many app games out there that it feels next to impossible to filter quality. I have zombie farmed, monopolied, simulated, raced, built, quested and killed my way to really not playing any games on my phone at all. Which is sad because that was one of the reasons I got a smart phone. I was excited about games that were mobile.
Unfortunately you all know my standard for games. The bar is high and I could careless if a game can make it over the top. If you want my game attention, you better have a good angle. If you want my game MONEY…well let’s just say, only the strong survive. Enter Parallel Kingdom. This game has many of the bells and whistles I look for in a game.
Parallel Kingdom is a role playing game that is GPS based. Overlayed on Google Maps, you claim territory based on your real life location. That’s just cool right there. You start with just enough equipment to get you started and a plethora of links and tips that will guide you through your first steps in the game. You will need it too. Because this game is Epic in scope. Virtually every in-game element has its own pedia entry and a quick and easy “info” button that will take you directly to it. The pedia resource is very important to success and I use it frequently.
Once you get your starting area placed and claimed, you begin to grow your kingdom by exploring to level up, building to harvest resource and fighting mobs. Once you get your kingdoms wheels turning the real beauty of this game is realized. You can fight with other players for territory. That’s right PvP, meat grinding goodness. Now I have to be honest here. I am in no way powerful enough yet to participate in this. But I am growing, slowly and silently building momentum. I can see a day soon that the war horns will sound and the mighty come out of their solitude.
There are other elements that should be mentioned. You will be harvesting, planting, chopping down and building. You will be making alliances so you can travel outside your region and if you are lucky like I was, finding abandoned areas that you can just claim. A trusty companion dog is given to you from the beginning who will fight by your side or even on his own. But best of all your dog will walk you to open hunting areas. It is here I usually find treasures and monsters I have not seen before.
The last feature I think you should know about is pace. You all know my game time is high value and although I have a lot of it, I still have to be very selective about what I am playing. So far I have been able to play at my own pace and come and go from it as I please. You do have to stay active. But you can chose to log on once a day or twenty times a day or whatever and not hurt yourself. This of course could change once I become a bigger target or start attacking someone. We shall see.
I don’t have time for crap. So take it from someone who has wadded his way through countless apps, Parallel Kingdom is a cool, top quality game that any good gamer should try. And no I was in no way compensated for this review. Heck I forgot to even mention that it’s FREE. So the good folks at PerBlue didn’t even have to give me the game. It’s just fun and the GPS angle is too cool. Check the screen shots and links below to see more.
Last thing, there is a drive to raise money for the less fortunate during the Thanksgiving holiday. More info is available in-game but here’s the skinny:
Parallel Kingdom players can choose from two limited edition Food Basket Hats to participate in the ‘Give Thanks’ campaign:
· The red Food Basket Hat can be purchased for 750 Food and will provide a Thanksgiving meal to one homeless child.
· The golden Food Basket Hat can be purchased for 6,000 Food and will provide a Thanksgiving meal to an entire family in need.
The only reason I mention it is because I feel it important for us gamers to show a positive contribution to our communities. So if you could spare some coin to help someone else, good on you. If not that’s okay too. Just come play!
