Edit:

The Simpsons Tapped out app has been removed from the appstore for the time being due to overwhelming response. Current players can still play though, not to worry! Full report here. For those who have yet to download and start playing, don’t fret – it’ll be back soon!

I’ve gotten a whole lot of queries about the Homer Buddha Statue in this game. To answer, the Homer statue costs 15 pink donuts and gives out a premium item every time you tap on it. Not sure how often you can tap on it, as I have not gotten the statue yet (still saving up on donuts)!

My iPhone app of the moment (also known as time-waster of the moment) is The Simpsons Tapped Out iPhone App. The premise of the game is such that Springfield has been wiped out by an explosion, and we’ve got to rebuild the town!

How on earth could such an explosion happen? It has absolutely NOTHING to do with Homer Simpson, who was VERY hard at work just before the explosion occurred.

He was so engrossed in his work that he didn’t notice the alarm bells ring and that the building was on fire.

Well, by the time he realized it, it was already too late. The whole town went ka-boom within seconds.

… and he found himself all alone, in a literally empty town.

So this is where the actual game play starts! You’d be required to build the Simpsons’ house first, and after you’ve done that – you’ll find Lisa! So the more things you build the more people you’d find/unlock.

Here are some of the categories of characters that you can unlock:

The characters you unlock will have a series of activities that they would typically be doing. These activities will take up a time range from just seconds to even a full day to complete. For example, here are some of Lisa’s list of things she might want to do:

After you’ve completed an activity, you’ll be rewarded with money, experience points and yummy pink donuts! Pink donuts can be used to purchase special items. So from there, you’ll slowly build the town – placing neighbours’ homes and familiar landmarks all around.

Since this is supposed to be a “social game”, you can add your friends to the list and you can visit them once a day – to reap money/rewards from their version of Springfield. Since I am anti-social, I only have one friend. But you’re welcome to add me if you want to. My userid is shanobyl (surprise, surprise!).

In a nutshell, this game is actually quite engaging without the madness of farming/harvesting games. It keeps you glued because you’d wonder who you’ll unlock next and what’s the next landmark you can build. Even if you’re just an average fan of The Simpsons, you’d enjoy playing this game simply because it’s good clean fun, with characters you already know and love.

The one downside is that the initial loading time when you start the app is pretty long, and if you so much as accidentally pressed your home button and exit the app, when you go back in, you’d be stuck at the loading screen again. This is possibly the only bad thing about this, and usually I’m impatient when it comes to things that do not happen instantaneously – but for this app, I cast my impatience aside. I just try not to exit the app when I’m playing the game, that’s all.

You can download this free app at the App Store. Hope you’ll enjoy this game as much as I am!