Why Is The Simpsons: Tapped Out So Damn Addictive?

I'm sure most people have heard of the recent game, The Simpsons: Tapped Out, that's taken app stores by storm. But what is it, and what makes it so addictive? Some of you may look at those of us who play it and think, how can you spend so much time on that, and why do you spend hard-earned money on it (for the odd few of us who could not resist the urge to buy donuts - I'll explain that part in a moment)? Well my answer is, YOU JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND OKAY, YOU JUST DON'T GET IT, IT'S A PLAGUE AND IT INFECTS YOU AND IT DOESN'T LET YOU GO.

Anyway, so as I was saying, what is the game about? It begins with Homer, playing on his 'myPad' on the job, but because he is so engrossed playing on it, he doesn't realise that things need attending to, and ultimately ends up blowing up the power plant and Springfield along with it. It's then your job to rebuild Springfield, by buying buildings, finding characters, placing roads and basically prettying up your town. You earn money through setting the characters on missions, and receiving a scheduled sum of money from houses and buildings. Aside from the in-game currency, there are also 'Donuts' which you can buy that you can get premium items with. You can either earn donuts slowly through levelling up and other perks here and there, or you can buy them through micro-transactions.

So, what makes it so addictive? Well, one thing that urges me to visit Springfield everyday is because every day you go on there, you receive a reward of money. This reward increases each day until finally after five days straight, you can open a 'mystery box' within which you can receive items that you'd normally have to buy with donuts, or maybe even donuts themselves! Another thing is the missions; there are some storylines (some that are themed maybe around an upcoming episode of the Simpsons or a new update applied to the game, or missions leading up to unlocking of a particular building) which can be entertaining to follow up on.

The game is never-ending, with constant new updates to add new things to your town, or when you've maxed out to the full level and have bought everything you could, just the aspect of competing with your friends makes you want to continue playing. There is a star meter called the "Conform-o-meter" where you have certain categories to achieve a five star worthy town (and also gaining a bonus on money and XP). These categories are Indolence (houses), Consumerism (stores), Tree-hugging (plants and flowers), Vanity (decorations), Obedience (public buildings), Gluttony (restaurants), Righteousness (keeping graffiti off buildings) and Socialism (the amount of friends you have).

There is also that one prick with a better town than you, so you two are practically battling it out to see who can achieve the better looking town. I tend to like stealing other people's ideas and just making them look 10x better than they do (I AM PROUD OF MY TOWN AND I AM NOT ASHAMED TO ADMIT IT). Okay, so in justifying the game, I just made it sound like a bigger waste of time and excelling the point that I indeed hold a very sad, lonely and anti-social life on the Simpsons: Tapped Out... (I haven't even mentioned the fact I've bought donuts....oops too late)

If you haven't got it yet (seriously, why not, have you been living under a rock for the past few months?) then I really suggest you do, because regardless of being time consuming and basically ruining your life it is a fun and fab game. It is available on the iTunes Store and as of February 2013, was also available for Android. There is no excuse, unless you still live in the 19th Century.