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Video Game The Simpsons: Tapped Out Review
The Simpsons: Tapped Out (2012) is a city-building game based on the popular and long-running cartoon. After Homer causes the destruction of Springfield, you complete quests to earn money, unlock buildings and characters, and rebuild the town. The free to start format and Simpsons brand makes this a really popular town-building game, although this does need balancing with its focus on (optionally) spending money to speed up progression.

Our examiner, Ben Kendall, first checked The Simpsons: Tapped Out 19 months ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 14 months ago.

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Play OverviewPlay Overview

The Simpsons: Tapped Out is a city-building game based on the popular and long-running cartoon. After Homer causes the destruction of Springfield, you complete quests to earn money, unlock buildings and characters, and rebuild the town. The free to start format and Simpsons brand makes this a really popular town-building game, although this does need balancing with its focus on (optionally) spending money to speed up progression.

When Homer gets distracted playing an elf game (a parody of the game itself), he accidentally causes a nuclear meltdown that leads to the total destruction of Springfield. By completing quests, you earn money and help Homer bring back the town's people, structures and nature.

The quests you need to complete each take a set amount of time in the real world, and yield different amounts of money and experience, with longer quests (4, 6, 8 real-world hours etc.) rewarding more money. You can then use this to buy buildings, characters, trees, and more, and by constructing roads, rivers and more, you can rebuild Springfield to your own specifications.

There are hundreds of characters and even more buildings and decorations, and regular updates to tie in with seasonal holidays and new episodes of the show continually add more. You can destroy your Springfield and start from scratch,-with all of your items in an inventory- if you want to redesign your town.

It's a game that offers a unique chance to redesign one of the most famous fictional locations to your own specifications, allowing for creativity to take to the forefront along with the classic humour and antics the show is known for.

There have also been several other Simpsons games over the years:
  • Bart vs. the Space Mutants (1991) on NES, Game Gear, Genesis, Amiga, Atari ST
  • The Simpsons (1991) Arcade game
  • Bart's House of Weirdness (1991) on PC
  • Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly (1991) on Game Boy
  • Bart vs. the World (1991) on Game Gear and Master System
  • Bart vs. the Juggernauts (1992) on Game Boy
  • Bartman Meets Radioactive Man (1992) on NES, Game Gear
  • Bart's Nightmare (1992) on Super NES and Genesis
  • Krusty's Fun House (1992) on Game Boy, NES, Super NES, Game Gear, Genesis, Master System, PC
  • Bart & the Beanstalk (1994) on Game Boy
  • Virtual Bart (1994) on Super NES, Genesis
  • The Simpsons Bowling (2000) Arcade
  • Night of the Living Treehouse of Horror (2001) on GB Color
  • The Simpsons Wrestling (2001) on PlayStation
  • The Simpsons Road Rage (2001) on Xbox, GameCube, PS2 and ported to Gameboy Advance
  • The Simpsons Skateboarding (2002) on PS2
  • The Simpsons Hit & Run (2003) on PC, Xbox, GameCube, PS2
  • The Simpsons Game (2007) on Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, Wii, PS2, PS3, PSP
  • The Simpsons Arcade (2009) on iOS
  • The Simpsons Tapped Out (2012) on iOS and Android (This game)
  • Lego Dimensions: The Simpsons (2018) expansion on Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U.

Play StylePlay Style

This is a Creative and Strategy game with Collecting and Simulation elements. This is a single-player game. While there isn't multiplayer, you can add friends and visit their towns, although no actual interaction between players occurs.

 
You can play this game in the following styles:

DurationDuration

Play Time: This game will take between 10 hours and 100 hours to complete. Given the game's open-ended nature, you can easily spend hundreds of hours collecting every item and reordering your Springfield.

Age RatingsAge Ratings

Content Rating

Rated PEGI 12 for Sexual Innuendo and Gambling.

Rated 12+ on the Apple App Store for Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence, Infrequent/Mild Horror/Fear Themes, Infrequent/Mild Simulated Gambling, Infrequent/Mild Profanity or Crude Humour and Infrequent/Mild Alcohol, Tobacco, or Drug Use or References.

Account Rating

The game includes references to gambling. When the player is given the chance to spend £250 in-game money to win £10,000 in-game money, Lisa remarks “Isn’t that gambling?” to which Homer replies “Nonsense Lisa, you can’t lose in a social game”.

CostsCosts

The Simpsons: Tapped Out

App Store iOS Free
Android Store Android Free
This game is free to play, but there are other costs associated with this game:
  • In-Game Purchases: Additional in-game purchases are offered for items that enhance the experience.
 
You can buy donuts, which act as a premium currency in the game. Many later items can only be bought with donuts. Although you can get donuts for free, it is a very slow process, and many of said items cost several hundred donuts. The price for packs of donuts ranges from £0.99 to £89.99.

Every 6 hours of play you are gifted a “Scratch-R” ticket for prizes, and can purchase more with in-game currency. 
 
It's important to set up your accounts and devices appropriately. More information is on our Financial Resources page.
 

DetailsGame Details

Release Date: 29/02/2012, updated in 2022

Price: Free

Out Now: Android and iOS

Content Rating: PEGI 12

Players: 1

Genres: Creative, Strategy (Collecting and Simulation)

Accessibility: 22 features

Components: 2D Overhead, Grid and Pixels

Developer: EA (@EA)


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Taming Gaming Book Written by parents for parents, the database complements the in-depth discussion about video game addiction, violence, spending and online safety in the Taming Gaming book. We are an editorially independent, free resource without adverts that is supported by partnerships.

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