It’s like the British cabbie as opposed to the American version, not expecting a tip but happy to make it clear that it wouldn’t say no. But Pixel People is far from pushy, especially when compared with other games with these features. And here’s where some gamers will refuse to hear anymore, even if I tell them that this is the first game that heavily features micro-transactions that I’ve actually enjoyed. Unless, of course, you’re willing to pay for the privilege. But then the game slowly introduces logistics – like the need to wait for construction on that building to finish before the clones taking up space in the arrival centre can move in, the need to buy more land before you can place a new building down, the need to tap money-producing buildings until you’ve got enough to afford more land – that prevent you from progressing at the same speed. The ratio of reward to action is very high at first. Not only that, but a lot of the jobs come with a new building to add to your city, so you get the enjoyment of deciding where that should go, and then once it’s built it starts to produce money that you can use to fund further growth. Each new job comes with a pun-based name – Laura Norder (sheriff ), Anne Teak (historian ), Noah Lotte (philosopher ) – and you get a point added to your tally of total jobs discovered. Every time you discover a new kind of job you get to slide your finger across a dotted line like you’re opening a booster pack of trading cards, except you’re guaranteed something new because the game colour-codes which valid combinations you haven’t tried yet. And even though it doesn’t involve sex, it’s pretty exciting. In a world in which people can no longer reproduce in the most popular human fashion, this is how babies (well, fully-formed adults) are made. That’s also simply done: just splice together a “Mechanic” gene (thanks, Eve!) with a “Mayor” (you too, Adam Zappel!) and you get a brand-new human being defined by its vocation, in this case an engineer. Of course, a city populated with clones would be confusing and unproductive, so you’ll want to transform that clone into something more resemblant of the humans that existed before the unexplained catastrophe that wiped out the Earth. Put down a house, and once it’s built clones will arrive to occupy it. Tap an empty space to place a building of your choice.
#Pixel people miner how to
Gentle music that has not yet had the chance to become repetitive twinkles with the sound of hope and new beginnings, as the first pixel person you meet – an engineer called Eve Jobs – pops up to teach you how to build a utopia. Load up the iOS game for the first time, and you’re presented with three pixel-art buildings floating serenely in deep space, with naught but a small piece of road and a few trees to keep them company. Pixel People is precisely engineered to draw you in at the very start.