Game release: “Rockfest” (iOS)

After covering so many storytelling-related games, strategy or action titles, the sim genre has rarely been tackled by me. But with Independent Arts Software‘s mobile game Rockfest, some music-based fun is breathed into the often stale genre, so this might just be a new direction for covering mobile titles.

While it’s not true that all sim games are difficult to get into or get excited about, the genre has been flooded by games either too serious (usually soccer-related) or too silly. Rockfest‘s premise of setting up a music festival with all kinds of facilities, like food and merch booths or even music-inspired attractions and rides, is really something else. The most interesting feature is that one can upload music of one’s own real-life band and then see it rise to the top (or not). This is not only a great promo for local bands, but also a nice meta game touch.

Graphically, the title looks like a mixture of Farmville simplicity and a bit of the old Theme Park. This is due to the mobile platform, but fits the overall lighthearted, casual approach to the genre. Of course the emphasis is on the individual band music, but it remains to be seen if one listens to the whole line-up of songs or has background music.

At the moment, the game is only available for Apple devices (iPad and iPhone), but there’s already a button for Google Play, so Android users will have to wait a bit longer. As it stands, the mix of managing bands, upgrading buildings, earning money, experience and respect for the bands or festival sites looks promising and anyone interested in alternative non-mainstream music will probably find some interesting entries, depending on the success of the registration process.

Official Website

Buy the game on
the iTunes store

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