Kaloki Adventure (US$1.99, available now iTunes link) is a slimmed down version of the Xbox Live Arcade and PC game called Outpost Kaloki for iPhone. It is similar in style to the Tycoon style resource management sims.
Set out before each level of the game are goals to meet. Beyond that it’s primarily supply, demand, and making as much money as possible. In addition you are given a time limit for each level. The faster you can meet the goals the higher your score. Bronze, silver and gold medals are awarded as well depending on your performance.
You are tasked with balancing the desires of visitors to your station with your ability to build expansions to fulfill their desires. This is within the framework of your available resources. Specifically the money to build expansions and the power to run them.
Kaloki Adventure is simple and straightforward while being fast paced and light hearted. The on-screen controls are well laid out and intuitive. I did have issues with the touch control however. I really like the simplicity of building onto your station which is as easy as tapping on an empty port to bring up a menu of building options. However, in my experience there were problems with the game recognizing my screentaps. I do have a screen protector on my iPhone however and this may be the reason for the difficulty.
In addition to the main game mode which has 14 goal driven levels there are 6 “sandbox” scenarios which don’t have set out goals and are simply about building the most awesome station possible. Nice touch. I also dug the autosave feature which will allow you to pick up where you left off in the event you get interrupted by a phone call.
After playing this game for a while I do have one gripe with it however, which I think is most likely an easy fix for the developers; Kaloki Adventures doesn’t honor the silent mode switch on my iPhone. I learned this the hard way through the painful experience of having the game music start playing during a staff meeting at my day job. Not cool.
One thing I think is missing and that this game could benefit from would be an online component. Perhaps a way to show off your station building prowess and exchange witty quips with fellow station builders maybe? Just putting it out there.
Bottom line: if you are into resource management sims and are looking for a game that’s easy to pick up, fun to play, and has decent replay value then buy this game.
