{"id":21776,"date":"2013-12-14T10:00:33","date_gmt":"2013-12-14T16:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/?p=21776"},"modified":"2014-05-22T13:22:33","modified_gmt":"2014-05-22T18:22:33","slug":"the-dark-side-of-the-pixel-and-apples-12-days-of-gifts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/21776-the-dark-side-of-the-pixel-and-apples-12-days-of-gifts\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dark Side of the Pixel; And Apple\u2019s 12 Days of Gifts!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"img-4697512585d3c844109cfa4d8717f3d3-type-jpeg\"<\/a>I can\u2019t believe I\u2019m bringing myself to review this one, but Tiny Death Star<\/a> seems to be gaining popularity quite quickly. Now you might be aware that I have a real soft spot for anything pixelated and full of sprite-y goodness, but ill try not to let that affect the review. But let me dispense with the pleasantries, commander. I am here to put us back on schedule.<\/i><\/p>\n

OK, so if you\u2019ve ever played Tiny Tower<\/a>, you\u2019ll be familiar with how this game functions as a whole. But back before that, before the iOS craze, this whole tower thing started from MAXIS, with Sim Tower<\/a>, which admittedly looks like uninspired boxes stacked on top of each other to form a rather large pile of mush. Tiny Tower and more importantly, Tiny Death Star, take this genre to the next level and provide a much more visually stimulating experience.<\/p>\n

\"It\u2019s<\/a>
It\u2019s nice to see Greedo in a toy shop instead of the Cantina.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now, I like pixel art and such, but I have to say that playing this on the iPad was just hysterical with pixels the size of my head. While I have been reviewing a lot of hardcore games as of late, I figured it was time to do one that was a bit more casual, and this fits the bill perfectly. Playing Tiny Death Star requires little interaction but has plenty available if you choose. Though I did manage to really stunt my growth in the game early on, by accidently building a retail floor instead of a residential one. This meant I had not enough \u201cbitizens\u201d to work in my shops, couldn\u2019t make money, and ultimately had a very distracting \u201c!\u201d in the bottom left of my screen because I couldn\u2019t stock items in the shops with no one working there.<\/p>\n

Clicking the \u201c!\u201d only took me to the floor in question and did not remove it for any frame of time, and just made me more irritated than anything. Oh, look a warning! How do I make it go away? Oh I caaaaan\u2019t. I need to wait till I slowly make money and build a residential floor, wait for someone to move in, then hire them at the floor. Great. How about an option to knock that off, eh?<\/p>\n

\"Ninja
Ninja armor, check. Polearm weapon, check. Desire to work in a spa\u2026.check?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The game does bring a lot more to the table, and fixes a lot of the problems that plagued Tiny Tower. Being able to save your VIPs (special bitizens that have effects, like instantly selling products on the floor you deliver them to) and use them at a later date. Which is quite useful and adds another layer of strategy to the game. Also it adds these little cut scenes that mimic things that have either happened in the movie series, or fit very well to the scene it\u2019s happening in. I haven\u2019t gotten more than a handful of these, but watching Princess Leia toting a blaster escaping my security forces was quite the visual surprise.<\/p>\n

So between moving my bitizens around on the elevator and laughing at the rather quirky things that they say on the holonet, which range from pop culture references to pieces of comedy gold, I have to say I genuinely enjoyed myself playing the game even though there isn\u2019t much to it.<\/p>\n

Graphics:\"Rating-Bar3\"<\/h2>\n

OK, most people are not going to enjoy the INCREDIBLY pixelated goodness that is Tiny Death Star, but it is done very well, and all of the characters are clearly recognizable even at the size they are. The nifty little scenes that play made me crack a smile and pulled me in and keep me coming back.<\/p>\n

Gameplay:\"Rating-Bar2\"<\/h2>\n

Let\u2019s be honest. It\u2019s a casual game so I\u2019m slamming it for not having a lot to do. I am constantly sitting and waiting for timers. Unlike Clash of Clans<\/a> though at least I have things to do while I\u2019m waiting. \u00a0Moving bitizens around the tower on the elevator earns me tips, and decreases the time I need to wait for each of my products I\u2019m trying to bring back in stock.<\/p>\n

Audio:\"Rating-Bar5\"<\/h2>\n

Every single robot noise, to the MIDI version of the star wars theme is flawless and even though the game really isn\u2019t very true to Star Wars, it\u2019s nice to see the developers put that level of effort into the title. Even during the cut scenes the sounds of the blasters were dead on.<\/p>\n

Innovation:\"Rating-Bar2\"<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s been done before, and it\u2019s been improved before. It has a couple of fixes from other games and has a pretty star wars wrapper on it. Not sure that warrants more than a two.<\/p>\n

Overall:\"Rating-Bar3\"<\/h2>\n

Meh. It\u2019s a casual game, so for those on tight schedules, this will be quite entertaining. That being said there isn\u2019t a lot to<\/i> the game, and that prevents it from getting a higher score.<\/p>\n

But that’s not all folk’s<\/b><\/h2>\n

\"DeathStar3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

While looking for games to review I came across this little gem<\/a> that you should all at least be aware of. Apple\u2019s decided to give stuff away 12 days in a row. I\u2019m not 100 percent sure of what\u2019s going to come from this, as things are still fairly hush-hush, but I\u2019ll install it and see what they\u2019re giving away this year, and you should do the same. \u2018Tis the season everyone!<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I can\u2019t believe I\u2019m bringing myself to review this one, but Tiny Death Star seems to be gaining popularity quite quickly. Now you might be aware that I have a real soft spot for anything pixelated and full of sprite-y goodness, but ill try not to let that affect the review. But let me dispense […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":21777,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[932],"class_list":["post-21776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-app-review"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Dark Side of the Pixel; And Apple\u2019s 12 Days of Gifts!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Dark Side of the Pixel; And Apple\u2019s 12 Days of Gifts!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/21776-the-dark-side-of-the-pixel-and-apples-12-days-of-gifts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Dark Side of the Pixel; And Apple\u2019s 12 Days of Gifts!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Dark Side of the Pixel; And Apple\u2019s 12 Days of Gifts!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/21776-the-dark-side-of-the-pixel-and-apples-12-days-of-gifts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rocket Yard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-12-14T16:00:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-05-22T18:22:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/img-4697512585d3c844109cfa4d8717f3d3-type-jpeg.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rocket Yard Contributor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rocket Yard Contributor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/21776-the-dark-side-of-the-pixel-and-apples-12-days-of-gifts\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/21776-the-dark-side-of-the-pixel-and-apples-12-days-of-gifts\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Rocket Yard Contributor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/41210f6ded9a93e7b106ed9d227b8cdf\"},\"headline\":\"The Dark Side of the Pixel; And Apple\u2019s 12 Days of Gifts!\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-12-14T16:00:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-05-22T18:22:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/21776-the-dark-side-of-the-pixel-and-apples-12-days-of-gifts\/\"},\"wordCount\":948,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"App\",\"Game\",\"iOS\",\"iPad\",\"iPhone\",\"iPod\",\"Review\",\"Tiny death star\"],\"articleSection\":[\"App Review\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/21776-the-dark-side-of-the-pixel-and-apples-12-days-of-gifts\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/21776-the-dark-side-of-the-pixel-and-apples-12-days-of-gifts\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/21776-the-dark-side-of-the-pixel-and-apples-12-days-of-gifts\/\",\"name\":\"The Dark Side of the Pixel; And Apple\u2019s 12 Days of Gifts!\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-12-14T16:00:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-05-22T18:22:33+00:00\",\"description\":\"The Dark Side of the Pixel; And Apple\u2019s 12 Days of Gifts!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/21776-the-dark-side-of-the-pixel-and-apples-12-days-of-gifts\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/21776-the-dark-side-of-the-pixel-and-apples-12-days-of-gifts\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/21776-the-dark-side-of-the-pixel-and-apples-12-days-of-gifts\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Dark Side of the Pixel; And Apple\u2019s 12 Days of Gifts!\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Rocket Yard\",\"description\":\"Your source for expert tips, special deals, commentary, reviews, and the latest tech news.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"OWC\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/rocket-yard-logo-round.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/rocket-yard-logo-round.png\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":1024,\"caption\":\"OWC\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/41210f6ded9a93e7b106ed9d227b8cdf\",\"name\":\"Rocket Yard Contributor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d0664ff56a28a8e8c137acf09662e68dee85a4ce8b0ea7e463cf4593880838f1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d0664ff56a28a8e8c137acf09662e68dee85a4ce8b0ea7e463cf4593880838f1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Rocket Yard Contributor\"},\"description\":\"Would you like to contribute? If you have a tip, trick, or piece of knowledge that you would like to share with other readers, send your submissions to rocketyard@macsales.com!\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/blog.macsales.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/author\/guest-blogger\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Dark Side of the Pixel; And Apple\u2019s 12 Days of Gifts!","description":"The Dark Side of the Pixel; And Apple\u2019s 12 Days of Gifts!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/21776-the-dark-side-of-the-pixel-and-apples-12-days-of-gifts\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Dark Side of the Pixel; And Apple\u2019s 12 Days of Gifts!","og_description":"The Dark Side of the Pixel; And Apple\u2019s 12 Days of Gifts!","og_url":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/21776-the-dark-side-of-the-pixel-and-apples-12-days-of-gifts\/","og_site_name":"Rocket Yard","article_published_time":"2013-12-14T16:00:33+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-05-22T18:22:33+00:00","og_image":[{"width":280,"height":280,"url":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/img-4697512585d3c844109cfa4d8717f3d3-type-jpeg.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Rocket Yard Contributor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rocket Yard Contributor","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/21776-the-dark-side-of-the-pixel-and-apples-12-days-of-gifts\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/21776-the-dark-side-of-the-pixel-and-apples-12-days-of-gifts\/"},"author":{"name":"Rocket Yard Contributor","@id":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/41210f6ded9a93e7b106ed9d227b8cdf"},"headline":"The Dark Side of the Pixel; And Apple\u2019s 12 Days of Gifts!","datePublished":"2013-12-14T16:00:33+00:00","dateModified":"2014-05-22T18:22:33+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/21776-the-dark-side-of-the-pixel-and-apples-12-days-of-gifts\/"},"wordCount":948,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["App","Game","iOS","iPad","iPhone","iPod","Review","Tiny death star"],"articleSection":["App Review"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/21776-the-dark-side-of-the-pixel-and-apples-12-days-of-gifts\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/21776-the-dark-side-of-the-pixel-and-apples-12-days-of-gifts\/","url":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/21776-the-dark-side-of-the-pixel-and-apples-12-days-of-gifts\/","name":"The Dark Side of the Pixel; And Apple\u2019s 12 Days of Gifts!","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-12-14T16:00:33+00:00","dateModified":"2014-05-22T18:22:33+00:00","description":"The Dark Side of the Pixel; And Apple\u2019s 12 Days of Gifts!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/21776-the-dark-side-of-the-pixel-and-apples-12-days-of-gifts\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/21776-the-dark-side-of-the-pixel-and-apples-12-days-of-gifts\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/21776-the-dark-side-of-the-pixel-and-apples-12-days-of-gifts\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Dark Side of the Pixel; And Apple\u2019s 12 Days of Gifts!"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/","name":"Rocket Yard","description":"Your source for expert tips, special deals, commentary, reviews, and the latest tech news.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"OWC","url":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/rocket-yard-logo-round.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/rocket-yard-logo-round.png","width":1024,"height":1024,"caption":"OWC"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/41210f6ded9a93e7b106ed9d227b8cdf","name":"Rocket Yard Contributor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d0664ff56a28a8e8c137acf09662e68dee85a4ce8b0ea7e463cf4593880838f1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d0664ff56a28a8e8c137acf09662e68dee85a4ce8b0ea7e463cf4593880838f1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Rocket Yard Contributor"},"description":"Would you like to contribute? If you have a tip, trick, or piece of knowledge that you would like to share with other readers, send your submissions to rocketyard@macsales.com!","sameAs":["http:\/\/blog.macsales.com"],"url":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/author\/guest-blogger\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/img-4697512585d3c844109cfa4d8717f3d3-type-jpeg.jpeg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pmPaT-5Fe","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21776"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21776\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24513,"href":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21776\/revisions\/24513"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}