Many people have longed for FarmVille iPhone but maybe what we need is NOT an exact port but an experience tailored for the platform…

We Rule (FREE)

The game has everything going for it: the social aspect, the addicting effect to make you want to check your it all the time, and a sense of achievement to truly design and make YOUR epic kingdom. The only thing going against it right now, is surprisingly… itself. Find out why!

Presentation

Usually graphics go first but this time let’s do the soundtrack because WOW, it’s sooo groovy. I believe there are three unique tunes but one of them is completely kingdom-ish and just makes you want to dance (which I sometimes do by the way). As you tap your businesses like tailor, you’ll hear sewing sounds and dragon’s breath when tapping on the dragon’s den.

The graphics aren’t FarmVille like at all. The colors are not strikingly bright but I get the aesthetic they were shooting for. The whole kingdom design from the castle to the businesses to the people and to the “accessories” all follow one linear theme which is great. We Rule looks fantastic and there’s nothing to complain about.

Controls

The game is fully touch controlled. Tap to order from businesses, to plant, to harvest etc etc. Sadly (though understandably), you can only double tap to zoom in and out in your castle. There’s only one zoom mode instead of a complex pinch zoom in/out method you would normally expect. I’d discuss later why this is.

Gameplay

For those familiar with FarmVille, that farming aspect is just part of the whole kingdom gameplay in We Rule. Yes you do get to plant and harvest but We Rule is strictly “business oriented”. What I mean by that is you can earn gold and XP NOT only through farming but by constructing tailor shops, taverns, wizard towers among others.

Just like FarmVille, We Rule is coins, XP and Mojo oriented. Coins and XP are earned through businesses and farming. Coins can be used to purchase new businesses or kingdom accessories while XP levels you up. Mojo can be used to speed up construction of businesses which vary from minutes or even days (like the Dragon Den). As you level up, you ALSO earn additional free mojo.

Of course, the game is freemium model which means you can purchase additional mojo if you don’t want to earn them the normal way. The benefit from this is you can technically progress through the game faster if you do the correct moves.

Businesses vary by: cost of construction, finishing time of construction, number of mojos to speed up construction, profit and XP earned. Ordering through businesses is as simple by going to the main map, entering your friends’ kingdom and look for an “OPEN” sign above the business, then tapping the business. Depending on the business you choose, you’ll earn different amounts of money on different completion times.

Building and upgrading options are accessible through the hammer button. Feel FREE to check out the tabs yourselves since it’s exhausting to go them one by one. I’ll tell you this though: you CAN upgrade the size of your kingdom to the rightmost tab on this page. The game does a great job of telling you the basics so make sure you pay attention.

Suggestions/Issues

The biggest problem I had with the game was the premature release of the game to the world when the Canadian tests returned some problems. Most of these are solved now but the servers still need to speed up. Some folks even experience inabilty to place orders from businesses even if they’re open.

The only issue left for me (thank god) is that NONE OF MY FRIENDS are returning my orders successfully. This is a bug and not an instance of my friends forgetting to open the game to deliver my order. Going back to the title, this game CAN really be epic once the servers get a good grip on the amount of people who play the game.

Conclusion

There’s no denying We Rule is certainly one of THE BEST iPhone games we’ve seen so far. It has every capacity to be the best game period BUT it needs to speed up and rid of all bugs before it gets there. Through ngmoco, I KNOW they will get there, we just have to be patient.

If you’re not playing this game, just view my kingdom at Plus+ superbad for motivation This game is super addicting and I’m REALLY really warning you that you’ll get hooked to this… and fast. We Rule truly rules me, you, and life!