Let’s face it,there are times you want to play games, but you aren’t near your console. This is when mobile gaming comes in handy. There are portable consoles such as the Switch, Vita, and DS. Many people don’t have access to these, but they do have tablets or cell phones. Some sources predict that mobile game sales will be $70.3 billion for the year 2018 or 50.1% of all game sales. Abyte Entertainment has released Dealer’s Life : Pawn Shop Tycoon to help you fill your time away from a console.
You take on the role of a new pawn shop owner, and you must build your empire one item at a time. Buy and sell items, repair them in hopes of a better price, hire experts, compete in auctions, and upgrade your shop to try and be the best. The game is procedurally generated, with tons of different items for you to gamble on. Can you buy them low, sell high, avoid counterfeits and appease the local authorities?
You start out with a small stockpile of cash and you must pick your first store. Each day starts out by looking at the newspaper want ads. In the ads your will find new stores you can buy, people you can hire, auctions, and free gifts. The free gifts can be a new item or just cash for your store, but in order to get your gift you have to watch an ad. While this is a way to get around pop up ads, it can be a bit frustrating. Luckily, you don’t have to watch the ads if you don’t want too. Once you are done reading the paper and taking care of behind the scene business, you open the doors for customers. People will enter your shop in search of your wares, or trying to sell their junk. Each item is given a rarity, condition, and sometimes an estimated value. It is up to you to try and come up with a price that will satisfy both you and the customer. You also have to build your Competence,Charisma, Insight, Luck, reputation and fame level to get further in the game. Every 7 days you have to pay your rent,payroll, and shop expenses.
The graphics are pretty good. There is a wide variety of items, and you will encounter them in different conditions. The worse the condition, the dirtier itis. Your customers have a few different faces, but have different names and a lot of different outfits. The soundtrack and music are good. Personally, when I play games out in public I tend to lower my device volume, so I had to make sure I listened to the tracks.
Dealer’s Life is available now on Android devices for a cost of $2.99. You can easily lose track of time while playing this game. There is enough depth and variety to keep you playing long after you have built your shop up. It is also a game where you can drop in for 5-10 minutes, play a few days then close it out for the day.
