There was a time when The Simpsons was a universally revered show, and there’s no question that its most glorious moments have cemented themselves into the zeitgeist forever. However, people generally seem to contend its merits lately. But the truth is, The Simpsons has already secured a number of die-hard fans, and it still airs a gem now and then. If you’re nostalgic, or if you’re still a fan in spite of the naysayers, EA’s The Simpsons: Tapped Out is a great game, with surprisingly decent writing and all the references you can muster. Here are 10 important tips for long-time players and the uninitiated alike.
10 Unwanted Daily Challenges
At a certain point in the game, any Daily Challenges that only have monetary value are strongly undesirable. Unfortunately, they can be easy to accidentally overlook, and you might inadvertently complete a cash-grab challenge. Always cancel any cash-based challenges in the hopes of a Donuts replacement.
Also, be sure to do this any time you first enter the game, because simply collecting from your buildings is frequently the required challenge for cash. With the new Sky Finger Monument, which collects from every single building at once, this is now an even easier mistake to make.
9 Hoard Between Events
The best thing about The Simpsons: Tapped Out is its series of events, which are regularly dished out. However, they also tend to tie up all of your primary characters, which are required at the Rail Yard—inhibiting one of your best options to scrounge up Donuts. So, although you may possibly lose interest between those themed events, that’s actually the best time to play. By the time the event rolls along, you won’t have a single Donut to purchase the items you actually want! Remember to keep finding Maggie, since a failure doesn’t reset the streak. And certainly don’t forget to play Sideshow You. Yes, it actually does reward Donuts here and there.
8 Prioritize The Event
Events are usually updated to your game in tandem with any seasons or holidays. For example, every year, the game also offers a new Treehouse of Horror event. Given that The Simpsons television show has essentially incorporated every celebration imaginable, it’s easy for the game to follow suit, with corresponding items popping up. If you want the new rewards, you’ll need to reallocate all of your characters’ interests into the event. It may seem to oppose your instinct, but don’t bother with the main plot quests; those will always be there. Reorient everything towards the event, since you probably don’t have the time to clock in to the game as frequently as you’d need to gather every reward.
7 Wait On Springfield Heights
If no one’s told you, all of Springfield Heights is a dead end. Valve will finally count to three, the day that area becomes useful. So, don’t worry, those quests don’t actually go anywhere. Also, Springfield Heights’ resources are remarkably troublesome to accumulate, and various squares of land ask for completely different resources. Overall, it’s the most time consuming locale, and it doesn’t function any differently than the normal area. Anything you can place there, you can place on the land in your ordinary town. The payoff just isn’t there. But since they decimated Krustyland, if you’re bored of your regular town, that’s the time to delve into Springfield Heights.
6 Combine Event Rewards
Don’t conform to the obvious. Although the game is more or less straightforward with its themed events, you can utilize previous rewards and a variety of miscellaneous items to accomplish surprising combinations. Sometimes, the rewards from a Sci-Fi event can contribute to your own Horror-based area, and the rewards from a Superhero event can help construct a disaster zone. Set aside unique items, so you don't forget them. Perhaps even a year later, it’ll become the perfect cornerstone of your new idea. Don’t let the game’s events stifle your own creativity, even if the new items are already neat in their own right.
5 Never Rush A Job
This is something you learn early on, but it’s probably already too late when the epiphany hits you. Donuts are hard-earned currency, and the entire game is built on the prospect of getting you to pay actual money in order to claim a desired item before time runs out. In the tutorial, you absolutely do not have to rush the job with Donuts, and it’s good practice to avoid this altogether. All you have to do is time out your actions more efficiently; what would Lisa do? For example, sending out characters on lengthy jobs is always best to run overnight.
4 Emergency Rail Yard
Sometimes, during an event, you just don’t have the time or patience to reach the reward you had wanted all along. If the ticking clock on the event is nearly upon you, and you realize you don’t have enough time to send out your characters for event-based currency, there is a better solution: resort to the Rail Yard instead.
Redirect all of your characters’ actions towards the immediate accumulation of Donuts, and you might simply be able to purchase the reward with that, instead. The Donut cost of a reward actually goes down as you accumulate more event-based currency, so you might not even realize that Donuts are a last-minute alternative.
3 Don’t Forget Your Friends
It can be very easy to forget to visit your friends’ towns, particularly if you don’t even have a fleeting interest in the rewards the game offers you for tapping three of their buildings. They also take a minute to even load up. However, it's always good to rely on your friends. These towns are frequently incorporated into the seasonal events, and it can be a surprisingly easy way to muster a clutch win for that reward you so desperately wanted. Remember, those little additions to event-based currency start to add up over time, especially when an event can sometimes last more than a month.
2 Line Up Your Walls
For some reason, this game seems to be quite taken with walls. No need for any self-evident political references, there. But seriously, every single event seems to supply you with another opportunity for a different kind of wall, which will always correspond with the other rewards. For example, in the Western event, you could make your very own Westworld thanks to the wooden fences. These barriers allow you to distinguish the areas of your town more efficiently, but lining them up is tough. Play around with the rotations, and stay consistent, or it will absolutely throw off the number of necessary walls. During events, always be sure to purchase extra walls, just in case you decide to expand an area later on.
1 Prep Before An Event
If you know a new season or holiday is nearly upon you, be sure to free up your characters. You might also suddenly receive a new splash page without warning, and yet it won’t be accompanied by any new content. That means the new event is just around the corner, and the last thing you need is for your primary characters to be wrapped up in a twenty-four hour job when the event drops. You can miss out on the entire first day, which is when vital buildings and frustrating 6-second jobs need to be knocked out.