Create a Mall works like most other time management titles; complete the set goals in under a certain time limit for a better score.  However, it stands out from the rest as it focuses on just one mall at a time, unlike housing management where you have lots of buildings all at once.  By doing this, it means that the mall takes up most of the screen so you can really get close and personal with the action and tell shops apart.  The typical elevator music plays in the background which adds an excellent touch as do the animations of people walking, elevator doors openeing and builders working.

The shops themselves are very nicely detailed and differ from eachother boasting at least 2 variations of each to make gameplay less repetitive or boring.  Shops include jewellery stores, toy shops, clothes and restaurants with enhancements to be made such as elevators and tourist information booths.  Each shop can be upgraded up to 3 times to increase income and popularity.  To upgrade or build you need relevant resources, for example mateirals and workers which can all be purchased in separate tabs in-game.  The only problems I encountered were some of the menu tabs being slightly too small so it took a while to tap them accuratley, wasting precious time!  The other being that and extra workers you buy in one level are not transferred to the next – you have to re-purchase them; in some later levels after buying some builders, the original builders go walk abouts and never come back, annoying when on a set time limit.

Why this game over others of its genre? Simple, 30 levels over 6 environments with increasing difficulty levels makes for a long game play time and the addition of trophies gives extra motivation to complete it.  For every goal you beat you get ’store credit’ to spend on in-game jewellery, clothing or office decorations.  Definately worth the $3.99. iTunes Link

Price: $3.99

AppDope rating: 7.9