My Town : Discovery
Subscription sim offers lots of content and some concerns.
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My Town : Discovery
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this app.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that My Town : Discovery is a open-ended sim game where kids can explore and play with characters and objects in a variety of locations. A short tutorial introduces the main functions of the app, but doesn't cover everything, so some kids may need help. The free download includes limited access to locations, characters, and accessories. Some additional content is available for a limited time and requires kids to sit through a print or video ad for unrelated apps. Unlock it all through a monthly or yearly subscription, or choose the 3-day free trial to test it out. If allowed, push notifications will remind kids to interact with the app. Because of the ads and appeals to subscribe, the app is better suited to older kids though the actual content is appropriate for younger kids. My Town : Discovery is a very large app; parents need to make sure their device has plenty of free space on it. Read the developer's privacy policy for details on how your (or your kids') information is collected, used, and shared and any choices you may have in the matter, and note that privacy policies and terms of service frequently change.
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What’s It About?
Parents must enter their year of birth to enter MY TOWN : DISCOVERY. Once in, choose to subscribe on a monthly or annual plan, start a three-day free trial, or tap the small "x" in the top right corner to play with the free version. After a short tutorial, kids find themselves in a virtual town. Tap the tools icon to change features like fences or lampposts. Enter the house, playground, hair salon, museum and so on to discover objects and change features there. Tap the character to add new people. Mini activities are scattered around the town. Collect hearts when they appear to unlock more features.
Is It Any Good?
There's a lot for kids to explore and manipulate in this large, complex virtual town, but the imperfect controls and consumerism concerns make it less hospitable. With a long list of locations, lots of objects, mini activities to engage with, and regular content additions, kids who enjoy expressing themselves through a pretend virtual world will find plenty to spark their imagination. Controls are sometimes a bit clunky though. For example, to enter a location, rather than simply tapping on the location or the door, kids have to tap the entrance, then tap on the arrow that appears. Some objects are small, and it's hard to tap in the right place to move them around. Despite the huge download size, some graphics are not as sharp as they could be and there's not a whole lot of diversity in the available characters. Because the developer has partnered with the Discovery Channel, they are promoting My Town : Discovery as educational. Yet, other than some fun facts for kids to read during load times, and a few informational activities in the museum location, there's not much educational content here. Also, the consumerism aspects are of possible concern for parents. Ads abound in the free version, and most content is visible but unavailable. Parents need to pay a high subscription price to get around that. And the system of collecting hearts to unlock more stuff encourages kids to keep playing.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the stories kids create with My Town : Discovery. Encourage them to tell you about their characters and what they're building in their virtual town. You can even write their stories down and make a book.
Talk about in-app purchases and how or if kids can request purchases from an adult. What are the family rules? Are you willing to pay a recurring subscription price, and if so, for how long?
It can be hard to put a game like My Town : Discovery down. Make sure you discuss your expectations and guidelines for screen time with your kids before handing over the game.
App Details
- Devices: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android, Kindle Fire
- Subjects: Language & Reading: storytelling
- Skills: Creativity: imagination
- Pricing structure: Free to try (Limited content and ads with free download. Unlock all content and get rid of ads by subscribing for $4.99/month or $34.99/year. Try it first with 3-day free trial.)
- Release date: September 28, 2019
- Category: Family Games
- Publisher: My Town Games LTD
- Version: 1.07
- Minimum software requirements: iOS 9.0 or later; Android 4.1 and up
- Last updated: June 1, 2022
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