The Firm
Common Sense says
- iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android, Kindle Fire
- $0.99
- Arcade Games
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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 The Firm is a very simple arcade game in which you, as a trader for a financial services company, have to decide which stocks to buy and which to sell by swiping right or left, respectfully. But since each of the stocks is color-coded and have arrows pointing up or down, it's really just a simple matter of remembering which to do. If you do well, you get to keep playing. If you don't, you're fired and (if you opt for the unhappy ending, which is the default) you'll end up splattered on the pavement in front of the building.
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What's it about?
In THE FIRM, you play as a young man who just landed a great job at a financial company. Looking at reports, you have to decide whether to buy more stocks in that company or to sell the ones you have. Both actions are done by simply swiping left or right. There also are memos to file that require one or two taps before swiping up or down, depending on the instructions. Do well, and you'll earn more money and be promoted, all the way up to chairman. Do badly, and you'll be fired and may (if you don't opt out of the game's sad ending) wind up facedown in the gutter, dead. Along the way, you can check in with your profile, which contains a place to buy power-ups and indicates when you've received a promotion. As the stocks stack up or you make too many wrong decisions, a warning alarm begins. When the pile reaches the top of the screen, the game stops and the screen fills with "FIRED."
Is it any good?
Though The Firm has its initial charm, it's not endless. But the monotony of gameplay is. To play, you simple swipe left to sell stocks, right to buy them, and deciding what to do is dictated by the earnings report on the company's prospectus, which uses an arrow chart to show how well the company is going. But it's always the same. For instance, if the chart is green and the arrow is heading down, you should sell, and if it's green and going up, you should buy; if the charts are red, you do the opposite. But once you have this memorized, The Firm is only challenging because of the volume and speed of the stocks, and the only incentives are purchases and promotions, which don't have much effect on the game. Leveling up usually means the stack gets bigger, which is frustrating, and sometimes the tap-then-swipe gesture doesn't register in the game. Also, the only profile available is a white male. Though the brainteaser quality of the game is fun for one round, the game just doesn't offer enough variation or satisfaction to keep players coming back.
Talk to your kids about ...
Talk about how the best media is sometimes simple. Is that true of this game? Why, or why not?
Families can talk about financial security. Why is it important to save money? Is there something you'd like to save up for?
Discuss dealing with failure. Why is it important to accept failure as a part of life? What can we learn from failure?
App details
- Devices: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android, Kindle Fire
- Price: $0.99
- Pricing structure: Paid
- Release date: June 1, 2015
- Category: Arcade Games
- Size: 59.80 MB
- Publisher: Sunnyside Games
- Version: 1.1.1
- Minimum software requirements: Requires iOS 5.1 or later; Android 2.3 and up
- Last updated: January 23, 2019
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Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.