I’m addicted to the Doomsday Preppers show on National Geographic. It’s fascinating to see how people predict the world will end and how they prepare for the apocalypse. The game takes the TV show to a whole new level and puts players in the shoes of a prepper.
The goal is to build and prepare for a new life underground by designing a multi-level bunker. Gamers build one floor at a time and work their way to a total of 135 floors if they can make it deep enough. With over 300 products to prep and store and six types of floors to build, gamers must work hard to improve their survival skills to live as long as possible.
When the game first starts, players can customize a male or female avatar. There’s a quick tutorial to explain how the game works, and then players are on their own.
Doomsday Preppers uses the Tiny Tower mechanic so the game play may look familiar to some. Gamers can buy six types of floors with gold that they earn. The floor categories include recreation, workshop, science, food and water, shelter and security. Each room needs someone to monitor it and create prepping materials so gamers must use an elevator to bring survivors down into the bunker and assign them jobs.
Creating prepping materials can take a lot of time. Gamers must either wait for the materials to finish or they can use diamonds to speed up the process. Diamonds can be earned, but they are rare. Completed goods are sold for gold, which in turn is used to buy more floors. Both diamonds and gold can be bought through in-app purchases.
Doomsday Preppers seems fast-paced at first, but adding more floors eventually means a lot more waiting time. When things slow down, the game isn’t quite as exciting. Players will assign tasks, put down their device and come back later to see how things are going—only to find out that not much has happened. It appears that if players want things to speed up, they’ll be forced to shell out their own cash for lots of diamonds.
Gamers who are fans of the show and have some patience won’t mind waiting or spending a little cash, especially since it’s possible to play with other preppers. Others may find the game to be a little mundane and repetitive. Since Doomsday Preppers is completely free, it’s worth giving a shot if it sounds remotely interesting. If you download it, add my bunker: ec5b5b4. Are you ready for the end of the world as we know it?